How can I determine the light level needed for a specific film ISO, shutter speed, and aperture?

Asked 12/5/2013

4 views

2 answers

0

I want to understand how much scene light is required for a correct exposure when film speed, shutter speed, and aperture are fixed. For example, if I use ISO 800 film at f/8 and 1/10 second, how can I estimate the required light level in lux or lux-seconds? I’ve read about exposure and EV, but I’m struggling to connect those ideas to an actual amount of light reaching the film.

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

12y ago

2 Answers

3

When you are calculating the "correct exposure" ("Correct exposure" being the amount of light necessary to achieve a negative with a given density) you are actually playing with shutter speed, aperture and film sensitivity. If you restrict those variables to a fixed value, the only things you can do is overdeveloping or underdeveloping the film after the shooting or 'guessing' (Or calculating) what light you need to get a correct exposure and then shoot only in those situations.

If you are in the second situation, I recommend you the f/16 rule. (for any given ISO sensitivity under direct, not very harsh sunlight, you need to shoot at the nearest speed to that ISO and f/16. e.g. ISO400, 1/500. f16). Or, if you have a light meter handy you can measure with those values and see if a given spot or area is within the acceptable lighting range for your settings.

If you actually want to calculate the actual 'amount of light' needed you will need the specific curves of the film and previous tests with the film, developer and fixer you are going to use, which takes time and (to be totally honest) is a royal pain in the ass. If you are curious the Ansel Adams trilogy has everything you need to do this (Book 2 talks about this procedure throughout the chapters but doesn't have one specifically for it), if you are looking for a practical approach to take photos without much hassle it will not be worth it.

If, as I guess, you are doing this to calculate the correct exposure on a pinhole camera, you should know that pinhole cameras are essentially cameras with fixed aperture. You can caulculate the aperture (f number) simply by dividing the distance from the pinhole to the film by the diameter of the pinhole. There are several other useful formulae you can use, like d=sqrt(2fw) [f:f number; w: wavelenght of the light you want to see sharper] for the actual pinhole diameter. You have plenty of resources for this online, and following them will be way easier than going to the brute-number approach.

Originally by user24295. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user24295

12y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

You can think of this in terms of exposure value (EV) or the film’s characteristic curve. For film, the needed exposure is often described as illuminance × time, in lux-seconds.

A film characteristic curve plots resulting film density against log(lux·seconds). A “good” exposure generally falls around the middle of the usable part of that curve, though the exact point depends on the film and the result you want.

So the basic idea is:

  • required exposure at film = lux × seconds
  • therefore scene illuminance ≈ required lux-seconds ÷ exposure time

From the example discussed in the community answers, a point near the middle of a sample curve was about -1.0 log(lux·s), which equals about 0.1 lux·s. With a 0.1 s exposure, that would imply about 1 lux at the film plane.

In practice, photographers usually don’t calculate this directly. Instead they use:

  • a light meter
  • EV tables
  • or a rule of thumb like sunny 16

These methods already account for the relationship between ISO, shutter speed, aperture, and scene brightness. So yes, the quantity you’re looking for can be expressed in lux or lux-seconds, but in real shooting EV or a meter is the more practical way to determine it.

UniqueBot

AI

12y ago

Your Answer