How much exposure latitude with digital cameras?

[DazedAndConfuzed]

How much exposure latitude are there with digital cameras?

I know many modern films has such a wide exposure latitude that underwater strobes (and disposable cameras) doesn't even care about properly exposing the subject anymore. Practicaly all entry level under strobes relies on one manual flash setting for pictures taken from 1' to 6' (probably the strobe's limit.)

Does digital camera have such wide exposure latitude? I know they have different ISO settings, but can an correct exposure be achieved when the amount of light reaching the sensor is at least 3 f-stops off?

I am not familiar with digital cameras, so this is unknown to me.

 

[scubatexastony]

I know many modern films have such a wide exposure latitude that underwater strobes (and disposable cameras) don't even care about properly exposing the subject anymore.

I suppose your refering to the auto exposure slr cameras. They "chose" the best f-stop and shutter speed for the distance and amount of flash. The camera I use does that along with selecting the "film speed" or asa.

Do digital camera have such wide exposure latitude? I know they have different ISO settings, but can an correct exposure be achieved when the amount of light reaching the sensor is at least 3 f-stops off?

I have only shot on 10 or so dives so far, 750 or so pics, but have found using f-stops greater than 4.5 up to 8 give the same characteristics as in film. Greater feild of depth and color saturation are acheived. And the camera also "tells" you when you are shooting outside of 3 stops!

Dee has a lot more time behind the shutter of her digital, and can probably expand on this, she coached me when I made the switch to digital and we both use the Olympus with which you can lock film speed and shoot aperture or shutter priority, or if desired, totaly manual. I plan on trying the strobe I have (YS40A) and seeing what results I can get shooting in the 4.5/5.6 settings/forced flash w/100asa.... will let you know the results.

tony


Camera model: C3040Z
Date/Time: 2002:10:05 12:48:04
Resolution: 2048 x 1536
Flash used: Yes
Focal length: 7.3mm
Exposure time: 0.010 s (1/100)
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO equiv.: 100
Metering Mode: spot
Exposure: aperture priority (semi-auto)

 

[Dee]

As Tony has already mentioned, the better digital cameras have a wide latitude for exposure, with and without a strobe. I have no doubt that some of the more basic digitals may not and would compare more to point and shoot film cameras.

Most strobes used with digital cameras are way beyond the 1 manual setting you speak of.

Do a little more research on digital cameras in general and you'll see the versatility of what's available in todays market and what's soon to come.

 

[scorpiofish]

or maybe too short to cover everything.

Exposure lattitude is the range over which the exposure can be increased and ecreased from the "correct" exposure and still produce acceptable results. Acceptable is subjective and it is based on a printed output or viewing of the slide.

In film cameras this lattitude is quite different for print versus slide film. Exposure can be compensated for in the printing process for print film, but not so with slide film. Slide film probably has a +/- 1/2 stop of lattitude, whereas print film can have as much +/- 2 stops. But this is dependent on the contrast contained within the scene. Acceptable latitude as expressed in stops is subjective. At what point does shadow detail disappear and at what point to bright areas get blown out. Print film has more latitude for overexposure, whereas slide film is more tolerable of underexposure.

Exposure latitude with a digital camera is quite different. It will vary significantly from camera to camera. Film camera exposure is dependent on the film. With digicams it is dependent on the camera. The actual pixel size, not number of pixels, will determine the dynamic range of the image. The dynamic range determines the amount contrast detail that can be held within the same scene. Most consumer digital cameras cannot hold near the dynamic range of film cameras. How much? Depends on the digicam and the film you are comparing it to. The more contrasty the film, the less dynamic range and exposure latitude you get. Digital SLR's now hold as much as 7 stops of usable range, about on par with print film.

So, there's your explanation. Now for answers.

If you expose anything 3 stops off you will not get acceptable results with either film or digital.

I can adjust my raw digital images plus/minus 2 stops with software. It's pretty handy, huh?

The advantage of digital is I can do it on my computer. With print film you can do it at printing time. With slide film, I can do it while scanning. But with any method you may lose detail at one end of the spectrum or the other.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

scorpiofish,

Thanks for the information. So the digital SLR's 7 f-stop usable range is pretty much based on its 8 bit gray scale encoding (24 bit color)?

Dee,

Most strobes used with digital cameras are way beyond the 1 manual setting you speak of.

I just thought instead of throwing gadget features like red-eye reduction, they throw in some useful features like dynamic auto ISO adjustment (which I don't even know if it exist.)

Do a little more research on digital cameras in general and you'll see the versatility of what's available in todays market and what's soon to come.

I've played somewhat with other people's digital camera, but most time, its with digital zoom, solarize or any of the gizmo. So I don't really know what useful features there are on digital cameras that doesn't exist in regular SLRs (and I'm not even talking about the recent models.)

I guess I will have to read up alot on the digital cameras and find out its true usefulness besides the stated and obvious.