Proper negative density.

Grandpa Ron

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I know this sound really dumb to those who work with film but It has been decades since I dabbled it developer.

My question is, how do you know when your negative is the proper density?

I have had color prints returned from the photo labs and the photos looked fine. The negative however ranged from light to very dark. The printing machine obviously compensated for the different exposures.

I am going to try some 4x5 black and white film shots. At this point all I can do is,
  • Trust the light meter reading for shutter speed and f stop.
  • Trust the developer instructions for time and temperature.
Is there anyway to tell if the negative is too dark or too light; or is it not that critical?
 
The short answer is a DeJur model 6a circa 1950 light meter. It is the classic photocell and meter but gave me fairly decent exposure settings when I was doing some 35mm Pinhole camera experiments with Fuji color film.

I love tinkering with classic gear, in this case I restored a 1910 vintage Seneca view camera, I was given a 128 mm Wollensak lens from an old Polaroid. The image looks fine on the ground glass so I bought some 100 ISO film. Then I dawned on me, how do I know if the film exposure is correct.

With cut film I can start in the back yard and do a couple of sheets at a time. I even thought about pulling the dark slide half way and doing a 1 stop bracket on the same sheet.
 

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