exposure times for Zero image?

air2046 · Jan 27, 2012

Hello,

i am new to pinhole photography and would like to ask you if you could give me guidelines and some information on exposure times for zeroimage camera - 612f,please?

i am using iso 100 (ilford FP4) and fuji 160NS

Pinhole Size: 0.25mm
Focal Length: 40mm
F/158 (pinhole), F/55 ( zone plate)

If you could tell me if there is difference in exposure time when using zone palate and normal pinhole ?

Thank you

Thomas Bertilsson · Jan 27, 2012

With an f/158 pinhole, in broad daylight, I would wager about 1s exposure time.

I use the Zero 2000 6x6 camera, which has an f/138 aperture, and with Plus-X / Foma 100 / Acros / TMax 100 I shot it at about 1s in bright sunlight. That worked pretty well. A bit over-exposed, but it was the slowest I could open and close the manual shutter with any accuracy. Beyond broad daylight you'd have to use a meter.

I have not used the Fuji 160NS, but since it's similar speed one second seems a reasonable starting point there too.

For the Zone plate, you'd be more like between 1/15 and 1/8 second exposure since it has a larger effective aperture.

Richard S. (rich815) · Jan 27, 2012

Depends on the hole size. I shoot my ZeroImage 6x9 mostly with 400 speed B&W film and expose for 4-16 seconds depending how bright the day is.

ced · Jan 28, 2012

With your parameters on the link below 1/2 sec but as also posted in response to your question here 1 sec was suggested and I would go for that and also even 2 sec won't be a disaster, try it and let us know. For 100 iso that is.
http://www.mrpinhole.com/calcpinh.php

markbarendt · Jan 28, 2012

Thank you Thomas for the correction, see post below.

Brightness of scene, time, film rating, and aperture. Three of those four variables are needed to solve the exposure question.

So for example a sunny 16 front lit scene (EV 15), the normal setting for FP4 (ISO 125) at f/16 would be 1/125th of a second.

You are changing the aperture and need to apply the f/ number indicated. F/158 for the pinhole or f/55 for the zone plate.

To get close you can just count stops. From f/16 1-stop less light is f/22, 2-stops f/32, 3-stops f/45, 4-stops f/64, 5-stops f/90, 6-stops f/128, 7-stops f/180

The corresponding times count from 1/125 1-stop brighter is 1/64th, 2-stops 1/32, 3-stops 1/16, 4-stops 1/8, 5-stops 1/4, 6-stops 1/2, 7-stops 1

So for the pinhole (f/158) in "sunny 16" (EV 15) with FP4 (ISO 125) somewhere just longer than 1 second would be the target.

The zone plate's target time would be between a 1/16th and 1/8th.

If you move from the sunny 16-EV 15 situation to something darker, say EV 10; you will need to adjust the speed 5-stops to let in more light.

So in an EV 10 lighting situation the time would adjust from the sunny setting at 1-second to about 32-seconds (2,4,8,16,32) then factor on reciprocity.

Here's a good reference for EV numbers to estimate with. http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm

Michael W · Jan 28, 2012

Test, test, test & keep notes. Then you will know what works.
Don't forget reciprocity failure.
With my 6x6 Zero a sunny outdoor exposure is probably a few seconds. Interiors can range from 15 minutes to a couple of hours, depending on the light level. I used to use my Sekonic meter & adjust from that, now I use the iPhone pocket light meter app. I mostly use Tmax 100.

Thomas Bertilsson · Jan 28, 2012

markbarendt said:
Brightness of scene, time, film rating, and aperture. Three of those four variables are needed to solve the exposure question.

So for example a sunny 16 front lit scene (EV 15), the normal setting for FP4 (ISO 125) at f/16 would be 1/125th of a second.

You are changing the aperture and need to apply the f/ number indicated. F/158 for the pinhole or f/55 for the zone plate.

To get close you can just count stops. From f/16 1-stop less light is f/32, 2-stops f/64, 3-stops f/125, 4-stops f/256.

The corresponding times count from 1/125 1-stop brighter is 1/64th, 2-stops 1/32, 3-stops 1/16, 4-stops 1/8.

So for the pinhole (f/158) in "sunny 16" (EV 15) with FP4 (ISO 125) somewhere just longer than 1/16th of a second would be the target.

The zone plate's target time would be a hair shorter than 1/32nd.

If you move from the sunny 16-EV 15 situation to something darker, say EV 10; you will need to adjust the speed 5-stops to let in more light.

So in an EV 10 lighting situation the time would adjust from the sunny setting at 1/32nd to about 1-second. (1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1)

Here's a good reference for EV numbers to estimate with.

Mark,

The scale goes, stop by stop:

f/16, f/22, f/32, f/45, f/64, f/90, f/128, f/180, and you have to, without counting reciprocity failure, double the exposure.

So, from f/16 you have seven stops less light to f/180, the closest full aperture to f/158. From 1/125th of a second that makes 1s.

markbarendt · Jan 28, 2012

Doh!

Note to self: finish coffee before doing photographic Maths.

Tom Miller · Jan 28, 2012

The best way to determine the proper exposure for any pinhole film and camera combination is to test. It will use up a roll of film; but the time and money initially expended will pay off in a future of good exposures.

The exposure calculator that is built into my Zero 6x9 gives a good indication of proper exposure, and provides a good starting point for the test. It is easiest to do the test on a bright sunny day with a subject that includes a full range of tones (both lights with detail and darks with detail). Make five exposures ranging from two stops below to two stops above what the calculator indicates. When the film is processed, evaluate visually on a light table to see which exposure best captures the full range of tones in the subject. This is the proper exposure on a bright sunny day (the EV 15 situation noted above). This exposure time is a "magic number" for your camera and film.

As mentioned above, in darker lighting situations, subtract the EV of the ambient light (EV 15 above) to determine how many extra stops of exposure to give. Let's say your magic number is 5 seconds and the ambient EV is 12, you'd need to make a 40 second exposure.
5" = magic number
10" = one extra stop
20" = two stops extra
40" = three stops extra

Doing the test to determine the proper exposure on the pinhole camera itself eliminates the need to factor in the film's reciprocity failure characteristics since the test exposure was so long. In practice, I've found this approach to work great up to six or seven extra stops of exposure.

The testing can continue by doing prints or scans to determine the best film exposure; but doing the visual examination suffices.

Thomas Bertilsson · Jan 28, 2012

markbarendt said:
Doh!

Note to self: finish coffee before doing photographic Maths.

I know you knew that. Just wanted to poke some fun at you while I had a chance.

Thomas Bertilsson · Jan 28, 2012

Sage advice. If there is one person here to trust regarding pinhole work, it's Tom. Testing rules, for sure.

My 'magic number' happens to coincide with my math above; I get the best from my pinhole camera at 1s in broad daylight. What prints well is what works best, all science aside.

Tom Miller said:
The best way to determine the proper exposure for any pinhole film and camera combination is to test. It will use up a roll of film; but the time and money initially expended will pay off in a future of good exposures.

The exposure calculator that is built into my Zero 6x9 gives a good indication of proper exposure, and provides a good starting point for the test. It is easiest to do the test on a bright sunny day with a subject that includes a full range of tones (both lights with detail and darks with detail). Make five exposures ranging from two stops below to two stops above what the calculator indicates. When the film is processed, evaluate visually on a light table to see which exposure best captures the full range of tones in the subject. This is the proper exposure on a bright sunny day (the EV 15 situation noted above). This exposure time is a "magic number" for your camera and film.

As mentioned above, in darker lighting situations, subtract the EV of the ambient light (EV 15 above) to determine how many extra stops of exposure to give. Let's say your magic number is 5 seconds and the ambient EV is 12, you'd need to make a 40 second exposure.
5" = magic number
10" = one extra stop
20" = two stops extra
40" = three stops extra

Doing the test to determine the proper exposure on the pinhole camera itself eliminates the need to factor in the film's reciprocity failure characteristics since the test exposure was so long. In practice, I've found this approach to work great up to six or seven extra stops of exposure.

The testing can continue by doing prints or scans to determine the best film exposure; but doing the visual examination suffices.

Ian C · Jan 28, 2012

With a light meter and a calculator you can determine the difference in stops required by the aperture number of the pinhole.

Suppose youre using ASA 100 film and the meter reads 1/125 second at f/11. We suppose that youre using an f/158 pinhole.

The formula is

Difference in stops = 2*ln(f1/f2)/ln2

The constant factor 2/ln2 = 2.885, so we can simplify the formula to

Difference in Stops = 2.885*ln(f1/f2)

Where f1 is the aperture number in the meter reading and f2 is that of the pinhole.

Then in the example

Difference = 2.885*ln(11/158) = -7.7 stops.

The light is reduced (hence the negative sign) by 7.7 stops.

So, disregarding reciprocity failure, you should increase the time by 8 stops. Thus your new time, uncorrected for reciprocity failure, is 2 seconds in this example.

Of course you should increase the exposure even more to correct for reciprocity failure.

If youre using T-Max 100, the 2-second reciprocity correction is approximately 1/3 stop.

See the table on page 5 here:

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/f4016/f4016.pdf

You can consult the film maker's data for the approximate reciprocity correction required for the film you use.

As others have commented, the amount of time to add to compensate for reciprocity can only be determined acurately by testing with each exposure time used referenced to the meter readings.

debanddg · Mar 2, 2012

Coming late but let me add my 0.02..

zero image cameras are fitted with an exposure dial as an accessory which helps you determine quickly the exposure needed at f/138 while you meter the scene say at f/16 with your lightmeter .. simply adjust the dial with your meter's f-stop and exposure value at ISO 100 to get the equivalent exposure at f/138 - really handy..
plus Fuji Arcos 100 behaves as a wonderful film having very little reciprocity failure..

summicron1 · Mar 3, 2012

I've found the Zero Image calculator to be pretty reliable, but anything over a second I double it, and anything over 10 seconds or so the calculator that came with my 4 by 5 Zero Image says to multiply it by 10 ... yikes! With ASA 100 my standard daylight exposure is 2 seconds, with kentucky windage for shadows, color of subject, my mood and so on. They all come out.

With the 4 by 5 I'm discovering that light fall off at the 25 mm setting is so severe I need to double it again so the edges don't go completely thin on me. I also have a Zero Image 2000 and their 135 (cute little bugger!) where this is not so much of a problem.

But as everyone else here said, experiment. When in doubt, add a few seconds -- I've found that pinhole seems much more forgiving of over exposure than a regular camera, probably because of the reciprocity stuff.

JessicaDittmer · Mar 22, 2012

thomas, I have the same exact camera you have! been tempted by it recently. going to have to play. here i designed the world pinhole day logo last year and I haven't experimented yet myself so .... hope to post something soon and take part in the "big day" this year LOL

exposure times for Zero image?

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