IQ4 150 help working out how to get to a reliable histogram please.

[thovenmedia]

As I mostly shoot in the studio. I have learned two things with the XF when shooting outdoors, first I close the shade that's in the back of the prism and I use the zone system found in the Digital back instead of the histogram. Last but not least, plus one on @vjbelle comment on not buying a light meter.

 

[Greg Haag]

As I mostly shoot in the studio. I have learned two things with the XF when shooting outdoors, first I close the shade that's in the back of the prism and I use the zone system found in the Digital back instead of the histogram. Last but not least, plus one on @vjbelle comment on not buying a light meter.

Thank you Stevenson, I will give that a try!

 

[GrahamWelland]

+1 on the exposure zone mode on the IQ3/4. I use that more than the histogram alone.

 

[dchew]

Greg,
I've also settled on the zone system tool, like docholiday and others have mentioned. I make sure there is no white, or at least very little.

Dave

 

[jng]

Thanks John! I love shooting tethered, but have resisted due to the additional 4lbs or so in my backpack but maybe I should reconsider.

Hi Greg,

Tethering in the field is not for everyone. And the added weight/bulk/hassle of setting up are also factors especially when you need to travel light. In the field I'm currently using an early 2016 12" Macbook, which weighs in at just a hair over 2 lbs not including the tether cable or the tripod sling I use to hold it. It slips in nicely between the ICU and the rear opening of any of my f-stop packs. For me the extra hassle is worth not coming back to find that my images are out of focus, over/under-exposed, poorly framed, etc. Not that this doesn't happen anyway but at least the bad surprises are minimized.

John

 

[anwarp]

Hi Greg
Is your image blown out if you use linear or linear scientific?

I suspect part of the issue is the curve applied by C1.

Anwar

 

[Greg Haag]

Ray, thank you for trying to help! Heres what happens when I expose based on the RAW histogram and show no clipping in the channels. I am bringing it into C1 with a linear curve and my highlight exposure set to 254. I have also included a screen shot of the C1 histogram.

 

[Greg Haag]

For those of you who suggested the Zone method, I appreciated it! Here is what I have found so far this morning. I took three shots, the first is using the exposure bar (centered), the second is RGB histogram (pushed to right but not clipping) and the third with the RAW histogram (pushed to right but not clipping, see post above #27 for more details).

In camera exposure bar


RGB Histogram


RAW Histogram

 

[Ray Harrison]

Greg - newbie IQ4 question here but how did you get the exposure mask icon to show up with the back on the Cambo?

 

[Greg Haag]

Greg - newbie IQ4 question here but how did you get the exposure mask icon to show up with the back on the Cambo?

Ray, are you referring to post 27 or post 28?

 

[Ray Harrison]

Ray, are you referring to post 27 or post 28?

Apologies, was referring to #28.

 

[Greg Haag]

Apologies, was referring to #28.

Ray, if you swipe up from the bottom and click on the panel to review images, then swipe from the right and long press the exposure warning and then click on mode and select "Zone System" this should get you there. If there is a simpler way, maybe someone will share that. As far as I can tell, this only shows up on images you have taken, not pre-shot like the histograms or exposure bar.

 

[Ray Harrison]

Ray, if you swipe up from the bottom and click on the panel to review images, then swipe from the right and long press the exposure warning and then click on mode and select "Zone System" this should get you there. If there is a simpler way, maybe someone will share that. As far as I can tell, this only shows up on images you have taken, not pre-shot like the histograms or exposure bar.

Ah, got it. Thank you!

 

[Godfrey]

I may be considered terribly sloppy at this, but I just look at the RGB histogram on the LCD, look to see if anything is just hitting the max point, and shorten exposure by 0.7EV if there is. That's been good enough for any of my image processing needs. (If there are specular highlights in the image, I expect those to oversaturate and do the same keeping in mind that there will invariably be a dip in the histogram just before the specular highlights.. use that as the reference.)

If there's enough time to study and analyze the histogram like there, there's also plenty of time to bracket a couple of exposures if you want to be absolutely sure.

No fancy software required, no extra time in image processing. Just pick the exposure that worked and get on with image processing.

G

"Playing fast and loose..."

 

[Bill Caulfeild-Browne]

I too may be a bit sloppy, Godfrey! I pretty much do the same as you and bracket exposures - that's the joy of digital over film where bracketing costs you money!
Still, it would be nice if the RAW histogram was useful. I tend only to look at the RGB.

 

[dchew]

Greg,
I don't have my db with me, but try the other scale readout in the Zone mask, the one that reads 0-255 in steps. I can't remember if it maps the colors the same way or not, but it is the one I use.

Dave

 

[Greg Haag]

Dave, thank you, I just switched and prefer that!

 

[Greg Haag]

Greg,
I don't have my db with me, but try the other scale readout in the Zone mask, the one that reads 0-255 in steps. I can't remember if it maps the colors the same way or not, but it is the one I use.

Dave

It has been a great time to do this, this is at the office yesterday. We have 4-8 inches more expected tomorrow, while this is nothing for Ohio, it completely shuts us down.

 

[vieri]

Hello Greg,

I am having good success using the exposure bar at the time of shooting rather than the histograms, and I tend to check images using the histogram or the zone system after. Using this combination seems to output reliable results, matching what I am seeing when I open my RAW in the computer. As a general rule, I always try and keep my histogram as much to the right as I can, to record as much information as possible - but I always prefer to do so without burning any of the channel, though. So, depending on the scene and light conditions, I might go a third of a stop or two under what the camera considers as perfect, or the middle of the exposure bar, just for safety. Of course, since there are so many different shooting situation the above workflow may vary: i.e., when shooting into the sun I am not worried about burning highlights in and around the sun; when specular highlights are present (i.e., reflections of sun on water) I don't worry about these as well; and so on.

Hope this helps, best regards

Vieri

 

[Greg Haag]

Hello Greg,

I am having good success using the exposure bar at the time of shooting rather than the histograms, and I tend to check images using the histogram or the zone system after. Using this combination seems to output reliable results, matching what I am seeing when I open my RAW in the computer. As a general rule, I always try and keep my histogram as much to the right as I can, to record as much information as possible - but I always prefer to do so without burning any of the channel, though. So, depending on the scene and light conditions, I might go a third of a stop or two under what the camera considers as perfect, or the middle of the exposure bar, just for safety. Of course, since there are so many different shooting situation the above workflow may vary: i.e., when shooting into the sun I am not worried about burning highlights in and around the sun; when specular highlights are present (i.e., reflections of sun on water) I don't worry about these as well; and so on.

Hope this helps, best regards

Vieri

Thank you Vieri, that is helpful! After testing various scenarios yesterday and today, that seems to work best for me as well. Generally speaking if I expose just to the left of center on the exposure bar and reduce an additional 1/3 stop it seems to be my sweet spot, I then confirm in the zone system and tweak if needed.