S2 and Studio Flash

[Jimbo33]

I am new to digital photography but not to studio photography. I took my new S2 (set to raw) into the studio for the first time and metered the lights at F8 as usual, iso 160 and all of the pictures came out underexposed by 1 to 1.5 stops! I didn't realize this until I got home and tried to convert the raw files with converter EX. I connected my SB28 to the camera and tried a variety of camera/flash/iso settings against a gray card and the only way I got correct exposure was to set the compensation value at +1. Then all of the modes worked correctly. I then tried incamera JPG mode to see if it is an artifact of using the raw mode and got the same result. I am using the NIKON 28-105 3.5-4.5 at about 70mm. I thought maybe the lens /camera was a bad combo and tried a Nikon 50mm f1.4 with the same results.

Am I missing something here? Are the camera ISO values really exaggerated 1 stop by Fuji?
Any help is really appreciated.

By the way, I determined the 1 stop value by a combination of histogram, eyball and output of the converted image directly to a Kodak DyeSub printer.
Thanks.
Jimbo33

[Don65Stang]

Concur with the above post. Meter at the highlights and shoot accordingly. You cannot easily correct for blownout highlights.

My biggest concern is wedding dress detail blow out. One way to compensate is to cross light such subjects.

There has been many threads about this and similar topicss. Try a search with appropriate keywords and I'm sure you'll get a wealth of info.

Hope to see some of your work in the future.

Don

[Rockyw]

We set our studio lights to 5.6 main, and 4.0 on the fill. The S2 normally is set right on the meter reading. In a church we set 1/2 stop closed to keep from blowing out the dress. If the meter says 5:6, we set the S2 to 6:7. We also shot ISO 160 and shutter to 1/30. We have more problems with flash than studio lights but thats better now that we switched from a SB80 to a Metz.

[Jimbo33]

Thanks for the input. I am new to digital and I see what you mean by being careful not to blow out highlights. I normally (but no always) set the fill at 5.6, the main at 8 and the camera at the 1/2 stop between 8 and 11. I do believe that they should not over rate the CCD to "protect me from mistakes". As the portrait artist, I am the one who should decide on the proper exposure compensation to get the results I desire. I have a lot to learn with this camera, I feel like a newbie even though I have spent many years in the studio. There is a lot of artistic potential with digital and that makes the learning process worth while. Incidentally, I have also learned that the f8+1/2 aperture setting gives me more depth of field then I am used to with medium format so I have had to open it up to get the background as soft as before. This verifies Rockyw's settings as a good starting point.
Thanks again.

[Mr. Stacey]

Meter light to F8 3/10 or up to F8 1/5 and set camera to F8. If you meter at exactly F8 then you are closer to the F7.xx range which is underexposed. It's just a phenomena.


Your SB-28 underexposure has nothing to do with your studio lights underexposure. It is purely COINCIDENCE. Do not mix the two. Focus on your studio problem.