StanCox:
If your key is at F8 and your fill at F5.6 your lens should be set to F8 and a half. ,

Stan, what does 8 and a half mean? My apertures are 8, 9, and 10 on the camera. How do you figure 8and a half, in relation to the lights being set at those two readings?

Good question, Jesse! And good call! With film cameras you have full F-stops such as F5.6, F8, F11, F16 etc, and you can set the aperture between any of them to get the "and a half", but with digital cameras, (at least Nikons), there are 1/3 stops, ie F9, F10 between F8 and F11. So, what I do when the light is set at F8 + 1/2, is to set my aperture to F9. Technically that would be a fraction over exposed, but with Nikon cameras that are skewed toward UNDER exposure, it works out fine...especially if you shoot in RAW.
ALOHA!

You can set (most of the) Nikons to 1/2 stop increments too if you desire to do so. If you do (on the D70 it's the csm #9, change the EV step from the default 1/3 step to 1/2 step), there would only be one number between f8 and f11, something like f9.5. I leave mine on 1/3 step and set the light meter accordingly to measure down to 1/3 stop for more precise control.

thanks you guys, I figured you were going to say it would be f9, but wanted to ask anyway.

Larry, I leave mine at 1/3 stops too, and don't really want to change it. I do have a meter I use.

Hi Stan,

Maybe I misunderstood but did you imply that film cameras couldn't be set to 1/3 stops. I don't mean to correct your but my Minolta Maxxum 9 allows me to set 1/3 stop increments.

Regards,
George

Hey George!

No, my reference was to Nikon cameras...I said film cameras, but my experience is with Bronica and Nikon. Both you can set at any fraction between stops, but it's a lot easier to set them accurately at half stop increments as it only clicks into full stops. (if that makes sense...)
Aloha,