View Camera Strobe Exposure

Darryl Roberts · Jun 6, 2020

Greetings,

When shooting portraits with either my reliable Hensel or Photogenic strobes my results are approximately 1 stop under.

I carefully meter with my reliable Sekonic. There's no bellows extension factor. No ASA mistakes. I never have this problem with ambient.

Camera 4x5 Sinar Norma. Rodenstock 210mm 5.6 great condition. Arista 400 B/W film

Am I missing something?

MattKing · Jun 6, 2020

What shutter speed are you using? Are you relying on flash synchronization built into the shutter?
The flash synch might be triggering when the shutter isn't fully open.

Darryl Roberts · Jun 6, 2020

SS 60.

Thank you

Nokton48 · Jun 6, 2020

Arista 400 4x5 I think is Foma 400, which isn't 400 EI, it's more like 200 or even less! I'd not overthink it myself, but I'd put a sticker on the meter (+!) or whatever works.
Who knows why but just make notes and go on with what works for you.

I'm doing the same thing with my Broncolor strobes. Testing with film is the best way to nail your basic settings. Strobe meter gets you in the ballpark.

Darryl Roberts · Jun 6, 2020

Nokton48 said:
Arista 400 4x5 I think is Foma 400, which isn't 400 EI, it's more like 200 or even less! I'd not overthink it myself, but I'd put a sticker on the meter (+!) or whatever works.
Who knows why but just make notes and go on with what works for you.

I'm doing the same thing with my Broncolor strobes. Testing with film is the best way to nail your basic settings. Strobe meter gets you in the ballpark.

Thank you so much.

MattKing · Jun 6, 2020

One other consideration - all materials are prone to reciprocity failure when very, very short exposures are used. With some film, you can encounter that problem with electronic flash of short duration - the sort of duration one might encounter with high power flashes set for lower power.
The Kodak films I use don't run into this problem with something like portraits shot with flash - the flash duration is more than long enough for those films. I don't know about the Arista/Foma film you are using.

TheFlyingCamera · Jun 6, 2020

I'd lay 90% + probability of blame on the film. The Arista films are excellent films, but they are known for having certain shall we say limitations. Reciprocity being one of the biggest. I'd definitely rate that 400 at 200, and even try a few at 100 to see what you like better. Or just switch to the Arista 200 and rate it at 100. I used it a LOT in the studio with strobes, shot that way, and got gorgeous results.

Darryl Roberts · Jun 6, 2020

MattKing said:
One other consideration - all materials are prone to reciprocity failure when very, very short exposures are used. With some film, you can encounter that problem with electronic flash of short duration - the sort of duration one might encounter with high power flashes set for lower power.
The Kodak films I use don't run into this problem with something like portraits shot with flash - the flash duration is more than long enough for those films. I don't know about the Arista/Foma film you are using.

Thank you I ordered a box of 10 sheets of TXP 320 to try.

Darryl Roberts · Jun 6, 2020

TheFlyingCamera said:
I'd lay 90% + probability of blame on the film. The Arista films are excellent films, but they are known for having certain shall we say limitations. Reciprocity being one of the biggest. I'd definitely rate that 400 at 200, and even try a few at 100 to see what you like better. Or just switch to the Arista 200 and rate it at 100. I used it a LOT in the studio with strobes, shot that way, and got gorgeous results.

Thank you, I appreciate your knowledgeable feedback.

AgX · Jun 6, 2020

Darryl Roberts said:
When shooting portraits with either my reliable Hensel or Photogenic strobes my results are approximately 1 stop under.

Head Portraits in LF typically are already in the macro range (=extension=extended exposure).

Nokton48 · Jun 6, 2020

I've heard that the 200 at 100 is better than the 400 at 100. I use the FOMA 200 and also the 100 all the time.

TXP320 is a good benchmark and good idea but costs the moon

Darryl Roberts · Jun 6, 2020

Nokton48 said:
I've heard that the 200 at 100 is better than the 400 at 100. I use the FOMA 200 and also the 100 all the time.

TXP320 is a good benchmark and good idea but costs the moon

Where do you purchase Foma 200?

Nokton48 · Jun 6, 2020

Sometimes I "bracket" by shooting similar speed films of the same scene. I did this this morning with 4x5" ERA 100, EFKE PL100, and SHANGHAI 100.
When developed I will know what I prefer and can dial it in further.

For portraiture there is nothing wrong with "stringing" your lights once you have everything nailed down. Quick and easy to hold it to the subjects facial plane.

Nokton48 · Jun 6, 2020

Darryl Roberts said:
Where do you purchase Foma 200?

I'll check later and let you know. I buy sheet film where I can find it which sometimes means Germany or the UK. Especially the metric sizes

Nokton48 · Jun 6, 2020

Darryl Roberts said:
Where do you purchase Foma 200?

In stock at Freestyle: https://www.freestylephoto.biz/42024550-Foma-Fomapan-200-ISO-4x5-50-sheets

Also Adorama: https://www.adorama.com/cz42024550.html

If you want to make a volume purchase it is cheaper in Germany: https://www.fotoimpex.com/films/foma-fomapan-200-102x127-cm-4x5-inch-50-sheets.html

Darryl Roberts · Jun 6, 2020

Nokton48 said:
In stock at Freestyle: https://www.freestylephoto.biz/42024550-Foma-Fomapan-200-ISO-4x5-50-sheets

Also Adorama: https://www.adorama.com/cz42024550.html

If you want to make a volume purchase it is cheaper in Germany: https://www.fotoimpex.com/films/foma-fomapan-200-102x127-cm-4x5-inch-50-sheets.html

Greatly appreciated.

ic-racer · Jun 6, 2020

Darryl Roberts said:
Greetings,

When shooting portraits with either my reliable Hensel or Photogenic strobes my results are approximately 1 stop under.

I carefully meter with my reliable Sekonic. There's no bellows extension factor. No ASA mistakes. I never have this problem with ambient.

Camera 4x5 Sinar Norma. Rodenstock 210mm 5.6 great condition. Arista 400 B/W film

Am I missing something?

I'd rate the film one-stop slower.

Darryl Roberts · Jun 6, 2020

ic-racer said:
I'd rate the film one-stop slower.

Thank you.

wiltw · Jun 6, 2020

In my history of shooting 4x5 film in a monorail camera from back in the 1990s, I never ran into exposure with flash NOT matching my Minolta Autometer'd measured exposure. If your films are underexposed, I might suspect that your shutter synchronization may be not proper (did you check that it is set to M, and not X?)...if the shutter opening is delayed (as it would normally be in M) you are losing the front end of the light output from the electronic flash.

Darryl Roberts · Jun 6, 2020

wiltw said:
In my history of shooting 4x5 film in a monorail camera from back in the 1990s, I never ran into exposure with flash NOT matching my Minolta Autometer'd measured exposure. If your films are underexposed, I might suspect that your shutter synchronization may be not proper (did you check that it is set to M, and not X?)...if the shutter opening is delayed (as it would normally be in M) you are losing the front end of the light output from the electronic flash.

Thank you. The lens I use is newer than the older lenses with an X and M option.

Darryl Roberts · Jun 6, 2020

TheFlyingCamera said:
I'd lay 90% + probability of blame on the film. The Arista films are excellent films, but they are known for having certain shall we say limitations. Reciprocity being one of the biggest. I'd definitely rate that 400 at 200, and even try a few at 100 to see what you like better. Or just switch to the Arista 200 and rate it at 100. I used it a LOT in the studio with strobes, shot that way, and got gorgeous results.

Thank you

RalphLambrecht · Jun 6, 2020

Darryl Roberts said:
Greetings,

When shooting portraits with either my reliable Hensel or Photogenic strobes my results are approximately 1 stop under.

I carefully meter with my reliable Sekonic. There's no bellows extension factor. No ASA mistakes. I never have this problem with ambient.

Camera 4x5 Sinar Norma. Rodenstock 210mm 5.6 great condition. Arista 400 B/W film

Am I missing something?

You must consider the Bellows extension factor but other than that the flash me to should give you a precise exposure.

Darryl Roberts · Jun 6, 2020

RalphLambrecht said:
You must consider the Bellows extension factor but other than that the flash me to should give you a precise exposure.

The extension matched the lens' focal length thus there was no factor.

TheFlyingCamera · Jun 6, 2020

Darryl Roberts said:
The extension matched the lens' focal length thus there was no factor.

So you were shooting it focused at infinity? With strobes in the studio?

Adrian Bacon · Jun 6, 2020

Darryl Roberts said:
Greetings,

When shooting portraits with either my reliable Hensel or Photogenic strobes my results are approximately 1 stop under.

I carefully meter with my reliable Sekonic. There's no bellows extension factor. No ASA mistakes. I never have this problem with ambient.

Camera 4x5 Sinar Norma. Rodenstock 210mm 5.6 great condition. Arista 400 B/W film

Am I missing something?

strart with the data sheet: http://www.fomausa.com/pdf/Fomapan_400.pdf

if your strobes have a t.1 time shorter than 1/1000 the film won’t behave the same way as the range is 1/1000 to 1/2 to avoid reciprocity failure. It might be worth looking up the timing for your strobe. That and foma 400 is much better at 160-200. Arista 400 is fomapan 400.

View Camera Strobe Exposure

Darryl Roberts

MattKing

Moderator

Darryl Roberts

Nokton48

Darryl Roberts

MattKing

Moderator

TheFlyingCamera

Membership Council

Darryl Roberts

Darryl Roberts

AgX

Nokton48

Darryl Roberts

Nokton48

Nokton48

Nokton48

Darryl Roberts

ic-racer

Darryl Roberts

wiltw

Darryl Roberts

Darryl Roberts

RalphLambrecht

Darryl Roberts

TheFlyingCamera

Membership Council

Adrian Bacon

View Camera Strobe Exposure

Moderator

Moderator

Membership Council

Membership Council

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency