Night photography with Bessa R2/3 ?

[minoltist7]

How to set exposure for night shots with Bessa?
Slowest shutter speed is limited to 1 sec. , so aperture-priority metering seems to be useless.
How can I know how long I should keep shutter open with "Bulb" - 2,3,5 seconds?
Or it is matter of guess?

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

It's a guess.

But you can improve your success, and use Auto, by using the lens wide open and using the very fastest film you can find.

Look in my After Dark Album at http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=6540

Of course they look dark, and that's because I didn't do them in the daylight.

 

[Thardy]

For automatic aperture priority don't you set the aperture and the camera gives you a corresponding shutter speed.

As a test , I just set the ISO to 25, aperture to f/16 and in a darkened room counted shutter speeds from 3 sec up to about 8-10 sec.

(there were varying amounts of light in different parts of the room)

 

[minoltist7]

It's a guess.

But you can improve your success, and use Auto, by using the lens wide open and using the very fastest film you can find.

I did that way, but it is the same as "basic" daylight photography
http://awaken77.livejournal.com/33379.html#cutid1

Now, I want to use a tripod. metering on Bessa will not meter anything longer than 1 second.
Maybe this approach will work: meter on widest open aperture, then close aperture to required F-stop (i.e /8) , re-calculate shutter speed to the given number of stops, and hold "B" button (or cable release) for appropriate number of seconds

 

[Thardy]

Longest shutter speed for r2a and r3a is 8 seconds in automatic mode.

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

I often use Auto, with f1.4 lens wide open, and then turn the shutter speed dial to -1 or -2 (depends) because I want a dark scene to look dark (not gray).

In bars and on the street my shutter speed is usually indicated as 1/8 or 1/4, and you can handhold this if you don't mind a little atmospheric blur.

Best to brace your body somehow against something solid, elbows on a car roof for example, but you'll need to adapt to your location and what's available.

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

Two thoughts:

1 On Auto the shutter indication is just an indication for your information, and the last number is indeed 1. But the camera ignores that indicator and uses the speed it needs, and as said above that's right up to 8 seconds.

2 Look into the photos by nico in the Gallery here. He uses Voigtlander, and is very very good at night photography.

Finally, I looked at your photos at the link you posted. While most are good contrast and tones a couple are a little gray: due to your perhaps changing exposure. From the movement blur in the first photo I'd guess you were using 1/15 second or so.

Contrast that with the movement blur in my one (below) which I think was about 1/4 second.

 

[rpsawin]

If you intend to do alot of night/time exposures consider a hand held spot meter.

Bob

 

[Calvin]

If you intend to do alot of night/time exposures consider a hand held spot meter.

Bob

Agreed. The handheld light meter do help a lot in dim environment. If you shoted B&W, ISO 3200 by Ilford may be a good choice.

 

[minoltist7]

Two thoughts:

1 On Auto the shutter indication is just an indication for your information, and the last number is indeed 1. But the camera ignores that indicator and uses the speed it needs, and as said above that's right up to 8 seconds.

Thanks. I thought that longest in Auto mode is 1 sec (LED in the viewfinder disappears if shutter speed goes after 1 sec). So, I used Bulb mode and tripod for anything longer then 1 sec.