Little help!

I'm thinking of heading out and doing some long exposure shots on the film camera.

However, its ISO 400.. normally I'd just shoot away with the digital until I got what I wanted but obviously I can't do that tonight and I always used the lowest iso setting... anyone any advice?

Do I ramp up the aperature and pray for something that isn't a white rectangle?

Zillah

Use digital.

Or, unless your camera was made in communist Ukraine it will have a light meter. Gauge what your exposure would be like on a brighter area and use that to give you a baseline.

But really just use digital.

Film lol

Thanks for that.. but the whole point is to use film.

Camera is a Canon 100, so has a light meter built in. But for long exposure, how does that go?

Thecageyone

400 is the minimum ISO on the film cam?

Yeah, narrow the aperture much as possible in that case. Any darkening filters you could use? try shades over the lens?

No, its just the film thats in it.. I can change the iso on the camera.

I know nothing about film so I could be wrong here. Plan was to push it out to f25 or so which gives me 15 second exposure to hit 'spot on' on the light meter. Is that correct?

AnCatDubh

take a look at this for a little guidance;

http://www.calculator.org/exposure.aspx

I haven't done night with film but the theory is the same I guess. The difference here is that you have no control over the ISO as its fixed.

Remember correct exposure is a product of ISO, shutter speed, and aperture.

So your ISO is set at 400, the shutter speed is variable as is the aperture.

Closing down the aperture i.e. reducing the amount of light that will come through the lens onto the film will mean that you will need to leave the shutter open longer to compensate and enable enough light to get through such that the film can take a proper exposure. That's the gist of it.

Go + or - on either the shutter speed or aperture to deliberately over / under expose.

So in short, close down the aperture should enable you to take long exposures.

DaireQuinlan

Deleted User wrote: »

I know nothing about film so I could be wrong here. Plan was to push it out to f25 or so which gives me 15 second exposure to hit 'spot on' on the light meter. Is that correct?

Well the light meter reading could well be pretty accurate, but read up on reciprocity failure. Depending on whatever film you're using you might have to start significantly increasing the exposure time for long exposures. Google your film and 'reciprocity' or 'long exposure' or something to get the appropriate times.

Zillah wrote: »

Film lol

Really useful contribution there sparky.

Or just play with the multiple exposure button! (just read about that now)

Either, fun night ahead!

melekalikimaka

iso isnt overly important, at the end of the day is a balancing act

A+B+C=D

a- apeteture
b- shutter speed
c- iso
d- correctly exposed image

if c is too low, add to a or b

and who said algebra was useless

CabanSail

Remember that the Light Meter will read assuming it's an 18% grey image.



You can always meter the scene at wide aperture & then work back on EV Equivalents to give you the long exposure. Remember that the highlights are going to blow easily so try to work out how far over or under is likely to work. Then bracket a couple of stops ethier side of what you have worked out.

Eg. The scene meters OK at f2.8 and 1/15th. You then change to f22 (6 stops) which would give you 4 seconds. I would then bracket at 1, 4 and 15 seconds.

Thanks guys, took some shots around the new theatre. Will see how they come out.

Zillah

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

Really useful contribution there sparky.

The fact that you don't like a comment doesn't magically make it invalid. Sparkles.

SubLuminal

1) google "reprocity failure"

2) lament

3) grab digital camera

4) ???????

5) profit.

DaireQuinlan

Zillah wrote: »

The fact that you don't like a comment doesn't magically make it invalid. Sparkles.

Oh right, evidently I completely missed the relevence of replying to the OPs film related query with "Use digital. Film LOL". Explain how that was 'valid' in the context of the original question. Bonus points will be given for brevity and if you somehow avoid being rude and dismissive.

Chorcai

You could have picked up some ISO100 no ?

Zillah

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

Oh right, evidently I completely missed the relevence of replying to the OPs film related query with "Use digital. Film LOL". Explain how that was 'valid' in the context of the original question. Bonus points will be given for brevity and if you somehow avoid being rude and dismissive.

Film is a poor choice for the kind of shooting he is doing, hence my recommendation that he use digital. Its not very complicated.

You can also shove your bonus points

DaireQuinlan

Zillah wrote: »

Film is a poor choice for the kind of shooting he is doing,

Yes, very good, most people are aware of this. But that's not the point.
For someone who does sterling work dealing with the deluded and the superstitious on the AA forum your comprehension skills seem a little lacking here.
I'll make a little analogy here to explain. I'll keep it simple. Your comment is the equivalent to me butting into a thread about cleaning sensors with a snappy " Use Film ! Cleaning sensors LOL". This response would be ...
1. 100% Factually correct
2. Completely irrelevent to the point in hand.

Zillah

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

I'll make a little analogy here to explain. I'll keep it simple. Your comment is the equivalent to me butting into a thread about cleaning sensors with a snappy " Use Film ! Cleaning sensors LOL".

Your analogy is flawed. If the person started a thread about how they are sick of having to clean delicate digital sensors and if there was a way around it and you told them they should use a nice sturdy film camera then your analogy would be fine.

Really, we can do this back and forth for months if you like.

Heebie

A hand-held light meter is your friend in this instance. Most can give you accurate exposure times of up 4 minutes by feeding it the aperture size, shutter speed, and ISO. (These exposure times will work for digitals as well.. although you'll usually have to have an infrared remote that will work in bulb mode to get exposures over 30 seconds.)
A tripod is an absolute must.. but hopefully you've got that part already.
You also want some kind of remote shutter release, preferably infrared, but cabled is "ok".. If you're using cabled, use a timer release of several seconds if you can. (generally doesn't work with bulb mode.)

Here's another option.. bring your digital camera, set it to ISO 400, use the same lens (I'm assuming you have the same brand digital & film cameras and use the same lenses between them.) Play with your shot on the digital until you get a good looking result.. then put the film camera on the tripod, focus, dial in the aperature/shutter settings, and fire away.

Nisio

I can't see anything wrong with that analogy; go back and read the op.

DaireQuinlan

Zillah wrote: »

Your analogy is flawed. If the person started a thread about how they are sick of having to clean delicate digital sensors and if there was a way around it and you told them they should use a nice sturdy film camera then your analogy would be fine.

Well, no. Because YOUR analogy would require the OP to have come on giving out about shooting film for long exposures and wondering if there was some easier way. That patently wasn't the case.

Honestly, I could try to dumb it down even more for you, maybe with a car analogy or two, but ...

Really, we can do this back and forth for months if you like.

... I think it'd be lost on you anyway.

CabanSail

Enough of this bickering please.

If this thread continues in this manner there will be infractions handed out.

FoxT

CabanSail wrote: »

Enough of this bickering please.

If this thread continues in this manner there will be infractions handed out.

To get back on topic, can you borrow/bring a digital camera & use that to determine the aperture/shutter for the shot on film? If you have a light meter, great. If not, you can buy a digital camera (or borrow one) for similar money. It doesn't even have to be a good camera - even the dinkiest ones have good light meters built in.

If using B/w film and the light is really poor consider pushing to ISO 800 or 1600. Then overdevelop per mfg instructions or tables available on the web. Your results will be grainy but with luck will have a nice atmosphere.


Cheers, FoxT