[font color=\'#000000\']Although I cannot answer your specific TMAX 3200 question …
Early results from my available light tests using ISO 400 and 800 show that in general there is a full 6 stop range from white with no detail to black with no detail—about 2/3 of a stop more than slide film. (I haven’t yet tested ISO 1250). However, that assessment was made with the in-camera and File Viewer histograms, which as it turns out, are not the end of the story.
A few days ago, I had an enlightening conversation with Chuck Westfall, director (or assistant director) of the Technical Information Department at Canon USA. He mentioned that the RAW file could contain an additional 2/3 of a stop of shadow data--extractable from the RAW file using exposure compensation during the conversion process. This shouldn’t be a surprise—given that other digital cameras like the D60 exhibit similar characteristics. What was surprising to me, however, is the remarkable depth of detail available from the data on the far left of the histogram.
However, this does not appear to be true at the other end of the histogram, where the sensor behaves more like traditional slide film—blow out your highlights and they’re gone. During outdoor testing under contrasty lighting, I was, more often than not, spot metering or exposing at -2/3 of a stop in order to protect the highlights. I expected the dark colors and shadows to go dead. They didn’t.
What I’ve learned so far is this: (1) like slide film, expose for and protect the highlights; (2) for maximum flexibility and the best possible results, shoot RAW whenever possible; (3) to take advantage of that flexibility, use RAW file converters that allow for exposure control; and (4) to salvage those images that otherwise would be lost, use photo editing programs that allow for multiple image blending, like Photoshop and Picture Window.
Will Tompkins[/font]
