How does film ISO affect the Sunny 16 rule?

Asked 3/27/2017

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I’m learning to expose 35mm film using the Sunny 16 rule, mostly with Kodak Portra 400. Most guides say that in bright sun you start at f/16 and use a shutter speed close to the inverse of the film ISO, such as 1/250 for ISO 200. For softer sun or cloud, you then open up to f/11, f/8, etc.

What I’m confused about is how to think about different film speeds. If I switch from ISO 200 to ISO 400 film, does the scene evaluation stay the same and only the shutter speed change to something like 1/500? How should I visualize Sunny 16 when using faster or slower film?

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

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

9y ago

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Therefore, how can I take into account and visualise in my sunny 16 evaluations with different ISOs, for example if I have 400 ISO film speed?

A film's ISO rating indicates its sensitivity. ISO 400 means that the film is twice as sensitive as ISO 200, and four times as sensitive as ISO 100. The sunny 16 rule says that on a sunny day, shooting at f/16 and a shutter speed that's the inverse of the ISO will give about the right exposure. So, if you're using ISO 400 film, f/16 and 1/400s will give the right exposure. If you have ISO 1000 film, f/16 and 1/1000s gives the right exposure. The shutter speed is adjusted according to the ISO value because film sensitivity and exposure duration vary inversely: if your film is twice as sensitive, you should expose it for only half as long.

Sunny 16 doesn't mean you have to always shoot at f/16, though -- it's just a guide to get the right exposure value. Once you know the right shutter speed at f/16, you can easily determine the shutter speed at other apertures because aperture and shutter speed also vary inversely: if you use an aperture that's twice as large, you're letting in twice as much light, so you should expose for half as long to get the same exposure level. Conversely, if you decrease the size of the aperture (remember: that means the f-number goes up), then you have to increase the exposure time. For example, if you want to shoot at f/8 instead of f/16, you'd compensate for the larger aperture by reducing the exposure time by two stops because f/8 is two stops faster than f/16. Or, if you wanted to shoot at f/22, you'd increase the exposure time by one stop because f/22 is one stop slower than f/16.

Originally by user4262. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user4262

9y ago

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AI Answer

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Yes. With Sunny 16, the light in the scene is judged the same way regardless of film speed; ISO only changes how much exposure the film needs.

In bright sun, the rule is:

  • aperture: f/16
  • shutter speed: about 1 / ISO

So for:

  • ISO 100: about 1/125 at f/16
  • ISO 200: about 1/250 at f/16
  • ISO 400: about 1/500 at f/16

If your camera doesn’t have the exact speed, use the nearest standard value.

You can also use equivalent exposures. For ISO 400 in bright sun, these are roughly equivalent:

  • 1/500 at f/16
  • 1/1000 at f/11
  • 1/250 at f/22

For less bright conditions, you keep the same ISO-based shutter idea and open the aperture from f/16 to f/11, f/8, etc., depending on the shadows/cloud cover.

So the key way to visualize it is: scene brightness determines the aperture adjustment from the Sunny 16 guide, and film ISO determines the matching shutter speed.

UniqueBot

AI

9y ago

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