dslr

[Lee Young]

I know this topic has kind of been covered before, but I need a little bit of clarity when it comes to using a dslr for exposure and a few other purposes.

 

1. DSLR's do have settings for tungsten balance and daylight balance. Are these accurate to film's color balance or in other words can I use it to check color temperature?

 

2. Is the spot meter on my dslr going to give me a correct exposure everytime if the iso, shutter (60), and aperature are the same as on my motion picture camera?

 

3. Is there a difference between a 35mm 28mm lens and a digital 28mm lens in terms of coverage?

 

4. Will their be a difference in depth of field?

 

I have seen Mathew Libatique using a dslr on the set of the Fountain. I did not see him using a spot meter, so I assumed he was using it for the following, but I still want some definite answers. I know there are lattitude difference, but it seems safe to assume that if it looks good on the digital camera, it will look wonderful on film.

[David Auner aac]

Hi Lee,

 

not sure if this is the right sub-forum for this kind of question, but here we go...

 

1. AFAIK the settings on your DSLR should match the film. At least, they do on my Nikons. If you're unsure do a quick test and see for yourself.

 

2. Yes, you should get correct exposure readings. Remember, though, that usually the spot mode on an SLR covers the centre of the CCD, a circle aprrox. 3mm in diameter. This is a little wider than my 1° Minolta Flash meter VI.

 

3. Every format of either film or chip will have different fields of view for different focal lenghts. So yes, there is.

 

4. Yep. DOF is smaller than it is for 35mm still film, but I reckon it's closer to what you should get on 35mm cine film. But remember that most still lenses only open up to 1.4 max! Are you shooting 16 or 35mm?

 

Regards, Dave