IRE levels for exposing dark skin

[jonnyh1968]

Hi. I typically expose the face so the key light reading (the highlights) falls under 70 IRE. And I'm always happy with the results. Does this hold true for very dark - black skin tones? Thanks.

 

[AwakenedFilms]

No sir. 40-50 IRE depending on the skin tone. HVX's Zebra doesn't go below 70, so you will need a waveform monitor (like the panasonic) or figure roughly 1-2 stops below Caucasian skin tone.


Jason

 

[RyanT]

AwakenedFilms, the HVX has a spot meter function that you can use to find out the IRE of anything you point the camera at.

 

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

AwakenedFilms, the HVX has a spot meter function that you can use to find out the IRE of anything you point the camera at.

On the topic of IRE... does an 18% grey card, yield a '50%' IRE? How does the 7.5% setup affect the location of 'middle'...

My 'rule of thumb' has been:

fair complexion (that is fair and untanned) skin 1-1.5 stop open from 18% grey.
middle complexion, and deep tanned fair skin, about 18%.
dark complexion, .5-1 stop closed from 18%.

 

[Jimmy Moss]

I have the HVX200A and you can set the zebras to anywhere between 50IRE- and 105IRE, in 5% increments. Caucasian facetones should be between 60 and 80 IRE around 70 somewhere. Darker brown and black facetones should be between 50 and 30 IRE. Each stop is about 20IRE on the scale.

You can just find the 50% exposure for their face and then stop down 1 to 1/2 stop.