Sunny 16 and sunglasses

[rbiemer]

I just recently got new eyeglasses and have ordered new sunglasses.
I've worn eyeglasses for most of my life and sunglasses--either clip ons or prescription--for the last 35 years or so.
And, after a short while with each new pair, have successfully figured out the "filter factor" of my sunglasses.
So, shooting meterless has not been especially tough for me. Not perfect by any means but I was able to achieve fairly consistent results.
Except for the last pair of glasses I had; I let myself get talked into photo grey lenses. Those are the lenses that darken based on UV exposure and are supposed to make sunglasses un-necessary. Didn't work for me. I have had too many over exposed photos in the two years I've been wearing them. :bang:
I think the reason why is that those lenses weren't consistently dark and that they changed gradually enough that I wasn't cluing into that they were darker than I thought they were.
So I have gone back to separate sunglasses. Should have them the end of next week.😎 And not too long after that I'll be confidently shooting my meterless cameras again.
Rob

 

[loquax ludens]

That sounds fascinating, but I don't understand, Rob. How is it that knowing the "filter factor" of your sunglasses helps you to shoot meterless?

 

[rbiemer]

That sounds fascinating, but I don't understand, Rob. How is it that knowing the "filter factor" of your sunglasses helps you to shoot meterless?

I probably could have used better wording than "filter factor" but what I mean is that with sunglasses, they will make the scene on front of me appear darker but always by the same amount. After a short time I know how much I should adjust what I think the exposure should be be.
On clear sunny days, I just go with sunny 16 regardless of whether I'm wearing my sunglasses or not. But on, for example, overcast but still bright days, where I might add a bit more exposure if I'm wearing my sunglasses it will appear darker than it really is and I need to adjust my estimate for that.
Hope I explained myself better!
Rob

 

[loquax ludens]

Yes, that makes sense now. I can see how the auto-darkening glasses could throw you off.

 

[bayusuputra]

Yes, that makes sense now. I can see how the auto-darkening glasses could throw you off.

yup, actually i just realized that too.. the glasses could be 1+ in a minute and the next minute, it is 3+, when you are still thinking that it is 1+.. not mentioning that our eyes would get accustomed to the "filter factor" that it will not notice the subtle difference of gradual darkness.. (hope everyone understand what i'm talking about..😛)

 

[Graham Line]

I really dislike my auto-dimming glasses. Won't buy those again.

Your Sunny 16 results will be better if you learn to read shadows. Your eye and brain compensate too much for ambient lighting to make your impression of light intensity reliable.

Remember the old Kodak sheets? I had a link at one time. Hard-edged shadows call for f/16, soft shadows/'cloudy bright' f/11, open shade f/8 and so on.

Here is the wisdom of Photo.net.

And here is what I use.

 

[charjohncarter]

I didn't like my auto-darkening glasses either. I always felt my iris (eyes) were accommodating better that the glasses. In others words, they never got dark enough to be useful. Maybe you should think about 3-4 glasses with different filter factors.

 

[Graham Line]

My complaint was they didn't work at all in the car (fine on the motorbike), and took too long to clear indoors.

 

[rbiemer]

Joe Brugger, yes those kodak guides are pretty good, I have a couple of little books with that info (and ome other stuff; flash bulb guides, macro info, etc ).
The glasses are useless inside cars since the windshield block most(all?) UV so they are worthless for driving!
charjohncarter, don't really want 3 or 4 different pairs of sunglasses! But the single dark pair I will have next week will be much darker than the Transitions pair I've retired.
Rob