What is your Rule of the Thumb exposure for Night Photography ?

[raytoei@gmail.com]

Assuming illumination from streetlight or
light from windows, what is your rule-of-thumb
exposure setting for a say iso 1600 (pushed film) ?

I find that some of my photos were auto-exposed with
motion blur, and felt that i could have have increased the
shutter speed without too much penalty.

I am currently thinking of 1/30 and f2 with iso 1600,
night with faces illuminated by streetlight ?

thanks

raytoei

 

[johannielscom]

Depends on the brightness of the street lights!

I've seen fellow member Disaster Area get good results with (IIRC) 400ASA film, shot at slowest handheld speed and wide open lens, and developed in Rodinal 1:100 stand.

Nice with Rodinal 1:100 seems to be that the film draws the needed amount of Rodinal from the water itself in the 1-hr stand, exposing each part of the film to the extent it needs to render a good image. Only caveat is to not use film that is too contrasty or grainy by default, since the Rodinal will enhance that to the point where it becomes a distraction in the image.

Look for the Rodinal 1:100 thread and his handle, using the site:www.rangefinderforum.com command in Google and I'm sure you'll find it.


EDIT: It's here: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88439

 

[zauhar]

As Johan indicates, the illumination from street lights does vary dramatically! I try to spot meter on occasion, which reveals how wide the variation is.

I often assume 1/15 for f/2 @ ASA 400, if it is really bright 1/30.

Subway platform (weak fluorescent lights) typically 1/30 f/2.

If pushing to 1600, switch to f/4. If you are interested in pushing, give microphen a try, which seems to deliver nice tones with several films I have tried it with (Tri-X, Neopan).

Randy

 

[david.elliott]

In addition to what was mentioned above by others, for me it depends on the focal length of the lens I'm using. I cannot handhold and get sharp results with a 50mm at anything under 1/50th (old times on my m3 ds).

 

[lam]

I've just always shot wide open and whatever the slowest I can hold at the moment, then stand develop. 🙂

 

[raid]

Quite often, I will have a 50/2 lens with ISO 400 film (or even ISO100), and then I would use the slowest shutter speed that I can manage hand held. It is often 1/8~1/15~1/30, depending on the light.

 

[Mackinaw]

A few years back on Halloween night, I wandered around an outdoor street party with my Leica loaded with Neopan 1600. I rated the Neopan at 800 and stuck a Canon 50/0.95 on my Leica. The only illumination I had was from street lights and whatever light the adjacent store fronts threw onto the street. An exposure of F0.95 at 1/60th turned out to be perfect. Using that as a guide, F1.4 at 1/30th should work too.

Jim B.

 

[raytoei@gmail.com]

thanks pple. f1.4 - f2, and 1/15 - 1/30, iso around 400-1600...
better to be roughly correct than be precisely wrong.
i think i shall go with f2, 1/15 and iso 800 to start....

 

[paulfish4570]

i expose for highlights at iso 400 film. so i go wide open at 1/30-1/125 depending on what experience tells me of street lights, neon lights and stadium/parking lot lights here in alabama.
with the x100,l i generally go for a full stop less than what the cam's meter is telling me, no matter the iso setting. but hey, i can bracket for no cost with the x100 ... 🙂

 

[Dralowid]

400 ASA, as wide as poss and 1/20 and then another at a faster speed.

Nowadays under exposure can be compensated for but camera shake can't!

 

[maddoc]

400 ISO film means 1.0 at 1/60 or 1.4 at 1/30 for me but works best in Japanese cities with plenty of light. In Europe I tend to add one stop.

 

[Biggles]

Have been shooting night street with 1600-speed film with f2@1/60th as my Hail Mary setting for a long while. Very rarely lose anything to underexposure in normal streetlighting. It's my knee-jerk setting for night silhouette shots; people coming out of doors and such.

In extremely dim light, will often go with 1/30th or 1/15th.

 

[paradoxbox]

i shoot a LOT at night (around 90% of my shots are after the sun's down)

f1.4 @ 1/30th is usually OK in areas where you feel "wow, it's pretty dark" but still have a little light. when you feel the area is very dark and there's not much light then you're looking at 1/8th or 1/15th.

in busy areas at night though such as in tokyo or new york in times square i'd probably move to f2 or 2.8 and shoot at 1/60th or even faster.

 

[thegman]

If we're talking about not using a tripod, I simply go as slow a shutter speed as I feel I can hold. That might be 1/15th or it may be 1/30th depending on how I feel. I open up the lens as wide as it goes, and use that. Unless the street lights are very bright, it's likely still under exposed (using ISO 400 film), but without a tripod, there are not very many options.

 

[Richard G]

I've used with success an old Kodak Existing light table from a Kodak book I got in the '70s. Here is a link to an updated version with a downloadable PDF:

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

 

[MrFujicaman]

Go to your search engine and type in "new jiffy exposure calculator". This is a slide rule type calculator for night time exposures. Print it out -cut it out and laminate it and carry it in your camera bag.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I meter with a spot meter and set an exposure that will keep the highlights from blowing, unless something in the shadows is vital to the image. I usually use Delta 3200 film.

 

[GaryLH]

I've just always shot wide open and whatever the slowest I can hold at the moment, then stand develop. 🙂

Yep same. Plus I look for a light post, wall or parking meter that I an brace the camera against back when iso 400 was the best u can do..

Gary

 

[Ranchu]

1/30 f2.8 asa400