Tim Parkin - Landscape Photographer

When I decided I’d really like to start using 5×4 (4×5? one of them is US I know) I also knew that I didn’t want to forget about the 5D. It has produced some amazing pictures and will enlarge to 16×20 if I’m happy to sacrifice dpi (I think it’s about 160dpi for a 16×20) but will enlarge to 10×16 at a resolution most people wouldn’t notice was a compromise. So it’s still going to be a tool in my arsenal but I also want it to play double duty if possible. So I’ve bought a set of focussing screens for my 5D that mask out the sides of the viewfinder to give a 4×5 ratio (there is a square one if I ever feel that Charlie Waite urge).

This makes my 24-105 lens on the 5D a very good finder for 110-400mm large format. If I ever want to go smaller I’d get the 17-40 (Which is still under consideration but to do so I’d have to sell my 24 Tilt Shift and at the moment I’m still unsure how much I’m going to use it.. If I don’t use the 24 then it will get traded in for a 17-40).

So the 5D becomes a functional finder and scouting tool. But can it do any more? Well I figured it would be very good at giving me an indication of exposure range and to give me an idea of what to expect if I take a large format shot. In order to do this, I need to take into account a couple of details. The first is that the Canon has a large dynamic range than the transparency film. So in order to get a good assessment of highlights and shadows I need to make two exposures. The first exposure should be taken at the reading you are going to use on the LF camera (i.e. whatever you’ve read with the light meter). This will give you a good indication of whether you are going to blow any highlights. The second exposure should be taken 1.5 stops below (or 1.333 which works better for digital camera 1/3 stops). This will now give you a good idea of where shadows will be blocking up.

One thing to bear in mind whilst you are doing this is that the histogram and the preview on the back of the 5D use the settings you have entered for your jpg view (i.e. if you’ve set the camera for high contrast, the meter will reflect this.) So if you want to have an accurate histogram that will reflect the contents of your raw file, then don’t play with the contrast setting. However, if you want to emulate transparency film, setting the contrast as maximum does a fairly good visual approximation of what to expect.

I think I’m heading towards a situation where I will be using the 5D as an exposure meter to support my spot meter readings. I also think I may end up using the 5D as a a full exposure meter but not using the internal meter, just looking at the results on the back of the camera. I have a feeling that this will be a LOT faster and more accurate than taking the equivalent readings with a spot meter (when I say more accurate, I don’t mean the individual light meter readings, for which I imagine the dedicate light meter will be better, but I mean the accuracy of the overall exposure).

Time will tell with this one and for the near future I plan to use the spot meter and then check the results I get on the 5D. The 5D will also then give me a good ‘scrap book’ picture to represent the results of the Large Format.

addendum:
Using the 5D as a meter doesn’t really work unless you can mount the SLR on the same tripod so you can see the result as you are looking.