Sunny 16 crutch, anyone?

[Huck Finn]

I'm not as bright as the average bear, so I often need a crutch for the things other people can do off the top of their heads. A few weeks ago I found a crib sheet for the Sunny 16 rule. It arrived in yesterday's mail & it is really neat.

It's called the "Harris Photoguide for Xisting Light" & it is definitely 1950s' technology. No pocketable mini-computer here. No electronics. It is a laminated card, folded into 3 panels so that it fits easily into a shirt pocket - or any other pocket - & it slips into a clear plastic envelope for protection. The "technology" consists of a wheel that you turn to align film speed with existing light conditions, which will then tell you your shutter speed & f/stop combination. There is one wheel for outdoor conditions & another for indoor lighting. Additional explanatory information is provided on the other panels. I really like it - just what a bonehead like me needs. Cost is $14 + shipping.

More information can be found here: www.harrisphotos.com/BetterPhot.html

Huck

 

[RayPA]

Looks like a really good training guide. I'm rarely without some kind of meter when I shoot, so that's my crutch; but I'm getting pretty good at guessing settings and adjusting for light changes. I always try to verify my guesses against my handheld, or camera, meter, as I move along (again, my crutch).

 

[Huck Finn]

I don't always trust my meter, Ray, so I'm trying to improve my own judgment.

Huck

 

[back alley]

i've seen that or a variation of that chart for as long as i can remember.
didn't kodak have something similar in one of their pocket guides?

it's a great tool.

joe

 

[JOE1951]

Thats interesting

I recall reading on a web site somewhere, a guy was training in the military as a photographer and how their assignments were to make all their exposures with nothing more than film manufacturers exposure charts.

I think the purpose of the exercise was to reinforce that setting exposure is really not that hard to figure out.

<grumpy old man rant>

I've heard similar from mathematics professors at the university I work at, that slide rulers and such actually give a student a far better understanding of how formulas work and the relationships to the problems they are working on, as opposed to pushing buttons into a calculator.

I'm not suggesting that everyone now throw away thier sekonics and gossens, but I do think alot of the auto-everything cameras really creating an unnecessary crutch for beginning photographers.

</grumpy old man rant>

That being said, I want one! I'm sure it's probably more acurate than my Wirgen extinction meter or my Leningrad 1 🙂

 

[Max Power]

If you do a search here on RFF you will find a template for one in .pdf I think that Rick Oleson and RJR had something to do with it.

It's precisely the same idea: you print it out onto an A4 sheet and then cut it out. There is an outer sleeve and an inner which can be switched for either Sunny-11 or Sunny-16.

It's brilliant...I rely on mine a lot...

Kent

 

[Max Power]

Found it 🙂

Look towards the bottom of this thread: Paper Extinction Meter

Look under Roman's post...

Kent

 

[Roger Hicks]

Practice. Practice. More practice. Plus the realization that with neg, an extra stop does very little harm.

Cheers,

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com)

 

[dostacos]

well there goes another $16 dollars....😀

 

[Doug]

Yes, Joe; I believe it was called something like Kodak Pocket Data Guide. I got one in about 1963 and might still have it here somewhere... Among other useful pages, it contained a disk riveted to one of the pages that formed an exposure calculator.

This was THE exposure learning tool for me, and I recall what a revelation it was when it helped me "discover" exposure reciprocity.

 

[oftheherd]

...

I recall reading on a web site somewhere, a guy was training in the military as a photographer and how their assignments were to make all their exposures with nothing more than film manufacturers exposure charts.

I think the purpose of the exercise was to reinforce that setting exposure is really not that hard to figure out.

...

When I was in the Army, I went to a school where we were given a one week segment of primarily 4x5 photography with Speed Graphics. Among other things the old sarge taught us was that the data sheets with 35mm rolls of film were quite trustable. I followed that advice for years until I got my first camera with an exposure meter, which was also my first SLR, a Yashica TL Super. I learned from previous experience how to make changes when the conditions did not exactely match what the data sheets showed. I hardly ever missed a shot (I also knew to bracket if I was really in doubt). Point being, they worked as mentioned. 35mm boxes still usually contain that data on exposure, but I don't think there is anything on development as there used to be.