essential skills: photographic lighting
Introduction There is an overwhelming range of image capture mediums now available to the professional and amateur photographer. These range from digital image sensors to various color and black and white film emulsions. Choosing the appropriate medium for the job is an essential skill for every photographer.
Capture mediums Light-sensitive surfaces can be divided into four main types: ~ ~ ~ ~
Digital image sensors Black and white negative Color negative Color transparency (positive or slide film).
Digital image sensors are not interchangeable but most digital cameras allow alteration of the image sensor to its degree of sensitivity to light (ISO setting) and ‘white balance’ adjustments to allow for different light sources used in the illumination of the subject. Color negative and color transparency films are distinguished by a number of identifying labels. Films ending with the suffix ‘chrome’, e.g. Ektachrome, Fujichrome, are transparency films. Film names ending with the suffix ‘color’ are negative films, e.g. Fujicolor, Kodacolor. Film boxes will indicate the type of processing required for the film. C-41 indicates the film is a color negative film whilst E-6 indicates the film is a transparency reversal film. Mini-labs are gradually phasing out film processing in favor of digital output, leaving E-6 processing to the professional labs.
35mm and full frame DSLR image sensor
645 Relative size of formats
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Each main film type (negative or positive) is available in 35mm, 120 roll film and 4” x 5” sheet film. 120 roll film is suitable for the entire range of medium-format cameras from the smaller 6 x 4.5cm cameras to the popular 6 x 6cm and 6 x 7cm cameras through to the specialist panoramic cameras shooting frames as wide as 6 x 17cm.
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