Leica Rs - Auto Exposure At Night?

[frperdurabo]

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I do a lot of night photography with the camera on a tripod.  From experimentation I've learned that some Nikon and Olympus film cameras can autoexpose at night for many minutes (at least 15, w/Nikon FE) and give negatives with reasonably correct density.  This is a huge convenience/time saver - you just fire the shutter and scout the next photo until you hear it click shut.

 

Has anybody used R bodies this way?  If so, which ones worked the best?

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[steed]

I am sorry i don't have any helpful information for you, since i use only old Leicaflexes. I would like to get into night photography of city scenes (lit by streetlights/store windows, etc.). Would you happen to have some basic exposure setting that, with bracketing, you find to be successful. I normally shoot Ilford Delta 400. My best starting point seems to be 1 second at f5.6 so far. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

John W

[frperdurabo]

I am sorry i don't have any helpful information for you, since i use only old Leicaflexes. I would like to get into night photography of city scenes (lit by streetlights/store windows, etc.). Would you happen to have some basic exposure setting that, with bracketing, you find to be successful. I normally shoot Ilford Delta 400. My best starting point seems to be 1 second at f5.6 so far. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

John W

Unfortunately I only shoot color print film these days, which is (probably) much more tolerant of over or under exposure.  My exposures are typically several minutes at F5.6; you can see some samples (film-exosure data in the comments) here:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevefretz/.  (The first couple of rows are all film - I also have some film albums)  Let negative density be your guide.  I expect you'd get good results by shortening your development time - ie, "pull" processing to keep the highlights from blocking; that's what I did in the old days when shooting slide film at night.  (Which also required color correction filters - it was a PITA)

[TomB_tx]

The best film camera for automatic long exposures is th Pentax LX. Like some Olympus models it meters actively off the film surface on long exposures until enough light is gathered. Some users report exposures of an hour or more automatically. I have only done exposures of several minutes with mine, which was all that was needed.

[farnz]

Whichever camera, I would be very concerned about reciprocity error for automated long exposures with film.

 

Pete.

[frperdurabo]

Whichever camera, I would be very concerned about reciprocity error for automated long exposures with film.

 

Pete.

It doesn't seem to be a problem in practice, although I sometimes use 1 or 2 stops of overexposure compensation, especially if there are lights near the middle of the scene.  Exposing a night scene as though it were shot in daylight usually seems to be enough, even with reciprocity.

 

If I were shooting slides I'd shot -1 and -2 exposure compensation, typically.

[frperdurabo]

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The best film camera for automatic long exposures is th Pentax LX. Like some Olympus models it meters actively off the film surface on long exposures until enough light is gathered. Some users report exposures of an hour or more automatically. I have only done exposures of several minutes with mine, which was all that was needed.

Good to know - the Pentax ecosystem has a lot more primes than the Olympus.  But I really want to know if it's possible to do this with Leica R, or as a consolation prize, Contax.

[farnz]

It doesn't seem to be a problem in practice, although I sometimes use 1 or 2 stops of overexposure compensation, especially if there are lights near the middle of the scene.  Exposing a night scene as though it were shot in daylight usually seems to be enough, even with reciprocity.

 

If I were shooting slides I'd shot -1 and -2 exposure compensation, typically.

 

I think it depends a lot on the film speed you're using.  Faster films will stay on the linear part of their exposure curve for 'longer' so reciprocity error might not be seen at exposures times that it would cause underexposure in slower emulsions.

 

I shot Fuji Velvia 50 at dusk and beyond for a number of years and reciprocity was something I regularly had to be aware of and judge by eye and experience as the daylight receded despite what my light meter told me.

 

Pete.

[earleygallery]

Personally I think it's better to take such exposures manually and bracket widely, especially in a typical night scene where you with have extremes of light and dark.

[frperdurabo]

I think it depends a lot on the film speed you're using.  Faster films will stay on the linear part of their exposure curve for 'longer' so reciprocity error might not be seen at exposures times that it would cause underexposure in slower emulsions.

 

I shot Fuji Velvia 50 at dusk and beyond for a number of years and reciprocity was something I regularly had to be aware of and judge by eye and experience as the daylight receded despite what my light meter told me.

 

Pete.

I've shot this way with Cinestill 50 and gotten decent results.  Slide film is another matter.  Shortening first development time keeps the highlights from blocking.  This worked well with Ektachrome (I used as much as a 2 stop pull, with some red filtration at the time of exposure) but not well at all with Velvia (or any other Fujichrome emulsion).  But yes, slide film (and presumably BW) should probably be bracketed.

[frperdurabo]

Personally I think it's better to take such exposures manually and bracket widely, especially in a typical night scene where you with have extremes of light and dark.

You'd think, but the autoexposure method - at least using the OM2n - has yet to give me a negative that was too thin to print, and only a few with blocked up highlights.  Portra 400 has 18 stops of dynamic range so you're not likely to get in too much trouble as long as you don't underexpose.  Slide film or BW have different characteristics and for them bracketing probably is the safest course. And everybody's vision is different.

 

For me the best "night" shooting is the hour or so after sunset.  Conditions change rapidly, so there's an opportunity cost if you spend too much time on any one setup.

 

Hence my original question: has anyone tried shooting an R body at night on "auto?"