Is good metering more important in large fomat?

[grahamp]

Any exposure on film is a compromise between reality and what you want in the final print/transparency. You do the best you can regardless of the format, and within the constraints of the time and place. Where large format is slightly different, is that it is normally done with sheet film, and that permits custom development. If you deviate from your normal development you are probably looking at an altered film speed, so you have a metering adjustment. But that is just more complexity - the level of care should be the same regardless.

Though if I have carried my 5x4 up a hill, adjusted the tripod a bit, put in any movements I feel I need, picked my exposure settings, and waited for the wind to drop, I'd better get a useable negative. I likely only have a dozen sheets in the bag at most - the rest are back in the car...

 

[blaine.minazzi]

Depends on what "important" means. If $$$, then yes. However they are technically the same.

But a screw up on metering just hurts more in LF, esp. when your shootin chomes. And bracketing in LF is not typically done by lots of LF shooters, due to costs involved.

I figure if something is worth shooting, I will almost always make 2 exposures. Sometimes at the same exposure, so I can manipulate the development, (B&W) and sometimes at differing exposures, if I need to nail the exposure. (Chrome or color neg, in the field.)

The film is frequently the lesser part of the cost on many shoots. The time, the hauling the equipment around, gas and travel expense, etc. All dwarf that extra few bucks. if I think the shot is only so-so I wonder if I should even pull the darkslide in the first place.

Comes down to whats important to you. Is this shot worth the insurance of a bracket, or a backup copy to develop differently, or even the same in case you have a negative defect or want a backup copy. In the studio, we seldom made backups or bracketed. When in doubt, we just processed the E-6 right now and could tell what we had in 37 minutes later...

OTOH, smaller formats really need a bit more precision all around, as once you start enlarging 8X - 10X, you can see the errors more. But technically, exposure is exposure, regardless of the square inches of film used (or wasted) per shot.

Blaine