Kodachrome exposure question

[Mike Buckles]

Had a few questions regarding exposure on Kodachrome 40..with my dv camcorder, if I put a neutral density filter on in bright sunlight, then i can keep the f-stop lower, and the image is better..would this be true with super 8 film also? (like a n-d 8 filter in bright sunlight)..also, I read somewhere else a person recommending to expose Kodachrome a half to a full stop different than what the light meter reads...true? (even with an nd filter?)So would this mean opening the lens up larger than the exposure meter recommends? Mike

[Alex]

The "Sweet-spot" for F-Stops is between F4 to F8...with F5.6 sometimes considered the ideal setting.

However, anything between F2.8 to F11.0 should look alright.

Frankly, how well the scene is lit and the contrast values of the scene probably make a bigger difference then trying to get your f-stop at f5.6.

One simple quick test is to take a polaroid picture of the scene to help identify the contrast value of the scene.

If you like the way the image looks on the Polaroid, then by choosing the proper exposure on the Kodachrome, you should get a good result, even if your exposure setting falls outside of the f-stop sweet spot.

[Alex]

For the record, I seem to recall on a similar topic to this one that Actor voiced a counterargument to the F 5.6 "sweet spot" rule.

I thought I bump this topic back to page one because we used BW polaroids to check Super-8 exposure values when shooting the Super-8 Music Video "Body Glove".

Film exposure values are NOT a mystery if you use BW test polaroids after you have set your lighting.

Body Glove S-8 Music Video Topic Link

[Greg Crawford]

A lot of this goes back to two schools of thought from the still photography world.

Amateur photographers shooting slides usually prefer underexposed slides for projection. Over the years the photo magazines have preached bracketing exposures whenever possible.

Hard to do with people, but the idea is take a set of 4 exposures 1/4 over, Normal, 1/4 under and 1/2 under exposed. Pick the slide you like the best!

Commercial Photographers would test a couple sheets of film or a roll ever time they got a new emulsion batch. Checking for true exposure index and any color bias, which can be corrected with cc filters. And yes, use lots of Polaroid. Polaroids were also used to get the art directors ok on the agreed upon image.
And have for future references if you need to re-due or chance the shot.

How does this effect you, shooting movies.
Just background info I guess. Try placing the highest value you want to have detail in, no more than two stops above indicated exposure and fill in the shadows as much as possible.

Do a test to see how hi you can place your light value and still have detail. You might find with your system, camera, film stock, development, projection method that you like the look of placing the high values a stop and a 1/3 over indicated exposure level.

[Alex]

The other beautful aspect is that you can let key people see what is going on. Our shoot benefited immeasureably when the nosy make-up artist (God Bless her for caring) asked to see the Polaroid and IMMEDIATELY said, I have to make the lips fuller.

What a difference it made!