Just developed my first roll out of my M3...

Neway, my first roll was ****e too. I thinking changing over to a rangefinder system, learning how to read light is such a great experience. There's heap of advice here already. Take what suits you and run with that. Main thing is to enjoy, express and live life.
 
Until you have figured out lighting situations, and if you need the shot, meter-and notice the setting and situation.

All that auto-expose stuff and ttl metering in camera came about for a reason!
 
astrosecret said:
I wouldn't guess exposure on a manual camera. Ever. Even outside.
Click to expand...

+1.

I am not ashamed of saying that I use a meter in every situation.

When I am indoors, I just have to take the reading once and I am set for as long as I want, as long as the lights don't blow out. :bang::bang:

I use a Sekonic L 208 which is very cheap and has given me excellent exposures. I love incident metering. 😛
 
I was in the same exact situation over the Summer with my M3 as well. Google "Ultimate exposure computer" I found the information there very helpful. I have also learned a huge amount from using film and a manual camera; there is so much to learn! I did get a Voightlander VCII meter from Steve at Cameraquest, which fits wonderfully on the M3. It is useful but I am trying to free myself from it.

I started with Tmax film because I liked the potential, but some said that it was "unforgiving" I didn't quite know what that meant, and still don't, but I would agree that it is unforgiving. I have gotten some great results with it and some horrible ones as well.

Another bit of advice that I thought was good was to choose a film and stick with it. I decided to go with Tri-X, a little pedestrian perhaps, but good, predictable results.

The last bit of good advice someone passed along was, "never get rid of your M3, you'll regret it." I hadn't planned on it, but will remember that if I ever think that I have "grown out of" my M3. I hope that you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine, and take it to the wedding, even if the photos don;t come out great you'll be the coolest camera guy there!
 
CSG123 said:
Sorry but I think this is terrible advice. Learning how to read light and a variety of situations is a hallmark of a competent photographer. Relying totally on a meter is no smarter than relying totally on S16. One should learn how to read light whether or not it costs you a few rolls of film to learn.

Like I said, on my first roll after getting my M4 and having not shot without a meter since the late 60's/early 70's, I still managed to expose almost all my photos properly simply using S16.

Most smart photographers using strictly manual, non-metered cameras will keep a meter handy but they won't need to rely on it before pressing the shutter if they have a bit of knowledge and experience.
Click to expand...

+1

..........
 
The iPhone LightMeter app is good.

I often keep a digital point and shoot in my pocket. Works as a light meter, takes a record shot, date/time stamp, and other useful stuff. Macho, no... but it works.

Yes, provided you adjust for ISO and any filter in use, the digital should give a valid meter reading.
 
Thanks for all the advice, guys! So what I ended up doing was asking some random guest that had an dSLR (cuz there's ALWAYS at least a handful at every wedding) and he gave me a reading of 1" at f/6.3... So I'm like.. CRAP... So now the finger counting goes... counting down how many from 5.6 to get to f/2 (I have a collapsible 'Cron) and then adjusting my shutter speed accordingly... I ended up shooting most of the wedding at 1/60 at f/2 a handful of shots were done in 1/30 when the lights were dimmed a bit... I'm thinking that might have been a little on the dark side... So I was thinking about having the developer push it 1 stop up so that I can get at least brighter pictures rather than darker ones.. I think I have a TMax 400 in there... That should be okay, right??

But I think i have about 7 shots left on the roll, I'll definitely scan them in once I get it developed.. I'm pretty excited to see how it turns out.. At this point what I'm afraid of is shooting at a slow speed, are any blurry movement shots that might have occured.. Although I tried not even going for those shots, knowing I wouldnt be able to handle them.
 
neway said:
I ended up shooting most of the wedding at 1/60 at f/2 a handful of shots were done in 1/30 when the lights were dimmed a bit... I'm thinking that might have been a little on the dark side... So I was thinking about having the developer push it 1 stop up so that I can get at least brighter pictures rather than darker ones.. I think I have a TMax 400 in there...
Click to expand...

Someone here will know better, but to me that sounds like 1-2 stop underexposure. I'm usually shooting f2 & 1/15 -1/30 indoors with 400 ASA film, but obviously this depends on the lighting...

I would push the film by at least one stop in development, but then again with Tmax developer I think the 1 stop push development time is the same as for regular 🙂
 
Last edited:
randomm said:
I would push the film by at least one stop in development, but then again with Tmax developer I think the 1 stop push development time is the same as for regular 🙂
Click to expand...

Hmm? Can you clarify this for me? I have not yet developed my own film and I'm not too sure what you mean by this..
 
Tao, I have *absolutely* no intentions of developing my own film.. I'll leave that to someone with more space to do things with. haha!

Randomm, so if I were to tell my lab to push it.. should I tell him to go 2 stops ahead instead? What should I do?
 
neway said:
Tao, I have *absolutely* no intentions of developing my own film.. I'll leave that to someone with more space to do things with. haha!

Randomm, so if I were to tell my lab to push it.. should I tell him to go 2 stops ahead instead? What should I do?
Click to expand...

Well, if I were you I would tell them to push it by two stops, but then again its your film - please don't blame me if you don't get results that you were hoping for.

If the pictures are important to you perhaps it might be a good idea to expose another similar film in similar lighting conditions using similar shutter & aperture settings, have that developed and see what the results are like.
 
So... can the film be perhaps pushed in 1/2 stop increments?

And I think I know the answer to this already.. but I can't "redevelop" the film, can I?
 
neway said:
So... can the film be perhaps pushed in 1/2 stop increments?

And I think I know the answer to this already.. but I can't "redevelop" the film, can I?
Click to expand...

Processing film yourself you can go in infinite steps if you like, its just a process where you keep the film in the developer for longer than usual to get detail developed onto an under-exposed film emulsion. I doubt any lab would process your film if you'd tell them to "push it by 1.5 stops", as they can't look up the times in any development chart.

And, no you can't redevelop film.
 
When I first switched to fully manual, I still had to rely on a metering system for a while. In this situation, I probably wouldn't use an M3 indoors and would take my M6 instead. But once you get an accurate meter readout from different places inside the church, you should be fine. In daylight, the film should be lenient enough to provide good prints from most 'guesstimated' exposures.
 
neway said:
Thanks for all the advice, guys! So what I ended up doing was asking some random guest that had an dSLR (cuz there's ALWAYS at least a handful at every wedding) and he gave me a reading of 1" at f/6.3... So I'm like.. CRAP... So now the finger counting goes... counting down how many from 5.6 to get to f/2 (I have a collapsible 'Cron) and then adjusting my shutter speed accordingly... I ended up shooting most of the wedding at 1/60 at f/2 a handful of shots were done in 1/30 when the lights were dimmed a bit... I'm thinking that might have been a little on the dark side... So I was thinking about having the developer push it 1 stop up so that I can get at least brighter pictures rather than darker ones.. I think I have a TMax 400 in there... That should be okay, right??

But I think i have about 7 shots left on the roll, I'll definitely scan them in once I get it developed.. I'm pretty excited to see how it turns out.. At this point what I'm afraid of is shooting at a slow speed, are any blurry movement shots that might have occured.. Although I tried not even going for those shots, knowing I wouldnt be able to handle them.
Click to expand...

There was a crucial piece of information missing: what ISO was that person's dslr set at when he gave you the exposure reading?

--Warren
 
Warren T. said:
There was a crucial piece of information missing: what ISO was that person's dslr set at when he gave you the exposure reading?

--Warren
Click to expand...

You're absolutely right.... I want to say I caught a quick glimpse and say it was ISO400.. but I can't be 100% certain.. I just remember thinking to myself that "okay it's the same ISO as mine, so I don't have to worry about it." But that might be me thinking too much into it now..

Man, I think I'm going to push it an extra stop and hope for the best.. there are a lot of great shots in there and Id rather have it a lil over exposed than under exposed...

But the rest of the math, I remember shooting most of it at 1/60-1/30 at f/2 for most of the evening.. That sounds hopefully about right in a typical chinese restaurant setting? I hope?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom