Nikon F4 and low-light metering

[quixotic]

I just shot a roll of SFX 200, and although the outside shots came out perfectly, the ones shot indoors, more often than not, came out grossly underexposed. I had it on matrix metering and auto-exposure, and the shutter speeds were often 1/15 and 1/30, so I was expecting potential trouble with sharpness, not exposure.

Has anyone else come across this issue?

Edit: Now that I think of it, maybe the shutter speed is off at that range. I'll have to check when I get home.

 

[jimjm]

It might be the matrix meter isn't reading the scene correctly, given that indoor lighting can vary quite a bit. Compare to the readings you get with the center-weighted meter. Luckily it should be fairly easy to see if the 1/15 and 1/30 speeds are running fast, but my experience is that the F4 shutter is very reliable.

With tricky indoor lighting like stage lighting, I found using the F4's spot meter gave me the best results. I would meter the subject's face (or other critical area) and over- or under-expose as needed.

 

[John Bragg]

Sfx is near infra red sensitivity so how would that work in low light photography? I am guessing that the F4 meter is calibrated for "normal" daylight or artificial light. I just mention that there may be a factor here.

 

[quixotic]

Well, I checked the shutter speeds with Audacity software, and it seems spot-on (at least the 1/8 sec, 1/2 sec, and 2 sec variety). So I'm not sure what happened. I've put a roll of Delta 100 in there, so I'll see how that does.

 

[Linn]

I pulled out my F4 manual and looked at the specs for Metering range. Nikon claims EV 0 to EV 21 at ISO 100 with a f/1.4 lens. At the bottom of this web page is a nice chart which gives f values, shutter speed, ISO, and EV values.

http://www.photokaboom.com/photography/learn/tips/054b_exposure_light_and_exposure_values.htm

I don't know if you could use the chart to figure out if your settings may have put you outside or close to the minimums for the camera. Interestingly, the claim for spot metering is EV 2 to EV 21, so spot metering looks less sensitive in low light.