Mamiya 7ii focusing help

[MattKing]

Thanks

So would you use incident for this scene?

See attached.

cheers

Yes.
However this is where the photography comes in.
Whenever you use a meter, you have to make a decision about which subject and which light you are trying to "capture" in your result. In most cases, you don't have multiple subjects that are illuminated in different ways. In that example, however, you have both interior lighting and exterior lighting. In that case, you would need to take readings of both the interior illumination and exterior illumination and make a photographic judgment about how you would like each represented in the final result. The example you posted favours the interior and leaves the outside brighter than normal - that is a good example of the choice you can make once you have the data from the readings.
As to how much to weight each reading - that is something that requires a bit of practice. That example is one where I would try a couple of different exposures.
When you get the results into the darkroom and attempt to print them, that will give you great feedback about your camera exposure choices. Be sure to keep detailed notes about both your observations, your thought process and the readings obtained.

 

[Chrishuddersfield]

Yes.
However this is where the photography comes in.
Whenever you use a meter, you have to make a decision about which subject and which light you are trying to "capture" in your result. In most cases, you don't have multiple subjects that are illuminated in different ways. In that example, however, you have both interior lighting and exterior lighting. In that case, you would need to take readings of both the interior illumination and exterior illumination and make a photographic judgment about how you would like each represented in the final result. The example you posted favours the interior and leaves the outside brighter than normal - that is a good example of the choice you can make once you have the data from the readings.
As to how much to weight each reading - that is something that requires a bit of practice. That example is one where I would try a couple of different exposures.
When you get the results into the darkroom and attempt to print them, that will give you great feedback about your camera exposure choices. Be sure to keep detailed notes about both your observations, your thought process and the readings obtained.

Thanks

 

[MARTIE]

The nice thing is, metering really isn't an either/or situation.
Why not incident meter both the inside and outside of the building, noting the EV's (exposure value numbers). And then take a few reflected meter readings to see where they fall.
This should give you all of the information you need to determine your exposure.

 

[MARTIE]

Yes.
However this is where the photography comes in.
Whenever you use a meter, you have to make a decision about which subject and which light you are trying to "capture" in your result. In most cases, you don't have multiple subjects that are illuminated in different ways. In that example, however, you have both interior lighting and exterior lighting. In that case, you would need to take readings of both the interior illumination and exterior illumination and make a photographic judgment about how you would like each represented in the final result. The example you posted favours the interior and leaves the outside brighter than normal - that is a good example of the choice you can make once you have the data from the readings.
As to how much to weight each reading - that is something that requires a bit of practice. That example is one where I would try a couple of different exposures.
When you get the results into the darkroom and attempt to print them, that will give you great feedback about your camera exposure choices. Be sure to keep detailed notes about both your observations, your thought process and the readings obtained.

Snap!

 

[CJG]

So would you use incident for this scene?

As with many things, there's no "right way" to meter.

Here are a couple good articles on metering. Alex Burke is a great landscape photographer and was kind enough to write this article:
https://www.alexburkephoto.com/blog/2016/3/28/metering-and-exposing-color-film

I meter like this:
http://www.johnnypatience.com/metering-for-film/
What film are you shooting? I primarily shoot Portra 400. I do over expose it to go for the pastel look. Portra has so much highlight latitude basically I incident meter in the shadows, bulb pointing at camera, at let the highlights fall where they will. I've never had blown out highlights. If I was shooting chromes I'd do the opposite most likely. Meter the highlights with a spot meter, go +3 on that reading, let the shadows fall where they will. Which may go kinda dark depending on the scene. I don't shoot B/W so can't help there.

Cool location. I'd like to shoot there!

 

[Chrishuddersfield]

So would you use incident for this scene?

As with many things, there's no "right way" to meter.

Here are a couple good articles on metering. Alex Burke is a great landscape photographer and was kind enough to write this article:
https://www.alexburkephoto.com/blog/2016/3/28/metering-and-exposing-color-film

I meter like this:
http://www.johnnypatience.com/metering-for-film/
What film are you shooting? I primarily shoot Portra 400. I do over expose it to go for the pastel look. Portra has so much highlight latitude basically I incident meter in the shadows, bulb pointing at camera, at let the highlights fall where they will. I've never had blown out highlights. If I was shooting chromes I'd do the opposite most likely. Meter the highlights with a spot meter, go +3 on that reading, let the shadows fall where they will. Which may go kinda dark depending on the scene. I don't shoot B/W so can't help there.

Cool location. I'd like to shoot there!

Oh great and thanks for the links
I’m currently using HP5 400 and Delta 100.
It would be nice to your work.

 

[MARTIE]

Which part of this would you focus on to get it all in focus? Half way in? Sorry for all the questions.
Appreciated.

When you look on the lens barrel you can see the distance scale and the depth of field markings. Focus on the near and far points and set the aperture based on what's critical.

 

[awty]

In doors @ f22, you should be using a tripod and cable release or timer.
Make sure you check the zone focus on the lens to see where infinity @f22 is and focus as close as you can with infinity still in focus. Except if your close focusing where you need to pay attention to how much depth of field you have. Wider lenses have more depth of field. Interiors are best done with a wide lens usually.
You usually hold shadow detail at 2 stops under exposed and not blow highlights at 3 stops over exposed.....that's film and conditions dependent

 

[mshchem]

Which part of this would you focus on to get it all in focus? Half way in? Sorry for all the questions.
Appreciated.

The white or black lines on the graffiti would be good focus targets. Just remember with an 80mm lens you won't be able to get everything in focus like the iPhone. Cell phone camera sensors are tiny small as a pea. So the lenses are very very short focal length, everything is in focus from 15 inches to infinity.

 

[Chrishuddersfield]

When you look on the lens barrel you can see the distance scale and the depth of field markings. Focus on the near and far points and set the aperture based on what's critical.

Thanks

 

[Chrishuddersfield]

In doors @ f22, you should be using a tripod and cable release or timer.
Make sure you check the zone focus on the lens to see where infinity @f22 is and focus as close as you can with infinity still in focus. Except if your close focusing where you need to pay attention to how much depth of field you have. Wider lenses have more depth of field. Interiors are best done with a wide lens usually.
You usually hold shadow detail at 2 stops under exposed and not blow highlights at 3 stops over exposed.....that's film and conditions dependent

Thanks

 

[Chrishuddersfield]

The white or black lines on the graffiti would be good focus targets. Just remember with an 80mm lens you won't be able to get everything in focus like the iPhone. Cell phone camera sensors are tiny small as a pea. So the lenses are very very short focal length, everything is in focus from 15 inches to infinity.

Thanks

 

[250swb]

I seem to recall that the 'how to focus' issue (and more) are covered in the manual for the Mamiya 7, or am I mistaken? And although the OP hasn't had any films processed yet I think two things crop up that could confuse the issue about focusing. The first would be doing interiors without using a tripod, especially at f/22 where hand holding and the length of the exposure will introduce camera shake and also diffraction from using a small aperture. So already there are two extra things to make the image appear less sharp than simply getting it out of focus.

But back to focusing. If it is hard to focus on exactly the thing you want then focus on something a similar distance away then recompose the picture. Focusing will be harder in low light if the camera is hand held, so consider a tripod, which will also help in stopping camera shake. If all else fails take a troch and point it to where you want focus the image. To increase the chance of getting things in focus stop the lens down and/or use hyperfocal focusing using the distance scale on your lens, but keep in mind after about f/8 or f/11 diffraction will start to show in the image. Again, many of these things will be touched upon in the manual for the Mamiya 7. The lenses for the Mamiya 7 are superb quality and will brutally show any mis-focusing, camera shake, etc. because normally they should render pin sharp images.

 

[Chrishuddersfield]

I seem to recall that the 'how to focus' issue (and more) are covered in the manual for the Mamiya 7, or am I mistaken? And although the OP hasn't had any films processed yet I think two things crop up that could confuse the issue about focusing. The first would be doing interiors without using a tripod, especially at f/22 where hand holding and the length of the exposure will introduce camera shake and also diffraction from using a small aperture. So already there are two extra things to make the image appear less sharp than simply getting it out of focus.

But back to focusing. If it is hard to focus on exactly the thing you want then focus on something a similar distance away then recompose the picture. Focusing will be harder in low light if the camera is hand held, so consider a tripod, which will also help in stopping camera shake. If all else fails take a troch and point it to where you want focus the image. To increase the chance of getting things in focus stop the lens down and/or use hyperfocal focusing using the distance scale on your lens, but keep in mind after about f/8 or f/11 diffraction will start to show in the image. Again, many of these things will be touched upon in the manual for the Mamiya 7. The lenses for the Mamiya 7 are superb quality and will brutally show any mis-focusing, camera shake, etc. because normally they should render pin sharp images.

Hi

Thanks for the feedback. I’ve shot everything on tripod so far. I’ll be shooting more today. I’ll see how they turn out.

 

[Tom Kershaw]

Which part of this would you focus on to get it all in focus? Half way in? Sorry for all the questions.
Appreciated.

The Mamiya 7ii is one of my most used cameras. In the situation you have there I would be tempted to focus on the graffiti in the first example.

In this example you have the window frames that should provide a useful reference.

On metering, I have become habituated to the Pentax Digital Spotmeter so pretty much always use that, although I'm not sure your college would have those.

 

[Chrishuddersfield]

The Mamiya 7ii is one of my most used cameras. In the situation you have there I would be tempted to focus on the graffiti in the first example.

In this example you have the window frames that should provide a useful reference.

On metering, I have become habituated to the Pentax Digital Spotmeter so pretty much always use that, although I'm not sure your college would have those.

Thanks

 

[destroya]

Chris,

try to find a copy of beyond the zone system. he talks about using an incident meter in tricky lighting situations and does a great job explaining it. maybe the library would have a copy.

with that example, I would do what matt suggested and take multiple readings. if you only want to take 2, then take one against the wall and then one metering the window light. see if the film you use can handle the large subject brightness. then decide where to sacrifice. for me I would use the walls as the main subject matter and, as they say, let the outdoor scene fall where it may. you can try to compress the scene in development if that is your thing . read adams the negative to get some info on that

john

 

[Chrishuddersfield]

Chris,

try to find a copy of beyond the zone system. he talks about using an incident meter in tricky lighting situations and does a great job explaining it. maybe the library would have a copy.

with that example, I would do what matt suggested and take multiple readings. if you only want to take 2, then take one against the wall and then one metering the window light. see if the film you use can handle the large subject brightness. then decide where to sacrifice. for me I would use the walls as the main subject matter and, as they say, let the outdoor scene fall where it may. you can try to compress the scene in development if that is your thing . read adams the negative to get some info on that

john

Thanks John, I’ll look for a copy. Appreciated.

 

[CJG]

Here's another resource for you. Alan Ross has a Zoom meeting the last Sunday of every month. Alan used to be Ansel Adams assistant and still prints the Yosemite Special Edition prints for the Ansel Adams Gallery. While he does sell an Exposure workshop (pretty reasonable) I'm sure he would be happy to answer metering questions during the monthly Zoom meeting.

https://www.alanrossphotography.com/workshops/online-workshops/

 

[Chrishuddersfield]

Here's another resource for you. Alan Ross has a Zoom meeting the last Sunday of every month. Alan used to be Ansel Adams assistant and still prints the Yosemite Special Edition prints for the Ansel Adams Gallery. While he does sell an Exposure workshop (pretty reasonable) I'm sure he would be happy to answer metering questions during the monthly Zoom meeting.

https://www.alanrossphotography.com/workshops/online-workshops/

Oh good stuff , thanks for that.