Creagerj
Incidental Artist
I was wondering if anyone had some tips for shoot without a meeter. I know of a couple, such as sunny 16. Are there any others?
Shooting w/o a meeter...any tips?
- Thread starter Creagerj
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 14
- Views 1K
kaiyen
local man of mystery
Sunny 16 works for me. Just know the changes needed for different lighting conditions.
sunny 16 if midday sun, harsh shadows
sunny 11 if the shadows have fuzzy edges
sunny 8 if the shadows are just vague blurry slightly-darker areas
sunny 5.6 if there are no shadows
add a stop for side light
add 2 stops for back light
that usually works for me.
allan
sunny 16 if midday sun, harsh shadows
sunny 11 if the shadows have fuzzy edges
sunny 8 if the shadows are just vague blurry slightly-darker areas
sunny 5.6 if there are no shadows
add a stop for side light
add 2 stops for back light
that usually works for me.
allan
Graham Line
Well-known
Learn to read the shadows and reflectance . . . anything that makes you squint is f22, for example.
Somewhere on the Web is a copy of the older detailed Kodak exposure sheet. To help you learn, there are also good tables in the older Kodak Pocket Guides and the coil bound guide Time-Life put out in the '70s. You'll learn very quickly.
Somewhere on the Web is a copy of the older detailed Kodak exposure sheet. To help you learn, there are also good tables in the older Kodak Pocket Guides and the coil bound guide Time-Life put out in the '70s. You'll learn very quickly.
rool
Well-known
RayPA
Ignore It (It'll go away)
If you can, iit really helps to carry a meter around with you for a while, probably for a month or two and just take random light meter readings. It looks a little odd, but it'll train your eye. I always look at shadows to help estimate exposure. What you'll find though is the Sunny-16 rule is pretty accrate. It's just the other situations you'll need to learn how to identify.
🙂
🙂
canonetc
canonetc
Bracket. 🙂
Chris
canonetc
Chris
canonetc
Graham Line
Well-known
Ahhhhh yes. But how do you select the f/stop around which to bracket?
Rafael
Mandlerian
RayPA said:
This technique has worked really well for me. I still carry the meter with me. But nowadays, I tend only to take one or two readings when I first leave the house, just to get my bearings. After that, I can usually estimate exposures quite accurately.
peterc
Heretic
As suggested by others, carry a meter and a Sunny 16 table for a while and meter various situations and see where they fall on the table. Then change it around and use the table and then meter to see if your reading of the light was accurate. After a while you won't need the table or the meter.
Also, you could try using wide-latitude films. Ilford XP2 and Kodak 400CN have an exposure latitude of about 5 stops.
Peter
Also, you could try using wide-latitude films. Ilford XP2 and Kodak 400CN have an exposure latitude of about 5 stops.
Peter
JMP
Established
ferider said:
I basically do it like this, though instead of trying to recall combinations of shutter speeds and f stops, along with the EV numbers, I remember the progression as stops. This way, I only have to recall the situational description and its number of stops. For me, it allows easier control over aperture and shutter speed.
Some examples:
subject in sunlight: 0 stops- f16 @ x(film speed)
overcast: 2 stops- f8 @ x
subject in open shade: 4 stops- f4 @ x
bright interior: 8 stops- here one would have to adjust the shutter speed as well, unless one wanted very shallow depth of field and had a very fast lens
Here's some good advice and situational descriptions to start with: http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm#useful
vrgard
Well-known
Hey Memphis, any chance you can post a slightly larger picture of that chart on your Rolleicord? I opened the one you posted and it was still too small to make out much of the chart. Thanks in advance.
-Randy
-Randy
vrgard
Well-known
Muchos gracias, Memphis!
MelanieC
Well-known
Hmmm, gonna have to have a look at the back of the Rollei!
I don't meter most of the time, but I don't know that that's a good thing. You can take a look at the few shots that there are in my gallery and make up your own mind. I sort of use a bastardized version of sunny 16 but I open it up a stop or two because I have a hood and a yellow filter on my lens. I also mostly use Tri-X which as far as I can tell is idiot-proof.
If it's really low light I have this tendency to try slower shutter speeds sort of at random. As far as I can tell, this tactic does not work very well. Don't try this.
I do have an ancient, tiny Sekonic that is pretty accurate according to the guys at a local camera shop. Occasionally I'll use it. I find that the recommendations it gives me are usually close to what I would have used anyway.
I only picked up my cameras and started shooting less than four months ago, so take everything I say with a few grains of salt.
I don't meter most of the time, but I don't know that that's a good thing. You can take a look at the few shots that there are in my gallery and make up your own mind. I sort of use a bastardized version of sunny 16 but I open it up a stop or two because I have a hood and a yellow filter on my lens. I also mostly use Tri-X which as far as I can tell is idiot-proof.
If it's really low light I have this tendency to try slower shutter speeds sort of at random. As far as I can tell, this tactic does not work very well. Don't try this.
I do have an ancient, tiny Sekonic that is pretty accurate according to the guys at a local camera shop. Occasionally I'll use it. I find that the recommendations it gives me are usually close to what I would have used anyway.
I only picked up my cameras and started shooting less than four months ago, so take everything I say with a few grains of salt.
T
tedwhite
Guest
Well, as I just happen to have a Rolleiflex sitting on my desk:
The top line, going from left to right: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. Below that, and lining up under these numbers:
f:22: 250 125 60 30 15 8 4 2
f:16: 125 60 30 15 8 4 2 1
f:11: 60 30 15 8 4 2 1
f: 8: 30 15 8 4 2 1
f:5.6: 15 8 4 2 1
f: 4: 8 4 2 1
f:3.5: 6 3 1.5
f:2.8: 4 2 1
I don't know that much about Rolleis, which sounds silly as I've been using them for years, but those weird numbers at f:3.5 may indicate that you can get them by setting the f: stop indicator between say, 3.5 and 2.8; and between 2 and 1?
In all the years I've used them, I confess I never really looked at the chart until this moment, as I've always used either a meter, or an educated eye.
By the latter term I mean this: When I first started out I dogged the footsteps of a freelance photographer, Roy Shigley. He used a beat up, meterless Nikon, or maybe it was a Pentax, I don't remember for sure, but he sold a lot of photographs. He would look at a scene and say, "f:8, 1/125th." I would consult my meter. Same thing. After a time he said, "Leave the meter home." Then it would be my turn: "f:11, 1/250th." (brighter scene). I'd be right, or I'd be wrong, but with practice, lots of practice, eventually I too (feeling very professional by now), would appraise a scene and say, "f:8, 1/125th." Shigley would look at me and wink.
So the earlier advice from Peter about starting out with a meter and learning to appraise with your eye as the meter does, will finally work if you're patient. Well, most of the time. There will be those tricky situations that will fool you. Sometimes they'll fool the meter, too. Which is where bracketing comes to the fore. Bracketing is the cheapest insurance I know of.
Ted
The top line, going from left to right: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. Below that, and lining up under these numbers:
f:22: 250 125 60 30 15 8 4 2
f:16: 125 60 30 15 8 4 2 1
f:11: 60 30 15 8 4 2 1
f: 8: 30 15 8 4 2 1
f:5.6: 15 8 4 2 1
f: 4: 8 4 2 1
f:3.5: 6 3 1.5
f:2.8: 4 2 1
I don't know that much about Rolleis, which sounds silly as I've been using them for years, but those weird numbers at f:3.5 may indicate that you can get them by setting the f: stop indicator between say, 3.5 and 2.8; and between 2 and 1?
In all the years I've used them, I confess I never really looked at the chart until this moment, as I've always used either a meter, or an educated eye.
By the latter term I mean this: When I first started out I dogged the footsteps of a freelance photographer, Roy Shigley. He used a beat up, meterless Nikon, or maybe it was a Pentax, I don't remember for sure, but he sold a lot of photographs. He would look at a scene and say, "f:8, 1/125th." I would consult my meter. Same thing. After a time he said, "Leave the meter home." Then it would be my turn: "f:11, 1/250th." (brighter scene). I'd be right, or I'd be wrong, but with practice, lots of practice, eventually I too (feeling very professional by now), would appraise a scene and say, "f:8, 1/125th." Shigley would look at me and wink.
So the earlier advice from Peter about starting out with a meter and learning to appraise with your eye as the meter does, will finally work if you're patient. Well, most of the time. There will be those tricky situations that will fool you. Sometimes they'll fool the meter, too. Which is where bracketing comes to the fore. Bracketing is the cheapest insurance I know of.
Ted
ChrisN
Striving
Similar threads
