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Old 9th December 2014, 11:32 AM
RussKelly RussKelly is offline
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Default Ilford MG 500 probe.

Hi all.
I have now got my Ilford 500 / Durst combination up and running and I must say I am very pleased with the initial results.
My question concerns the optional 500P probe, I would like to try one but have read a few reports from various sources which do not rate them very highly. Before I commit myself to buying one, can anyone be more specific and tell me what the advantages/disadvantages of the probe are??
Many Thanks
Russ
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  #2  
Old 9th December 2014, 01:49 PM
sbandone sbandone is offline
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Default Ilford 500 MG Probe

I have the 500 probe and have found it to be quite useful as a starting point
You position it in the shadow area where you want a hint of detail without safelights on and it will give you an exposure reading.
If the negative is well balanced tonally then it will give a good estimate of exposure, ensuring that detail is retained in the shadows.
It is useful for determining contact sheet exposure as you can measure the unexposed film base and it will compensate for base fog

If you have to change a bulb however it will need to be recalibrated against a standard negative

Not sure though whether it is worth an investment - it is almost as easy to work from a test strip, especially using f stop timing. You can easily determine, for a given column height and f stop, the required exposure to produce the first solid black step when printing through an piece of developed film which has no exposure, only base fog. That exposure if then applied to the required frame at the same settings will tell you more than the meter. i.e. It will show if it is under/over exposed/ developed etc. You can then take it forward from there, to get the right exposure for the highlights and contrast grade for the shadows

You then are in charge!

Hope that helps

Stewart
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Old 10th December 2014, 10:12 AM
JOReynolds JOReynolds is offline
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Default Ilford Multigrade 500P

I agree with sbandone - the probe is a useful starting point. But don't expect too much - pictorial photography doesn't obey rules, so individual judgement as to which area is representative of 'shadow' varies.
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Old 11th December 2014, 03:23 PM
Tom Kershaw Tom Kershaw is offline
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Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by JOReynolds View Post
I agree with sbandone - the probe is a useful starting point. But don't expect too much - pictorial photography doesn't obey rules, so individual judgement as to which area is representative of 'shadow' varies.
I'm not over-keen on measuring and probes for printing; normally find I can get a good idea of exposure from a guesstimate test print.

Tom
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