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out of the mud in Photoshop.
If you're shooting in crappy light and intend to print directly from the files without editing,
use the exposure compensation control to dial in as many stops as needed. I've had to use
several stops of + (lighten) compensation in these instances.
Another source of confusion is the incorrect use of the Matrix Meter (Evaluative Metering in
Canon). Dark filters, like polarizers, often fool the artificial intelligence of these meters and
lead to underexposure of light subjects in daylight. More at my Matrix Meter (page 60)
page.
Negative Film
Negative film gets little use today, so I excluded it from the above. It exposes completely
differently than anything else.
There is no way to direct-view the exposure of a negative. The closest way to see a
negative is to make a "perfect proof," which is a contact print made with the minimum
amount of exposure required to make the unexposed film edges print as dark as the paper
can get. You determine the correct print exposure by making a test strip. Look at the edge
of the unexposed film against the black of the paper. Use the exposure time of the first bar
in which the black of the edge of the film matches the black of the paper.
Contact sheets or prints in which the edge of the film looks less black than the rest of the
paper have been underexposed, and that tells us that the negatives are also
underexposed.
A2/3 The Nikon Matrix Meter 19 August 2001
Caution: If you shoot print film the exposures you see on your prints has nothing to do with
the exposure you made in the camera. Exposure is an issue of your one-hour lab's jr. high
school technician, not your technique or your negative. Ignore this section entirely or shoot
transparencies instead. Only by shooting transparencies or doing your own lab work will
you be able to control your final results.
If you are having exposure problems with your prints it most probably was how they were
printed, NOT how they were exposed.
If you see muddy, dull, grainy or light shadows with no detail in your prints then you have
an underexposed negative; otherwise, the only reason a print will be too dark is if it was
printed incorrectly.
INTRODUCTION
The superior Matrix meter is the main reason to choose Nikon over other brands.
Nikon's Matrix metering, introduced as "Automatic Multi-Pattern" (AMP) metering in the FA
camera in 1983, was the world's first meter that actually measured exposure, instead of
just light. It is one of the most important advances in photographic technology. This meter
© 2007 KenRockwell.com 60 converted by Sándor Nagy