Going Retro

To those photographers that came to photography in our digital age and have never used film cameras this post is intended to be a quick primer on the how to if one is shooting with or without a meter when using film. One never knows if they will be stranded on a desert island with only a film camera and no light meter. Therefore, treat this as a survival guide.

Some background: In the digital camera world, the cameras settings, exposure, white balance, etc. are typically set on the “auto” mode and are barely an after thought to most casual shooters.

Granted there is and can be a good deal of manipulation done with digital cameras but for the most part the bulk of us point and shoot and trust our camera’s intuitive sense and technology.

In addition, those that grew up using film and have transitioned to digital generally have the benefit of both worlds insofar as their knowledge base of what works when and why.

Now…having said all of that, in film, obtaining the correct exposure can be subjective at best and can vary from each photographer’s vision or what they are trying to capture. One person may want to show more detail in the foreground by opening the lens up an extra stop or more or just the opposite and they may want to darken the shadows for a more dramatic effect.

Furthermore, how we determine exposure in most modern 35mm single-lens reflex (SLR) film cameras is with built in through-the-lens (TTL) meters that intake the amount of light available to help you determine the best exposure. These types of light meters are called Reflective Meters as they measure the light bouncing off your subject and into the camera lens. While successful, light meters often are very flawed in areas of great contrast. Because contrasting images may contain white areas, mid-gray areas, and black areas, the light meter is forced to take an average reading of average gray. This is of prime importance, especially in beach or winter photography, as the bright areas will be measured as mid-gray. A system was developed to compensate for the mid-gray exposure by exposing for the darker shadow areas. See zone system for more information about this.

Moreover, if you have a film camera that allows you to adjust the settings however, it doesn’t have a built in light meter we then want to use the Sunny 16 rule in place of a light meter. Huh?

Instead of wasting film trying to guess your exposure, you can use this rule. On a sunny day with no clouds overhead, set your aperture to f/16. Your shutter speed is then set to the ISO film speed of the film you’re using. This will leave you with a nice, even exposure.

For those times when the films ISO doesn’t match the shutter speed i.e. there is no shutter speed 100 for 100 ISO film, then we use the next highest shutter speed above the ISO film speed. Therefore, for film speed 100 you would use shutter speed 1/125.

One only needs to remember shutter speed equals ISO film speed, but always remember the shutter speed will likely not match.

General camera settings: On a perfect, clear, and sunny day f/16 is to be used. The Sunny 16 rule can be applied to the following conditions too with some changes. Extremely bright days with distinct shadows use f/22. Hazy sun and soft shadows use f/11, cloudy days with barely visible shadows use f/8, and overcast days with no shadows use f/5.6. The same shutter speed rule applies.

Now, run off to some deserted isle with a roll of film in your camera and give it a try.