QUESTIONS:

[JBrunner]

I think u miss understood me, I know the difference in 200ASA and 400ASA... I was asking would there be a difference in the 400, if the 200 said to use 4.8f-stop for inside conditions. for the 400ASA.....

Yes, 1 stop, about a third under 5.6.

 

[amundenovskiy]

Exceptionally helpful - thank you!
My question in this matter has since been answered - so thank you everyone, even tho Im sure I tested some patients for some people that were educated, blah blah blah in this area. But like I said if a photographer can't help a newbie then how can he expect to be good at his own work?
Anyway I have to download old copies of my camera's manuals since I don't have a single one!

When not doing flash photography, there are four things that determine whether a scene will be properly exposed. They are:

1. The amount of light falling on the scene (we'll call this Exposure Value (EV)).
2. The sensitivity (ISO) of the film.
3. The aperture (f/stop).
4. The shutter speed.

A bright sunny day has an EV of 15. The "Sunny f/16" rule says that correct exposure for this scene at f/16 is the closest reciprocal of the film speed. So for ISO 100 film, the correct exposure is 1/125 second at f/16. For ISO 200 film, the correct exposure is 1/250 second at f/16. For ISO 400 film, a correct exposure is 1/500 at f/16. For ISO 800 or 1000 film, 1/1000 second at f/16. Different scenes have different EVs. Open shade has an EV of 12. Sunsets are at EV 11. Brightly lit home interiors are at EV 6, average home interiors are at EV 5, nighttime scenes away from city lights and under a full moon are at EV -3.

There are many equivalent exposure values. Let's suppose that you've got ISO 400 film loaded in your camera, and your scene is an EV 15 scene. The following aperture/shutter speed combinations will give you correct, equivalent exposures (note that not all of these combinations may be available on your camera (for example, my camera's top shutter speed is 1/2000 second so the 1/4000 and 1/8000 second exposures are not available to me without filters, which is outside the scope of this post)):

• 1/250 second at f/22
• 1/500 second at f/16
• 1/1000 second at f/11
• 1/2000 second at f/8
• 1/4000 second at f/5.6
• 1/8000 second at f/4

For a good write-up about exposure when you don't have a light meter handy, along with two handy charts to calculate f/stop and shutter speed combinations for a given scene, Fred Parker has a good write-up at http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm.

Flash photography is a different beast. Every flash has a guide number. My camera's built-in flash's guide number is 42 at ISO 100. Consult your camera and/or flash manual for your flash's guide number. Guide numbers vary with film speed. With flash photography, shutter speed is less of an issue as long as it is no faster than your flash sync speed (consult your camera's manual to find the flash sync speed). For straight flash photography, divide your flash's guide number at the ISO you are using (remember, guide numbers vary with film speed) by the camera-to-subject distance. This will give you the f/stop to use to take the photo. For example, if my camera is loaded with ISO 100 film, and my flash's guide number is 42, and my camera-to-subject distance is 10 feet, then 42/10=4.2. I can set my aperture to f/4 and my subject will be properly exposed.

Note that guide numbers can be given in feet or meters. My camera's manual actually gives me the guide numbers in meters but I'm used to working in feet. Multiply meters by 3.28 to get feet, or divide feet by 3.28 to get meters.

I hope this helps without confusing you.
ME Super

 

[JBrunner]

1 stop is the difference between 200 and 400. One more stop than 400 would be 800. One less stop than 200 would be 100. Everything in photography is half and double. Twice 200 is 400, half 200 is 100. Both are 1 stop. Twice 5.6 is 8. Half 5.6 is 4. Both are 1 stop. Twice 1/125 is 1/250. Half is 1/60. Both are one stop. All three legs make the stool. Capiche?

 

[zsas]

Ohhhhh fully manual camera (Mamiya Sekor), very nice to hear! That will be an excellent camera to learn on! You set the ISO (same as ASA) manually based on your film (note DIN or the Deutsche system is phased out and we genenlly don't talk in DIN scale anymore), adjust aperture and shutter speed based on light meter reading (hope your light meter is still working) and you are set! That sounds like an outstanding camera! Your other sounds like a great kit too but learning on a fixed lens (non-zoom) is often very nice so you can focus on composition and your body position to zoom, the most pure analog, IMO. Happy holidays to you too, you will have a ball shooting film!

 

[E. von Hoegh]

I think u miss understood me, I know the difference in 200ASA and 400ASA... I was asking would there be a difference in the 400, if the 200 said to use 4.8f-stop for inside conditions. for the 400ASA.....

No, you don't know the difference. If you did know the difference, you wouldn't have asked the question.

As far as misunderstanding goes, your writing is difficult to decipher.

As I said, do your homework. Don't expect us to do it for you. I can't speak for others, but I am happy to share whatever knowledge I might have, as long as you make some effort to inform yourself. Don't expect us to spoon feed you things you can learn on your own.

 

[amundenovskiy]

Thank you - You were very helpful. Too bad more people in this room were like you. I usually do not come to forums of any kind of people there is always some rude person that thinks I'm stupid or something - well I just started I never took no course in school (it wasn't offered) I did EVERYTHING on my own, with my own eye, no metres, no nothing. And I have two portfolios one of which was in a national Gallery in Germany. So Im not stupid I just never used a fully manual camera before to take the same quality picture. (Also took three years of nuclear physics so I aint dumb...!) Anyway. yes my questions may seem stupid, but I don't think anyone should be rude, I don't expect ANYONE to "spoon feed" me anything It was a SIMPLE question and if you feel its stupid then DONT answer (not you).

I didn't have to go out of my way to come to ANOTHER nerdy forum for HELP... But I am loving all the people that are actually helpful. And What I write might be hard to understand, english is not something I was ever good in

And I LOVE taking pictures, and I read stuff all the time, I write notes, I have several text books and oh my - I was even caught online looking for used text books form amazon, but ALL books were Digital this and Digital that and what books were not digital looked 60 years old. So There goes that (the text book I have is apparently north americas number one University text book, My best friend just got a major in Photography with it, and I read it constantly about the very same question, And LIKE I SAID english is not my cup of tea, so I have to constantly get people to explain it differently.

HERE is another question for you guys (oh my hope it's not stupid...) Why isn't the Deutsche system not used much anymore? I went to a camera store once mentioning it and they had no clue. Anyway. ALSO I have a question ABOUT FILM. Does anyone notice that KODAK is sold out of all profession class 120 film ? Are they not making it anymore? (Ill prob post another thread somewhere for that, since thats not really 35mm at all LOL damn I don't even have a 120mm camera so who cares LMAO)


Hope everyone had a Great Chanukah (whom ever is jewish) and lets hope the new year to come is the best yet! Full of amazing pictures, you know - the ones that shock even you - like damn "I took THAT?" lol

Ohhhhh fully manual camera (Mamiya Sekor), very nice to hear! That will be an excellent camera to learn on! You set the ISO (same as ASA) manually based on your film (note DIN or the Deutsche system is phased out and we genenlly don't talk in DIN scale anymore), adjust aperture and shutter speed based on light meter reading (hope your light meter is still working) and you are set! That sounds like an outstanding camera! Your other sounds like a great kit too but learning on a fixed lens (non-zoom) is often very nice so you can focus on composition and your body position to zoom, the most pure analog, IMO. Happy holidays to you too, you will have a ball shooting film!

 

[removed account4]

andrew-
i'm not sure why din is no longer used...
i have a manual light meter that uses the scheiner system
which isn't used anymore either. it makes sense that
we are in the digital age now and i wouldn't
be surprised if the folks in the store didn't know a lot about analog photography,
unless there is someone there over the age of 35-40, but even that person might not have any idea about DIN numbers.

does your new camera have a working light meter ? you can pick one up used
for not too much $$$, or you can guesstimate all your exposures ( what i tend to do )
it is pretty easy outdoors at least its called " sunny 16 " and all you need is your eyes, and a little experience.
you might also look for a black cat exposure guide http://www.blackcatphotoproducts.com/guide.html

for indoor/flash photography just use a thyroister flash and go by whatever the dial + guide numbers say,
you won't have any trouble because the thyroister stops the flash when the "electric eye" tells realizes enough light
has been burst out of the xenon tube. you just note the distance the subject is from the camera ( your lens will tell you that )
set the flash on the camera, set your fstop, and expose your film.

you can use a digital camera, and a safe-sync filter and want to experiment being meter-less and using a flash on THAT camera for practice you can do that easy ...
set it on manual, adjust the iso in the camera to whatever you want, and have fun ...
just make sure you have a safe-sync filter, some flash units have a high trigger voltage which will fry your digital camera.

john

 

[lxdude]

andrew-
i'm not sure why din is no longer used...

DIN was replaced by ISO, i.e., a domestic standard was replaced by an international one. So was ASA-it's just that ISO numbers match those of ASA.
ISO has often adopted current standards instead of inventing new ones. For example, the original ISO 9000 quality inspection standard for manufacturing was, when adopted, word for word the then-recently-canceled U.S. Military Standard I-45.

 

[amundenovskiy]

Oooh. I haven't been on here for like a week. Been a hectic time here :-
I have found a pile of pictures that I took when I was 14 and 15 which is really exciting so I scanned them and digitalized them, because I lost the original years ago. Most of which were colour, I didn't care much for black and white back then, or it would depend on the picture. I have just started to be interested in Film Photography. But Photography in a whole I absolutely Love...

I ordered some LARGE prints of a couple of my MOST "professional" LOOKING pictures (My best work I guess) from Apple via iPhoto (I just PUT ALL my Black And White Pictures of the LAST 2 years in a BOOK. and IT IS FREAKING AMAZING!!! UGH I have to tell you! I creeped my self out "Damn I took that?!" Anyway. Im going to get these two prints framed in matching frames (But that will be a later deal when I have more money...)


ANYONE in Montreal that has a light meter that I could use?
I don't think that my Mamiya Manual camera even has a light meter unless its built into the lens OR viewfinder thingy... LOL so
Yeah. BUT I have been taking pictures in different light conditions changing the f-stop, etc, etc, and Im going to get it developed shortly and I'll see how Im doing.

As for my Pentax Someone said It scanned the film canister and put it on the right ASA/DIN so that is good one less step to do on that BIG bad boy! lol. Then I have the f-stop on auto (which I can also change on my own if I wanna) in a Mall lighting It goes around 4.0... then It has auto focus on. (which can also be turned onto manual, but I don't like it, because of my eyes. LOL

 

[zsas]

If you don't find anyone with a meter locally you could use a smartphone? I have found the free iPhone meter to work very good, considering it is free no less

 

[Rol_Lei Nut]

DIN was replaced by ISO, i.e., a domestic standard was replaced by an international one. So was ASA-it's just that ISO numbers match those of ASA.
ISO has often adopted current standards instead of inventing new ones. For example, the original ISO 9000 quality inspection standard for manufacturing was, when adopted, word for word the then-recently-canceled U.S. Military Standard I-45.

Actually, ISO incorporates both ASA and DIN: ISO 100/21° (or very similar).