Help me get good low-light exposures....

[photorat]

Just bought me some fast glass (Jupiter-3 50/1.5), a new batch of Tri-X and some Diafine (to push it to 1250). Now I'm ready for some street light action, theatre or soft lit portraiture. But how do I expose for all that on my M2? 😕

My handheld meter (a Sekonic Twinmate) is pretty useless in low light. At 1600, the lowest EV value on the scale is 6.5, while my R-D1 meters even the brightest object in my living room at night at around 1 or 2. And the most common exposure charts don't go that low either.

So how do I get accurate exposures in low light? A new meter? A rule of thumb I can learn? Or do I need to learn the hard way by myself (by trial and error)? The solution has to be fairly portable (no light meters that weigh more than my camera).

Thanks for any assistance!

 

[Svitantti]

http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm#Light Intensity Chart

+(or) Just use as slow times as you can handheld and full aperture (if it is not too soft etc).

 

[Sparrow]

+(or) Just use as slow times as you can handheld and full aperture (if it is not too soft etc).

Same here, I use a speed one stop below the reciprocal of the lens, in practice anything under 1/30 is likely to have subject blur anyway. I seem to spoil more as I’ve got older, but sometimes a bit of blur and some blocked shadows helps add interest.

 

[Roger Hicks]

(1) The range of acceptable exposures with neg film in low light is enormous. A range of 3 stops or more often produces good pictures, though the mood of each will be different.

(2) There is always far more latitude for overexposure than for underexposure.

(3) Combine this with Svitantti's advice to shoot wide open and you'll get good pics from the start. After that, experience will soon teach you when to stop down or use a higher speed, for even better pictures.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Pickett Wilson]

Get a light meter that will measure the light you shoot in. Probably save you some film. But shooting wide open at the slowest shutter speed you can handhold is an adventure.

 

[historicist]

I find that in low light, guessing or (if it's really dark, as it is most of the time in pubs etc.) shooting wide open at the slowest speed you can hand hold works as well as anything.

In these kinds of situations, there is usually so much contrast that a light meter won't give an appropriate reading anyway unless you take multiple readings, and then you'll be there all night.

 

[Sparrow]

Get a light meter that will measure the light you shoot in. Probably save you some film. But shooting wide open at the slowest shutter speed you can handhold is an adventure.

No point, what do you do with the information if it’s too slow for the subject or too fast for the lens you have.

 

[Pickett Wilson]

That's the adventure part. You put the meter away and bracket like crazy if the photo is important enough. The meter provides adventure with security. At least you'll know you are in a Hail Mary exposure situation.

 

[Sparrow]

That's the adventure part. You put the meter away and bracket like crazy if the photo is important enough. The meter provides adventure with security. At least you'll know you are in a Hail Mary exposure situation.

Really! do you think, how does one read the meter in low light?

PS if it’s an important photo there isn’t time to bracket, whatever that is

 

[mcgrattan]

I've had good luck shooting in pubs and at gigs just doing what's already been described above.

Lens wide-open [or one stop down from wide open] and shutter speed at whatever I think I can hand-hold.

The meters in a couple of my cameras are actually quite good in low light but I got just as good results with the 'wide-open at 1/30 approach'.

 

[40oz]

"So how do I get accurate exposures in low light?"

If you are developing yourself, you'll figure out what you need in different kinds of light pretty quick, if you start with the 1/30 @ f/1.5 strategy. I might start with 1/60 @ f/2, as it's more likely to avoid camera shake. You are already expecting under-exposure, no need to invite motion blur on your properly exposed frames.

 

[payasam]

Those are pretty good pictures, Stewart, given your claim that you spoil many frames. [edit] I'd prefer 1/8 sec. with a normal or a wide, but then I use ASA 100 film almost exclusively.

 

[peter_n]

If you want a really sensitive low light meter, get a Calcu-Light XP. About $50-60 on eBay.

http://www.manuals.qtm.com/p10.htm

 

[oftheherd]

If you want a really sensitive low light meter, get a Calcu-Light XP. About $50-60 on eBay.

http://www.manuals.qtm.com/p10.htm

I've heard a lot of good things about those. Gossen Luna Pro SBC is a good one too. Even the older Luna Pro is good, (but the SBC cells are supposed to have less memory). It's named Luna Pro for a reason. But that said, different films will react differently, especially in the mood, and only practice with your personal tastes will get you where you want to be.

 

[cjm]

My advice is trial and error. In many low light situations you won't even be able to read the meter.

In this shot there was barely enough light to focus. Looking at a meter readout would have been out of the question (unless there are meters with illuminated readouts).

1/4 sec, f1.8, 1600iso

 

[Paul T.]

I tend to find the extremes - bright light, low light easy. THis KOdak guide is a GREAT help...

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/consumer/products/techInfo/ac61/#50714

I love the fact i now know the setting for a burning building off by heart, for next time I see one..

 

[oftheherd]

I think some of the Sekonics have lit dials, and probably others as well. I use the type of pen light that uses an AAA battery or use by Fujica ST 901. It has led readouts of the shutter speeds in the viewfinder. My Yashicas have leds, but only lights next to numbers that I can't see when it is that dark. My Kiev and Press 23 have nothing electronic. With them however, I can often get usable slower speeds by about a stop.

 

[varjag]

In typical street environment, a center-weighted meter will end up too pessimistic about light. Most of the scene is unlit, but at the same time, most of the scene is unimportant and can be cast into shadows. Incident reading is also misleading: you don't usually have equivalent measurement unless you stick the meter to the subject, as with street lighting you are in the land of reverse square law.

A good start is to get a spot reading off the important part - say, human skin - and expose so it registers well on the film.

 

[uhligfd]

You will have to gain experience: on your own, by doing and learning. Eventually you will know.

No lightmeter can help you if there is almost no light. But experience will. So get a tripod, monopod and try with ISO 1600 film, 4 sec, f/2 and see ... and go on to develop your skill from that experiment. Good luck.

 

[Leighgion]

Sign me up as another proponent of the "open wide and shoot slow as you dare" method. When "low light" starts to bump into "no light," exposure accuracy is overrated. It's more about getting any kind of exposure at all.