Vanatomas Posted February 12, 2021 Share #1 Posted February 12, 2021 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hey all, new to analog and did a lot of digging, but I cannot find such info, hope you can share knowledge. Example: I am using Kodak Gold 200 ISO film. So I set M6 to 200 ISO. Now comes question: During day, I'd like to shoot f8 or f5.6 due to clouds and such, but when I set such on the lens and try to take a shot, light meter shows that it is underexposed when being on shutter speed 250 or 125. So I go down either on aperture or lower shutter speed to get correct exposure. However, I don't shoot wide open all the time, which forces me to decrease shutter speed which I feel it is not right to got down to 60 or lower. Is there proper flow to shoot at 200 ISO(or any ISO that film comes with) and desired aperture without going down with shutter speed? Hope I make sense here. All advices are welcome. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted February 12, 2021 Posted February 12, 2021 Hi Vanatomas, Take a look here Leica M analog taking a shot. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Aryel Posted February 12, 2021 Share #2 Posted February 12, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, Vanatomas said: Hey all, new to analog and did a lot of digging, but I cannot find such info, hope you can share knowledge. Example: I am using Kodak Gold 200 ISO film. So I set M6 to 200 ISO. Now comes question: During day, I'd like to shoot f8 or f5.6 due to clouds and such, but when I set such on the lens and try to take a shot, light meter shows that it is underexposed when being on shutter speed 250 or 125. So I go down either on aperture or lower shutter speed to get correct exposure. However, I don't shoot wide open all the time, which forces me to decrease shutter speed which I feel it is not right to got down to 60 or lower. Is there proper flow to shoot at 200 ISO(or any ISO that film comes with) and desired aperture without going down with shutter speed? Hope I make sense here. All advices are welcome. Hello, I think going below 60 is fully fine if your subject is not moving. You can also open up your lens. I do not hesitate to shoot at 1/15 when I have to but I'd usually open up the lens before getting there. Which lens are you using? Hope this helps! Edited February 12, 2021 by Aryel 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted February 12, 2021 Share #3 Posted February 12, 2021 Use a tripod. But first read a basic guide to photography. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayD28 Posted February 12, 2021 Share #4 Posted February 12, 2021 9 hours ago, Vanatomas said: Hey all, new to analog and did a lot of digging, but I cannot find such info, hope you can share knowledge. Example: I am using Kodak Gold 200 ISO film. So I set M6 to 200 ISO. Now comes question: During day, I'd like to shoot f8 or f5.6 due to clouds and such, but when I set such on the lens and try to take a shot, light meter shows that it is underexposed when being on shutter speed 250 or 125. So I go down either on aperture or lower shutter speed to get correct exposure. However, I don't shoot wide open all the time, which forces me to decrease shutter speed which I feel it is not right to got down to 60 or lower. Is there proper flow to shoot at 200 ISO(or any ISO that film comes with) and desired aperture without going down with shutter speed? Hope I make sense here. All advices are welcome. I understand your question. I'm no expert but I'll offer this suggestion. I suggest you find a couple of articles describing the relationship between ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. Then find a couple of articles on the Sunny 16 Rule. That rule says if you use ISO 200, you can set your shutter speed at 1/250 (closest speed to ISO 200) and set your aperture at f16 and you will nearly always get a good exposure on a subject in direct full sunlight. The exposure equivalents are 1/500 at f11 and 1/1000 and f8. You can't get to f5.6 because there is no 1/2000 on a film M. There are some darkroom tricks and use of neutral density filters. Let's not go there until you are confident with the Sunny 16 and exposure equivalent concept. Good luck! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanatomas Posted February 12, 2021 Author Share #5 Posted February 12, 2021 @Aryel I am trying to do street photography, thus shutter speed I assume should be close to 125-250. Lens is Leica Summarit-M 35mm f/2.4 @250swb interest in street photography, so no bipod. Never used light meter thus asking question. @RayD28 thanks on suggestion and yes, I did read all about ISO, aperture, and shutter speed as well as about Sunny 16. Just that what I followed as setting f8 with iso 200 and setting shutter speed to 250, but light meter shows underexposed. Due to not able to check photo right away like on digital, I was asking for advice as maybe just disregard light meter and follow Sunny16 rule. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted February 12, 2021 Share #6 Posted February 12, 2021 2 minutes ago, Vanatomas said: Due to not able to check photo right away like on digital, I was asking for advice as maybe just disregard light meter and follow Sunny16 rule. Sunny 16 is just a way to judge exposure if you don't have a light meter. The light meter isn't wrong. You can't just set any shutter speed/aperture combination you want, it depends on the light and the speed of film you're using. You need to use a wider aperture or a slower shutter speed to get correct exposure in your case. Or you can use a faster film. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanatomas Posted February 12, 2021 Author Share #7 Posted February 12, 2021 Advertisement (gone after registration) 31 minutes ago, earleygallery said: Sunny 16 is just a way to judge exposure if you don't have a light meter. The light meter isn't wrong. You can't just set any shutter speed/aperture combination you want, it depends on the light and the speed of film you're using. You need to use a wider aperture or a slower shutter speed to get correct exposure in your case. Or you can use a faster film. right, I guess using 400-800 would be better option then? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostproperty Posted February 12, 2021 Share #8 Posted February 12, 2021 If you're curious, in general, about the accuracy of the M6 light meter - Use either an external light meter or app to test the accuracy. But remember film, in general, is pretty forgiving in the development process. Enjoy shooting! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanatomas Posted February 12, 2021 Author Share #9 Posted February 12, 2021 45 minutes ago, lostproperty said: If you're curious, in general, about the accuracy of the M6 light meter - Use either an external light meter or app to test the accuracy. But remember film, in general, is pretty forgiving in the development process. Enjoy shooting! thanks, will play with mobile Light meter app Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aryel Posted February 12, 2021 Share #10 Posted February 12, 2021 (edited) Do not hesitate 1 hour ago, Vanatomas said: @Aryel I am trying to do street photography, thus shutter speed I assume should be close to 125-250. Lens is Leica Summarit-M 35mm f/2.4 Do not hesitate to open up the lens. If you focus properly, it will be tack sharp even at 2.4. For the shutter speed, you can typically go lower than this. It all depends on your subject of course. It is always a compromise between shutter speed, aperture and iso. Iso is fixed once the film is loaded, you have the other two to play with and it all depends on your subject and preferences. I'd suggest to forget about your assumption and play with both and findout what works for you. Edited February 12, 2021 by Aryel Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spydrxx Posted February 12, 2021 Share #11 Posted February 12, 2021 Remember that your light meter reading may need to be adjusted (mentally) by you, based on several factors. What is your meter reading...is it a small spot, the central area of coverage, or the whole scene within its angle of coverage? Also remember that whatever it reads, a light or a dark scene, it attempts to convert whatever it is reading to approx. 18% grey exposure. So if you're reading a snowy scene, you need to increase your exposure so you get whites instead of greys, and if you're reading a dark scene, you need to decrease your exposure. Finally, you didn't say,which type of metering you're using, reflected or incident light...I'm guessing reflected, in which case what I said previously holds. If incident reading (you're measuring the light falling onto the subject rather than the light rflected by the subject) you can usually rely directly on the light meter reading with little additional adjustment. I hope this isn't too confusing. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anakronox Posted February 12, 2021 Share #12 Posted February 12, 2021 Are you at all familiar with how the camera meters? It’s center-weighted in the viewfinder. Obviously if there are more darker things in the center of your frame, then it will tell you it’s underexposed. Try and meter a dark and light part of the scene and then average those two readings out. You may clip highlights and crush some shadows, but it’s better than drastically under exposing and having no info in the shadows. Unless that’s your style. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted February 12, 2021 Share #13 Posted February 12, 2021 (edited) If he's not confused by now he hasn't read any of the posts. He needs to read a book, I suspect his photography so far has been on auto exposure and using the wide range of ISO a digital camera affords. Don't try to write him a book because on a forum even well intentioned advice will always be fucked up by the next post that says 'I've always done it this way'. Edited February 12, 2021 by 250swb 1 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanatomas Posted February 12, 2021 Author Share #14 Posted February 12, 2021 (edited) 7 minutes ago, 250swb said: If he's not confused by now he hasn't read any of the posts. He needs to read a book, I suspect his photography so far has been on auto exposure and using the wide range of ISO a digital camera affords. Don't try to write him a book because on a forum it will always be fucked up by the next post that says 'I've always done it this way'. I like trolls and how they make judgements. If you read initial post without trolling, you'd see that I never used analog with light meter, I used digital and could use all available tools build with digital camera. If you have a good book in mind, share it. Edited February 12, 2021 by Vanatomas adding more Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanatomas Posted February 12, 2021 Author Share #15 Posted February 12, 2021 Thanks to everyone who did respond and provide advice or explanations, I guess using 200 ISO rolls as starting point wasn't good option. However, will proceed learning with tips above. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Brown Posted February 12, 2021 Share #16 Posted February 12, 2021 (edited) Shutter, f-stop and ISO are reciprocal. If you increase one, you need to decrease the other. Do the math. Edited February 12, 2021 by Al Brown Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted February 12, 2021 Share #17 Posted February 12, 2021 32 minutes ago, Vanatomas said: I like trolls and how they make judgements. If you read initial post without trolling, you'd see that I never used analog with light meter, I used digital and could use all available tools build with digital camera. If you have a good book in mind, share it. Steve isn't a troll, his advice is good, get any older book on learning photography and read the sections on exposure and film speeds. This would be a good start (and I'm not joking) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ladybird-book-How-It-Works-The-Camera-Series-654/284149647771?hash=item4228a3899b:g:NI4AAOSwEmNevlr5 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spydrxx Posted February 12, 2021 Share #18 Posted February 12, 2021 The concepts of ISO, aperture and shutter speed are the same whether you are shooting digital or film, same for how exposure meters work. A good book for gaining an understanding is Light, Science, and Magic, available on Amazon and elsewhere...it has been around quite a while and does a good job of helping people understand the relationships among the various factors which govern exposure. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanatomas Posted February 12, 2021 Author Share #19 Posted February 12, 2021 I got this book - https://www.amazon.ca/Analog-Photography-Reference-Manual-Shooting/dp/1616898178 and if you believe there are very good book that can explain Exposure Triangle for analog in depth, please share. will check on Ladybird book and Light Science, and Magic, thank you Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktmrider2 Posted February 12, 2021 Share #20 Posted February 12, 2021 Well, my experience with the M6 and all in camera meters is the background is very important. I think the meter in an M6 shows a marked tendency to underexpose if there is any kind of backlight. You might take a meter reading of a green lawn as it is very close to 18% grey or buy and start using a 18% grey card. And nothing wrong with using ISO 200 for street photography. Back in the old days, my favorite film was Kodachrome which had an ISO of 25. Later versions blew us away with an ISO of 64. So, you should have an exposure of 1/250 at f16 with ISO 200 film. From experience I would use 1/250 at f11 knowing that film prefers a bit of overexposure to any type of underexposure and 1/250 is already causing a bit of underexposure since it is faster then 1/200. Note I routinely shoot using f11 vice f16 and open up based on the sunny 16 rule (ie 2 stops for haze, 3 or 4 stops for open shade or overcast etc). And the meter might be off and need adjustment. Take a roll of film and shoot an average daylight scene (not snow or coal pit) varying the ISO setting on the M6 meter by half stops. For ISO 200 I might take a series of exposures using ISO 50, 80, 100, 160, 200, 320, 400, 640 and 800. Keep notes on which photo is which ISO and pick the ISO you feel gives you the finished photo you like best. Nothing says that you and I would rate a given film at the same ISO as we might like different looks, shutter speeds of each camera might vary slightly, or meters might be off. Of course, you will have to wait until the film comes back from processing to reach your decision. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.