I got a Mamiya M645 for $360.00, yes I stole it, back in 1978 in Germany when I was stationed there. The camera only had a prism finder, no light meter, and I did not have a hand-held light meter. I used the "Sunny F16" for a long time. I used this camera to shoot my outdated 120 B/W films. The two German photography teachers I had could not believe how great most of my images came out. When my Canon F1 had meter issues I used this shooting technique on it also. I learned the basics which have served me, not being a professional photographer, for many years. Thanks for the video.
really good video, don't see too many videos explaining the technique while actually showing it in action, as well as explaning how you can achieve the same exposure at different settings. had to learn all this through several videos when i coulda just watched this!
Well done - If you live north of the Tropics, from about mid November until mid February, either slow the shutter speed by 1 stop from the reciprocal of the film's box speed, if you wish to stick with "Sunny 16" chart shown in this video or switch to "Hazy 11" - (especially in the early morning and late afternoons). In other words, in the winter time the photographer can still stick with "Sunny 16" - so long as he or she reduces the film by 1 stop - for example 1/125 becomes 1/60th.
Great video So far you"re the only one that have mentioned the equivalence to f16. It helps to get different results while playing with aperture and shutter speed...
The trick to this is to learn the light from where you are located geographically and adjust to there. Sunny 16 may be fine in sunny California or the like, but where you are may be sunny 11 or sunny 8 instead Learn it and learn to adjust. Jim Marshall was a photography genius and he hardly ever used a meter, he went by sight. His photographs and prints are remarkable. Philip Perkis is another photographer I admire who made his own lighting system. He said to me when he tested it, he was shooting 400 speed film around 125 ASA. That’s his sunny standard. Lee friedlander hardly used a meter either. Keep practicing. Yes some shots will be poorly exposed, but keep at it for several months, it’ll work out
Great video, it made me think about how the ISO really Influences the amount (or lack) of flexibility you have with the Sunny 16 rule. My fastest shutter speed is 1/1000, too, so that's also something to keep in mind.
I shoot with Sunny 16 all the time. The only time I use a meter is in overcast conditions as cloud density is hard to determine. My rule of thumb is f16 if the subject is lit directly by the sun, but if it is side lit I open up to f11. From my experience with different model of digital cameras I have noticed that not all sensors are equal for the my style of shooting. I turn the dynamic range down to get the look of slide film. Expose for the highlights and let the shadows fall where they may.
The only thing I'm not fully getting is, if we have to set our shutter speed to the films iso, the when we change it to say F11 you say to change our shutter speed to 125s but then will that still be compatible with the films iso or will we have to adjust the iso ?
Im new to film photography and have an old zeiss ikon contina iia with a broken light meter. Sunny 16 is great and all but what if you have iso 400 film and the fastest your shutter speed goes is 1/300 ?
I thought that you were supposed to keep your shutter speed the same (reciprocal of the FIlm ISO) while solely changing the aperture based on the ambient conditions.
Most cameras don't have a shutter speed of 1/400, so the best bet is shooting at the closest shutter speed, which often is 1/500 for an ISO 400 film. See the chart at 7:42 for more common reciprocals. Also, when in doubt of which shutter speed is the closest, choose the one that will overexpose your film slightly. Your film can handle it :)
Hey does anyone know where I could find a sunny 16 chart equivalent shutter speed chart like the one in the video but for iso 200? I use sunny 16 but am still learning and to know how to get a shallow depth of field with a different shutter speed would be handy Thank you !
It gets easier to apply once you know that the iso dictates the shutter speed and you only ever change the aperture - they don’t really explain that here. F/5.6 means overcast but the lighting hasn’t changed in the LA parking lot. He wants to blur out the background but with the long shutter speed(1/60) the photo would be overexposed. Therefore he has to compensate for that. 3 steps down on aperture requires 3 steps up in speed: f/16;1/60s=f/5.6;1/500s
You don’t need a chart, you just need to adjust the shutter speed according to the aperture change. If it goes down from f16 to f11, the shutter speed goes up from 1/250 to 1/500.
Great video. But I have question I can't seem to figure out. When shooting ay "shady 8" to kept the same shutter speed. When would I shoot at f8 and make the shutter speed faster vs shoot f8 and keep the shutter at iso speed? Thanks again. (New subscriber)
Ok i need some help, shooting with an olympus om1 with kodak gold 200. According to sunny 16 i have to use 1/250 at f/16. So if i want to make a portrait at f/4 i would have to use like 1/3000... but my olympus goes only down to 1/1000... what do i do now? the same with Kodak gold 400 and 800...
This is a great question! If it’s a Sunny16 kind of day and there is too much light to achieve the apertures you want due to your camera’s maximum shutter speed being too slow, you may want to consider picking up a Neutral Density (ND) filter. These act like sunglasses for your camera’s lens and reduce the amount of light hitting the film. With your example using Kodak Gold 200, a 2-stop ND filter would allow you to shoot at F/4 and 1/1000s. On very bright days you are likely best suited to use lower speed films like CineStill 50D rather than something very fast like CineStill 800T. But ND filters can help you in a pinch.
@@CineStillFilm what if, in this case to compensate the lack of shutterspeed, we reduce the iso and put it from 200 to 50 in order to use lower shutter speed such as 1/500?
That's a great question! If you're using a reflector to "fill in" the shadows of a scene, but the main subject is in full sunlight and not really affected by the reflector you wouldn't have to change your camera's settings. But if you were using a reflector to bounce more light onto your subject's face they would indeed be reflecting more light. With color negative film you'd probably be fine not stopping down.
So I learnt how to shoot without a meter using math, but sunny 16 with the iso reciprocal rule for shutter would make it seem like your photos would be about 1-2 stops underexposed. Was this true in your experience? (I understand the irony here, but bear with me) Ex. f16 = -8 stops, 1/60 = -6 stops, iso 50 = -1 stop. You are exposing for -15 stops while daylight is roughly 13EV before factoring any adjustments. This leaves the exposure 2 stops below daylight/under exposed (the above numbers are derived from knowing that 16 = 2^4, aperature is square root, so sqrt(2)^2*4 = 8, -8 stops. 1/60 ~ 1/64 = 2^-6, -6 stops. ISO = 50 = 50/100 = 1/2 = 2^-1, -1 stop. -8-6-1 = -15 EV light losses) Note: The exposure should be fine with lighter colored objects, but medium and darker objects should be about -2 to -4 stops underexposed
Thanks for your comment. The Exposure Value formula computes a constant exposure using only shutter speed and f/stop. It leaves out the variable for ISO because it does not determine film sensitivity, so you would use a different EV for different ISOs. Direct bright sunlight would give you an EV of 14 for ISO 50, EV 15 for ISO 100, EV 16 for ISO 200, and so on… which is all Sunny 16. 😊 Note: Sunny 16 gives you an accurate exposure for bright sunlight regardless of how light or dark color your subject matter is. Middle grey will turn out middle grey, blacktop will turn out an accurate shade of black, and a white wall will turn out an accurate shade of white. You do not need to compensate for lighter or darker colored objects. It works like an incident meter to give an accurate exposure based on the intensity of your light source. Reflective meters will give you a variable exposure for the color of the subject you are metering off of to be exposed as middle grey. You would need to compensate for the actual shade of your subject to get an accurate exposure. More on light meters in a later video… 👍🏻
BUTTERS
what's the name of the camera you were using?
Heard of sunny 16 but shady 8 is a new one for me! 👍🏾🙏🏾
Glad we could help you learn something new!
That just will help me to memorize:
Sunny sixteen.
Haze-eleven.
Shady eight.
Cloudy... Well, the aperture that remains 😂😂😂
At first I wondered how it could take 8:25 to explain the Sunny 16 rule, but there's actually a lot of good info here for film photography newcomers.
That's what we're here for! Thanks for watching.
Sunny 16’s new best friend Shady 8. I can never forget it now thanks to you.
I got a Mamiya M645 for $360.00, yes I stole it, back in 1978 in Germany when I was stationed there. The camera only had a prism finder, no light meter, and I did not have a hand-held light meter. I used the "Sunny F16" for a long time. I used this camera to shoot my outdated 120 B/W films. The two German photography teachers I had could not believe how great most of my images came out. When my Canon F1 had meter issues I used this shooting technique on it also. I learned the basics which have served me, not being a professional photographer, for many years. Thanks for the video.
henry is goatedddd! glad to have him on the roster of the cinestill youtube team 😎
🐐🐐🐐
Seriously the best explanation of Sunny 16 I've ever seen.
I can remember when a roll of film came with these very same instructions inside the box
that's an idea 🤔
@@CineStillFilm bring it back lol
really good video, don't see too many videos explaining the technique while actually showing it in action, as well as explaning how you can achieve the same exposure at different settings. had to learn all this through several videos when i coulda just watched this!
Cinestill, please do a video of shooting 800T in daylight show results of unedited and whitebalance edited photos. That would be cool to see.
Thanks for the suggestion! We'll see what we can do :)
I’m curious why you’d shoot 800 in day, it just seems like a waste unless you’re trying some really avant-garde work.
@@jerrell1169for cinematic looks. You could also use warming or chocolate filters for a more natural look
Well done - If you live north of the Tropics, from about mid November until mid February, either slow the shutter speed by 1 stop from the reciprocal of the film's box speed, if you wish to stick with "Sunny 16" chart shown in this video or switch to "Hazy 11" - (especially in the early morning and late afternoons).
In other words, in the winter time the photographer can still stick with "Sunny 16" - so long as he or she reduces the film by 1 stop - for example 1/125 becomes 1/60th.
Great video So far you"re the only one that have mentioned the equivalence to f16. It helps to get different results while playing with aperture and shutter speed...
Look forward to the light meter vid too. Excellent stuff
The trick to this is to learn the light from where you are located geographically and adjust to there.
Sunny 16 may be fine in sunny California or the like, but where you are may be sunny 11 or sunny 8 instead
Learn it and learn to adjust.
Jim Marshall was a photography genius and he hardly ever used a meter, he went by sight. His photographs and prints are remarkable.
Philip Perkis is another photographer I admire who made his own lighting system. He said to me when he tested it, he was shooting 400 speed film around 125 ASA. That’s his sunny standard.
Lee friedlander hardly used a meter either.
Keep practicing. Yes some shots will be poorly exposed, but keep at it for several months, it’ll work out
Well I learnt something new today!
perfect timing was just looking for something like this
glad we could help!
clear and to the point - thank you!
Nice one - it’s such a beautiful film 50D
Hey Henri. It has been real. Outstanding presentation. Thanks for your expert tutelage.
What a coincidence! I did a Sunny 16 video featuring my Canon P as well! Great work
Just watched yours! Nicely done. The Canon P is great for a video like this.
Great video, it made me think about how the ISO really Influences the amount (or lack) of flexibility you have with the Sunny 16 rule. My fastest shutter speed is 1/1000, too, so that's also something to keep in mind.
This was such a dope tutorial. Especially to us newcomers to film photography. This helps ease the intimidation I have felt about film photography.
Those pics are so hard! Great job Henry (: keep up the great work
This video is awesome
No way, mind blown! I never knew you could use different/equivalent combos! This is definitely going to help me better expose my pictures!
so relaxing to watch. thanks
This has been REAL. Thank you.
Very informative video. I'll be recommending this to my friends taking film photography.
Awesome video. Years ago I had a camera with a broken light meter and I got used to sunny 16 rule, it’s very helpful ☀️
I prefer the rule "F8 and forget about it" x)
Love your video. Comprehensive! Thank you
Legend! Thanks for the video man! So informative
This is a huge help. Thanks, Henry 🤘
Great video
Henry is bold going out without a meter. I gotta keep one
We believe in you! Try this out sometime!
@@CineStillFilm the fact cinestill believes in me now gives me hope. I will try, thank you
Very well done. Thanks , keep up the good work 🙏
Very well explained - thanks for posting.
We're glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
great info & explanation
Glad it was helpful! :)
You really did a good job with this video. Thank you SO MUCH for posting.
Great help! :) Subscribed!
I shoot with Sunny 16 all the time. The only time I use a meter is in overcast conditions as cloud density is hard to determine. My rule of thumb is f16 if the subject is lit directly by the sun, but if it is side lit I open up to f11. From my experience with different model of digital cameras I have noticed that not all sensors are equal for the my style of shooting. I turn the dynamic range down to get the look of slide film. Expose for the highlights and let the shadows fall where they may.
I wish I knew more about photography when I had my first camera, the Canon AE-1.
Very useful video, thank you
i love sunny 16
Dude, this an excellent instruction video.
thank you, very informative!
Nice and freah explained, I like and thank you.
While you're collaborating with people you should do something with Jason (grainydays)
we ❤️ the grainydays channel
Great video introducing the concept!
Great tutorial
The only thing I'm not fully getting is, if we have to set our shutter speed to the films iso, the when we change it to say F11 you say to change our shutter speed to 125s but then will that still be compatible with the films iso or will we have to adjust the iso ?
Great overview, Henry!!
Loved it ma G. Thanks for educating me. ✌🏾&💜
This rule has saved my ass more than once and it's so easy to remember!
Great explanation- particularly the flexibility of sunny 16 as a guide!
What lens is he using for the camera?
🖤🖤🖤
Im new to film photography and have an old zeiss ikon contina iia with a broken light meter.
Sunny 16 is great and all but what if you have iso 400 film and the fastest your shutter speed goes is 1/300 ?
I thought that you were supposed to keep your shutter speed the same (reciprocal of the FIlm ISO) while solely changing the aperture based on the ambient conditions.
So to be clear, if I want to shoot portra 400 in bright sunlight I’d use 16 aperture and 1/400 shutter speed?
Most cameras don't have a shutter speed of 1/400, so the best bet is shooting at the closest shutter speed, which often is 1/500 for an ISO 400 film. See the chart at 7:42 for more common reciprocals. Also, when in doubt of which shutter speed is the closest, choose the one that will overexpose your film slightly. Your film can handle it :)
Hey does anyone know where I could find a sunny 16 chart equivalent shutter speed chart like the one in the video but for iso 200?
I use sunny 16 but am still learning and to know how to get a shallow depth of field with a different shutter speed would be handy
Thank you !
Why don't you just screenshot it or pause video and right it down
@@EARART because his iso is 200, not 50
It gets easier to apply once you know that the iso dictates the shutter speed and you only ever change the aperture - they don’t really explain that here. F/5.6 means overcast but the lighting hasn’t changed in the LA parking lot. He wants to blur out the background but with the long shutter speed(1/60) the photo would be overexposed. Therefore he has to compensate for that. 3 steps down on aperture requires 3 steps up in speed: f/16;1/60s=f/5.6;1/500s
You don’t need a chart, you just need to adjust the shutter speed according to the aperture change. If it goes down from f16 to f11, the shutter speed goes up from 1/250 to 1/500.
Great video ...what lens are you using??
Great video. But I have question I can't seem to figure out. When shooting ay "shady 8" to kept the same shutter speed. When would I shoot at f8 and make the shutter speed faster vs shoot f8 and keep the shutter at iso speed? Thanks again. (New subscriber)
Ok i need some help, shooting with an olympus om1 with kodak gold 200. According to sunny 16 i have to use 1/250 at f/16. So if i want to make a portrait at f/4 i would have to use like 1/3000... but my olympus goes only down to 1/1000... what do i do now? the same with Kodak gold 400 and 800...
This is a great question! If it’s a Sunny16 kind of day and there is too much light to achieve the apertures you want due to your camera’s maximum shutter speed being too slow, you may want to consider picking up a Neutral Density (ND) filter. These act like sunglasses for your camera’s lens and reduce the amount of light hitting the film. With your example using Kodak Gold 200, a 2-stop ND filter would allow you to shoot at F/4 and 1/1000s. On very bright days you are likely best suited to use lower speed films like CineStill 50D rather than something very fast like CineStill 800T. But ND filters can help you in a pinch.
@@CineStillFilm what if, in this case to compensate the lack of shutterspeed, we reduce the iso and put it from 200 to 50 in order to use lower shutter speed such as 1/500?
If only my apature ring worked and had more than 4 shutter speed options on my camera 😭😭😭
Does the sunny 16 rule still apply if you use reflectors?
That's a great question! If you're using a reflector to "fill in" the shadows of a scene, but the main subject is in full sunlight and not really affected by the reflector you wouldn't have to change your camera's settings. But if you were using a reflector to bounce more light onto your subject's face they would indeed be reflecting more light. With color negative film you'd probably be fine not stopping down.
HOW YOU NOW WHAT IS THE EQUIVALENT?
I thought sunny 16 rule stays on F 16 and you an only change the shutter
What lens does he use?
Henry had a 35mm F/2.8 lens on his Canon P rangefinder in this video!
So I learnt how to shoot without a meter using math, but sunny 16 with the iso reciprocal rule for shutter would make it seem like your photos would be about 1-2 stops underexposed. Was this true in your experience?
(I understand the irony here, but bear with me)
Ex. f16 = -8 stops, 1/60 = -6 stops, iso 50 = -1 stop. You are exposing for -15 stops while daylight is roughly 13EV before factoring any adjustments. This leaves the exposure 2 stops below daylight/under exposed (the above numbers are derived from knowing that 16 = 2^4, aperature is square root, so sqrt(2)^2*4 = 8, -8 stops. 1/60 ~ 1/64 = 2^-6, -6 stops. ISO = 50 = 50/100 = 1/2 = 2^-1, -1 stop. -8-6-1 = -15 EV light losses)
Note: The exposure should be fine with lighter colored objects, but medium and darker objects should be about -2 to -4 stops underexposed
Thanks for your comment. The Exposure Value formula computes a constant exposure using only shutter speed and f/stop. It leaves out the variable for ISO because it does not determine film sensitivity, so you would use a different EV for different ISOs. Direct bright sunlight would give you an EV of 14 for ISO 50, EV 15 for ISO 100, EV 16 for ISO 200, and so on… which is all Sunny 16. 😊
Note: Sunny 16 gives you an accurate exposure for bright sunlight regardless of how light or dark color your subject matter is. Middle grey will turn out middle grey, blacktop will turn out an accurate shade of black, and a white wall will turn out an accurate shade of white. You do not need to compensate for lighter or darker colored objects. It works like an incident meter to give an accurate exposure based on the intensity of your light source. Reflective meters will give you a variable exposure for the color of the subject you are metering off of to be exposed as middle grey. You would need to compensate for the actual shade of your subject to get an accurate exposure. More on light meters in a later video… 👍🏻
4:05 oh maaan thats a shity light leak did it happend at the lab or you had an accident
Otherwise great and helpfull video thanks
I thought this was a light leak too!!!
Basically, this man put the „D“ in….