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  #1  
Old 2nd October 2016, 02:46 PM
rpavich rpavich is offline
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Default Any tips on using an Analyser Pro?

I just got an analyser pro a few days ago and I have been printing like a mad man! It really transformed the darkroom experience for me.

One thing I DID notice is that what I pick for reference points is the largest variable in the recipe. I was printing a super high contrast negative of a chrome hot rod engine and I really got some varied exposures depending on what I picked. It took quite a few pieces of paper until I finally realized that I should just make a test strip, which helped me see what was going on.

I'm wondering if anyone who's spent a lot of time with one has some tips that they've gleaned about how to pick certain places in a negative and why.
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Old 3rd October 2016, 11:58 AM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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first meter for the shadow area, clear area, preferably one with a hint of detail, then meter for the hughlights, a dense area, again preferably one with some slight detail, if the leds at the ends of the grey scale are flashing reduce the paper grade setting until the led's just stop flashing, if the leds are closer together then increase the grade setting until the endpoint led's light up, If you chose areas to meter from with no detail the get the LED's just flash using the grade button, that way you should be pretty close, if not spot on, Some negatives simply do not have enough highlight/shadow detail and the print will come out to dark or light, in that case make a teststrip,one strip should be correct, if say it is 2 steps down then reset the meter for the right exposure, also, if you see a part of the negative looks like it is going to be to dark or to light the also meter those areas and using the high/low button set the led against the area on the grey scale and that will give you the dodge or burn time, note the time, if it is a dodge,say your exposure is ten seconds and the dodge is 3 seconds,then dodge to srea for the correct time, if you need to burn then after the initial exposure re set to the burn time, then press the start button for a few seconds and the analyser wil calculate the burn time from the initial exposure, that is job done , this is a potted course in using the Analyser/pro, practice makes perfect, following the above you should very soon get the hang of using the analyser and it will become second nature. Enjoy it,
Richard
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Old 3rd October 2016, 12:44 PM
rpavich rpavich is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Gould View Post
first meter for the shadow area, clear area, preferably one with a hint of detail, then meter for the hughlights, a dense area, again preferably one with some slight detail, if the leds at the ends of the grey scale are flashing reduce the paper grade setting until the led's just stop flashing, if the leds are closer together then increase the grade setting until the endpoint led's light up, If you chose areas to meter from with no detail the get the LED's just flash using the grade button, that way you should be pretty close, if not spot on, Some negatives simply do not have enough highlight/shadow detail and the print will come out to dark or light, in that case make a teststrip,one strip should be correct, if say it is 2 steps down then reset the meter for the right exposure, also, if you see a part of the negative looks like it is going to be to dark or to light the also meter those areas and using the high/low button set the led against the area on the grey scale and that will give you the dodge or burn time, note the time, if it is a dodge,say your exposure is ten seconds and the dodge is 3 seconds,then dodge to srea for the correct time, if you need to burn then after the initial exposure re set to the burn time, then press the start button for a few seconds and the analyser wil calculate the burn time from the initial exposure, that is job done , this is a potted course in using the Analyser/pro, practice makes perfect, following the above you should very soon get the hang of using the analyser and it will become second nature. Enjoy it,
Richard
Thanks Richard, I think what's giving me trouble in general is that I've been metering featureless sky as a highlight. Bringing that featureless/cloudless sky in to get tone is a problem. I'll keep working at it. Overall, I'm very impressed at what I'm able to do with just this short amount of time working with it.
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Old 3rd October 2016, 01:49 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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No problem metering from a bright sky for highlight, to get tone in the sky with the analyser is fairly simple, after the initial metering meter from the sky,meter again from the sky, set the led from the second metering of the sky to the point on the grey scale that you want for the tne in the sky then read of the amount of extra time needed to get the tone, then using the burn feature on the analyser burn in the sky, again it takes practice to be able to judge the tone you want, it gets easier the more you do it, It took me awhile to get used to using it, now it is second nature, it is indeed a great tool for printing, one that I would not like to be without,
Richard
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Old 3rd October 2016, 01:53 PM
rpavich rpavich is offline
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Originally Posted by Richard Gould View Post
No problem metering from a bright sky for highlight, to get tone in the sky with the analyser is fairly simple, after the initial metering meter from the sky,meter again from the sky, set the led from the second metering of the sky to the point on the grey scale that you want for the tne in the sky then read of the amount of extra time needed to get the tone, then using the burn feature on the analyser burn in the sky, again it takes practice to be able to judge the tone you want, it gets easier the more you do it, It took me awhile to get used to using it, now it is second nature, it is indeed a great tool for printing, one that I would not like to be without,
Richard
Thanks again Richard, I have a lot of practicing to do, fortunately, the Analyser pro makes it enjoyable.
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Old 3rd October 2016, 02:54 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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Thanks again Richard, I have a lot of practicing to do, fortunately, the Analyser pro makes it enjoyable.
Your welcome, it is indeed a great piece of gear, personally I would put it as indespenciable and it pays for itself in no time with the paper you save,
Richard
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Old 3rd October 2016, 04:23 PM
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Jon Butler Jon Butler is offline
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If your a printer the Stop Clock Pro is better.
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