Gossen Starlite - Manual (Page 34)

34 GOSSEN Foto- und Lichtmeßtechnik
12 Contrast and optimal exposure
The basic rules for optimal exposure are that the
brightest areas on the color reversal film (slide) or
the darkest areas on the negative must be suffi-
ciently defined. Personal taste and intentions in
terms of artistic form can of course make these
rules null and void. For this reason, only general
recommendations on optional exposure can be
made.
In comparison to the human eye, film and paper
material can only process a small degree of con-
trast – it is important that this fact be kept in mind.
With the Starlite you can determine illumination
contrast by way of the incident light measuring
method and subject contrast using the reflected
light measuring method. In both cases the ana-
logue display shows the contrast. The proper exposure for your subject can not be
achieved if you measure the brightest and darkest
areas. These should be either a medium grey in
the subject or should form the average value from
the measurement results of the brightest and
darkest areas. The Starlite calculates the average
value for you automatically. If you discover that the
subject contrast is greater than can be processed
by your film, you can brighten up the shade, for
example with an umbrella or using a flash, which
will reduce the subject contrast. When considering
the subject contrast from an average value, the
following rules of thumb apply: