Used the "sunny 16" when I was ten years old. Yes.... I carried a cheat sheet because I was a kid and just learning. Now I'm 73 and was recently gifted an Argus C-3. Being made in 1940 I'll be trying to live in full manual mode. Sunny 16... here we go! This was good and fun and very helpful.
Hi Mark, many thanks for your feedback! I think it was very smart of you to bring a cheat sheet - in the end, it's the result that counts! 🙂 By the way, if you're in Europe or the U.S. and using your camera right now, maybe be careful - it's really dark especially from November to February, so you might want do add 2 to 3 f/stops to your exposure. But in the warmer half or two thirds of the year, "Sunny 16" really works pretty well!
This has been one of the best explanations of the Sunny 16 rule I've come across on RUclips. Including the settings on the example photos really helps. Thank you.
Nice video, something completely different. All of these rules were known in the past. And actually I still often follow them today. Herzliche Grüße aus Frankfurt - Elke
Thank you Thomas for another great video. Very enjoyable and clear explanation. I have for decades relied on the light meter of my Spotmatic II but have recently also acquired a Pentax SL (which I really like) and of course has no light meter. I have been exclusively shooting BW with the SL and it has introduced me to handheld light meters and Sunny 16. So this video was a great help! Greetings from Sweden, Kaj
Thanks Kaj for your comment. I am glad the video was of some help. The Pentax SL is a real beauty! A friend of mine collects these old Pentax cameras and I am always amazed how gorgeous they look and also how small and compact they are! All the best from Cologne!
Thanks! Actually I gave this film to a not-so-good lab, so I had to wait 3 weeks to get the results. Now I found a much better and faster lab for b&w film here in my town :)
Thanks Tom! This is the best video of sunny 16! I have been a long time subscriber but came across this gem of a video. Great stuff and greetings from Plön.
Excellent exposure tutorial. Excellent production value. Examples with exposure data is invaluable to a newbie. As you approach a subject in street, sharing your thought process as you proceed is invaluable. Just one small recommendation. Music is great, but maybe just a little bit lower when example pics display. I found it a tiny bit distracting. But, overall, this is one of the best Sunny 16 tutorials on RUclips in my opinion. 👍👍👍
Hello, great video! Personnally I just look at the shadows, it is much more precise : Shadow Full sun - sharp shadow: f / 16 Veiled sun - diffuse shadow: -1 stop => f / 11 Against the light or in the shade (clear shade): -3 stops => f / 5.6 Sun above the horizon, before diving: about -4 stops or about f / 4 No shade Hidden sun, white sky, visible sun disk with sunglasses: -2 stops => f / 8 Overcast sky, light gray, invisible sun disk: -3 stops => f / 5.6 Overcast, leaden gray, it can rain: -4 stops => f / 4 Rain: from -4 to -5 stops or f / 4 to f / 2.8 Interior From -9 to -10 stops Dim lights: between -12 and -15 stops I use this and I have great result, hope it helps.
Liked and subscribed, thank you for showing your pics after every process, it’s really helpful. I am finding the courage to shoot sunny 16 with my rangefinder, it’s very freeing!
Hey, thanks very much for this positive feedback! I've got a new video in preparation but unfortunately it's gonna be after Christmas when I'll be able to upload it.
I really appreciate your attention, well explained how film and digital works. My question is : I think that the two ways of reaction to light are different in the film negative and in the digital sensor. What I want from your experience is to tell me how to use as much as possible the silver hyalides on the film. (Density of the negative), because if it is an underexposed film, it does not react a lot of silver hyalides, it washes them away and does not use them (the more the negative film is impacted by the light, the more it uses the silver hyalides without burning the photo). I have seen many professional photographers use the external exposure meter in landscape photography, applying reciprocity in their shooting.
If you really want to have the technically best result, I also would always recommend to use a light meter! Sunny 16 is not meant to give the technical best result. It is to recreate old times and appreciate what photographers in the old days did achieve! And also Sunny 16 is fun and it teaches you some skills that might be good to have, but it is not if you are really aiming for perfection! And oh yes, if the shutter time is longer than 1/2 ... 1 second then you have to also consider reciprocity! About how to expose film ... it really depends on the type of film. For color negative film I try to be as accurate as possible, no over- or under exposure. Same of course for slide film ... there you don't have a lot of leeway. If it is a critical subject, I often do bracketing with + 2/3 ... 0 ... - 2/3 ev. But most black and white films, you can well over expose a little bit, then you get a more dense negative which often is good IMO. I do like that negative film can preserve many details in the highlights, whereas digital can show harsh clipping. Sometimes my analog photography is influenced by this. I have deep shadows. In digital, I tend to lighten up the shadows in the RAW converter. In analogue, I like the deep shadows just as they are. Maybe weird that the choice of the medium influences your result so much. But that is part of the excitement and fun of photography maybe!
I am in Kharkov, Ukraine, approximately 51 degrees north latitude. For two months, I have been practicing the Sunny 16 rule, shooting on black and white film ISO 400, at different times, approximately from 10:00 to 17-18:00. I used the Sunny 16 rule on the Sun, with and without clouds, in haze and in cloudy weather, and also at sunset. Finally, as a result of a long experiment, I began to get negatives of normal density. The fact is that when shooting in the bright Sun, with sharp shadows, at f16 - 1/500, the negative always turns out weak. At f11 - 1/500, the negative is also weak! Only at the aperture f8 and even f5.6 with a shutter speed of 1/500 did the negatives begin to turn out to be of normal density. Moreover, the results of my experiment confirm the exposure meter readings - in bright sunlight, July-August, in my area, with ISO 400 film, Sunny 16 starts working with aperture f8. If you shoot in the shade or from sun to shade, the aperture should not be less than f4 - f5.6. It's not all that clear-cut, right?. Before using the Sunny 16 rule, be sure to shoot and develop a test film. Thank you for your attention and all the best to you, colleagues!
Hey, many thanks for your detailed feedback! I do often use the "sunny 16" myself but I admit I almost never shoot ISO 400 film - if I do, like JCH Streetpan 400, I tend to expose it like ISO 200-250 ... so that would kind of confirm your findings! What ISO 400 film do you use? Also, I never use f/16 in practice, I go for f/11 in very bright sunlight. Maybe f/16 is more for when you are at the sea (and the water reflects light) or in the snow (so the snow reflects light ...) or something like that. In the end "sunny 16" just a starting point. So you did the right thing: Experiment and get to your own findings! Warm regards to Kharkov!
@@tomscameras Shooting on film is quite expensive for me, so I once bought about 30 m of what seemed to me to be a universal film, Fomapan 400, and have been shooting only on it for about a year now.
I simply could not get the Sunny 16 rule for some strange reason. That is, until I watched this video. Cue the light bulb turning on over my head. 😃 Thank you so much Thomas!
Yes. That's basically an even more simplified rule ... :D but yes even that will take you quite far during a normal day of shooting. It's really only in the evenings and/or when you are in a dark shade (like a dark forest) or anywhere indoors where all those rules really start to fall apart at some point.
Fantastic tutorial video. Somewhere I read that Sunny 16 rule works when the subject is Front or Side lighted - is that always true? Can’t I take photo of a subject which is back lighted with Sunny 16 rule.
It works best with front or side light, yes. If your subject is backlit, then you have to decide if you want to expose on the background - and have the subject e.g. like a dark silhouette - or expose on the subject itself. In the first case, I'd use standard "sunny 16", depending on how bright the background is (e.g. sun shines through the leaves of a tree etc.) you can even under expose by 1 stop then. If you want to expose on the subject itself, I would recommend over exposure by about 2 stops. Best is if you practice a bit for yourself. I'm using sunny 16 a lot by now and I see how my results are getting better and better!
@@tomscameras - thanks for the explanation. Another question, in this video you have used different aperture, shutter speed & ISO combinations for different lighting conditions. In that case can we call this as “Sunny 16” rules where “16” indicates F/16?
I really liked the simple way of explanation and the shots taken with their shooting parameters in the sunny 16 rule. By the way I added a Like and subscribed. If you can help me, what is the difference between the capture of photons (light) on a colour negative on the sensor of digital cameras. ? Thank you. Take care. All the best.
Hi Federico, thanks for your comment! I am not entirely sure about your question analogue vs. digital. Very simply said, analogue film is a chemical process, the light-sensitive emulsion in the film normally consists of a thin layer of various silver halides and silver halides do react when light hits them. There are other chemicals added to form the different color layers if it's color negative film. Later when you develop and fix the film, you thus get a negative image. Photographic film is really a wonder of chemistry. Whereas in digital photography, you have a sensor that consists of tiny photoelectric cells, these react to light and transform it into electricity. (Very roughly like a solar cell also does transform light to electricity.) Then you set up an array of several of these cells (like individual pixels ...) next to each other, and voilà you've got a digital sensor. Note that these photoelectric cells cannot differentiate colors, that is why there normally is a color filter in front of every single pixel - red, green or blue - that's called a Bayer filter! I'm super simplifying things here, if you want to know anything more specific, or wanted to know something else in the first place, just feel free to ask again ;)
Maybe you also find this link interesting: How to make a daguerreotype for yourself. This gives you a lot of insight into how an analogue photo is created: www.dpreview.com/news/1895936545/video-how-to-safely-make-a-35mm-daguerreotype-at-home
Yes, you are right, I got a weird light effect on a few pictures. However, the Contax II has a metal shutter so there cannot really be a hole like in an old Leica or other cameras. Also the camera was overhauled by a specialist a few years ago. Have to look into that further!
tomscameras Looks more like a light leak due to worn baffles to me. I’d inspect the seals between back and body and also the internal baffling around the shutter and on the lens side (possibly an internal reflection issue). It’s clearly happening on only one side though. Good hunting!
@@NutsAndMarbles Many thanks for your tips! I am really wondering what was going on there and your suggestions will maybe help me to find the source of the light leaks!
I doubt it you are right. I deny the correctness of the rule of Sunny 16. Which aperture in the snow and on the beach in the Summer? My carton Agfa Berlin two ruler exposure meter made in 1920 is better.
Sunny 16 is a rule of thumb. It's not the perfect fit for all extreme situations. Also think of long, dark winters ... but having said that: if you're using a typical low/medium ISO negative film, you've got a lot of leeway, especially you can over expose quite a lot. I made this video about two years ago and today I'm shooting cameras without meters regularly and don't often miss the meter. If in doubt, I just use an iPhone app. Especially when the sun is already low over the horizon. But often I can go for hours and not use any app, just following Sunny 16. I'm myself kind of amazed how good it works in many situations, and again: Yes there are also many situations where it wont work (or needs a lot of additions, like your 1920 meter will have).
Don't worry about it Jaco. Just manually bracket your exposure and you'll probably get a decent exposure from one of the shots. f22 is probably what you want to use in snow and beach scenes with bright sun. If not science behind the sunny 16 rule, there are at least decades of experience that shows the sunny 16 rule actually works. But as Tom points out, it is a reasonable approximation. If we want pinpoint accuracy, we might try taking our digital cameras with us and matrix meter the scene, note the shutter and aperture indicated and adjust the old film camera accordingly. Ken Rockwell suggests that in the context of trying to implement the zone exposure system. I'm not certain, and not asserting as fact, but It may be that the zone exposure system (said to have been articulated by Ansel Adams et al in the late 1930s) and sunny 16 rule were born about the same time. It was a different age with different technology but that doesn't mean those concepts are wrong or useless. I don't have a separate exposure meter. But your approach of using the Agfa meter Jaco is great and probably is more accurate or precise than the sunny 16 rule. With my Rollei 35s I'll use its meter and the sunny 16 rule and try to cross check them. With my Nikon FM3a I go with it's center weighted meter. With m F5 I use its matrix meter. Different approaches for different cameras with different capabilities. At the end of the day, we all just want to enjoy our photography. Best wishes to you Jaco.
Yes! That's a great use case! Also if you find an old camera somewhere at a swap market or garage sale and would like to test it, it makes sense to stick to 1/100 or 1/250 of a second and just adjust aperture - because those are normally the speeds that work the best, even when the shutter is worn out or the lubricants are old and sticky!
@@tomscameras Just right, Tom ! And, quite often, the slower speeds are somehow stuck, or no more precise, and the same goes for the faster speeds, 1/500s and up.
@@tomscameras I have also a way old Yashica classic Rangefinder, without any kind of lightmeter, and therefore "no batteries included" :) It's pure mechanical, it works that way.
Hey! With analog film (negative film, either black and white or color) if in doubt, go just to the next slower speed. A bit of over exposure never hurts! So you have got ISO 400 film, you can shoot it at 1/250 no problem! But having said that, if you go for 1/500 with ISO 400 that is not a big difference so should also work. Color slide film is a bit more „picky“ but the sunny 16 rule was really meant for negative film which has some leeway to handle slightly „wrong“ exposures without any problem.
I have a camera where I can only choose Auto, 1/100 og B for shutter speed, and the light meter is broken (therefore Auto is no use). So I want to have my shutter speed at permenantly 1/100. If I use a 400 ISO film, is there a rule I can follow to get the right exposure?
Yes! You can still use 1/100 second and use "Sunny 16", but you have to close the aperture by two extra stops! For example, f/16 and 1/400 second is the same as f/32 and 1/100 second! (You can also do the other way round - in my video there is a photo where I use f/2.8 and 1/500 second instead of f/5.6 and 1/125 second. Both gives exactly the same amount of exposure!) Now it can well be that your lens does not offer f/32. I would say if you are not in a super bright location (desert / mountains with snow etc.) then you won't have a problem. Use negative film (no slide film!). The film can easily handle 1-2 stops of "wrong" exposure! And if you are in a really bright location like desert / snow-covered mountains etc., then using ISO 400 film does not make any sense anyway.
Thank you so much, very informative! All my lenses go to f22, and I'll probably switch to a 200 ISO soon anyway, when the days get brighter here I Denmark. Thank you again!
I would go for the one that is the closest, and if in doubt, then also go for a little bit of a slower shutter speed. It doesn't matter if you over expose film a bit, but it's always bad to under expose. So in your case, go for 1/250 with ISO 400 film!
Yes, you are right: Sunny 16 is definitely not made for slide film, because there you want to have exactly the right exposure. I also explain that in my video :)
Thanks also for your feedback! Now that I am shooting analog much more frequently with various cameras, I also find myself often in a situation where I don’t bother to measure light, cause sunny 16 just works very well. With more experience you also get a feeling for additional adjustments in certain more complex situations.
I doubt it you are right. I deny the correctness of the rule of Sunny 16. Which aperture in the snow and on the beach in the Summer? My carton Agfa Berlin two ruler exposure meter made in 1920 is better.
This seems like it should only work in ideal lighting conditions. For example shooting on portra 400 at 1/400 at f/5.6 feels way under exposed but that’s just my gut 🤷🏻♂️
Your falling into the common mistaken mindset that the Sunny 16 method is a fixed method. It’s not. It’s a base. It’s basically the same as an incident light meter but using your eyes. You shift it which ever way you want using the correct stops to balance it. You say Portra 400 at 1/400 at f/5.6 feels way under exposed and let’s say under the lighting conditions at the time it is. You can then over expose it a stop by shooting it at 1/250 at f/5.6. Still want to keep it at box speed but add some more light? No problem. Open the aperture to f/4. But hang on, you decide you actually don’t want such a shallow depth of field. So you decide to close your aperture from f/4 to f/8. This is 2 f stops so you then need to balance this by decreasing your shutter speed by two stops which would be 1/125. You’ve balanced the exposure using Sunny 16 as a base. When I set my digital camera in Shutter Priority mode it comes very very close to Sunny 16. When I use an incident light meter before I even look at my light meter I’ve used Sunny 16 in my head, I then look at the light meter and guess what….95% it’s accurate to what I thought it would be.
I am "an old pro" and I come from a generation that not only had to be able to judge light, but also distance in the days before cameras had rangefinders, and I believe many of today's DSLR photographers would benefit by learning these skills.
Yes, I also believe that it totally helps to learn and practice those skills. Also it feels like a relief to me not having to rely on technology that much!
I doubt it you are right. I deny the correctness of the rule of Sunny 16. Which aperture in the snow and on the beach in the Summer? My carton Agfa Berlin two ruler exposure meter made in 1920 is better.
Sometimes I have the same feeling. It's funny because a few years ago I'd have said it is crazy to shoot a camera without a light meter, and by now it feels very natural to me! I'm currently thinking to get a classic Nikon and am considering a Nikon F eyelevel without light meter - before prices rise more. OTOH, I've already got more than enough cameras to shoot, but that's a different topic :)
I doubt it you are right. I deny the correctness of the rule of Sunny 16. Which aperture in the snow and on the beach in the Summer? My carton Agfa Berlin two ruler exposure meter made in 1920 is better.
Schade, dass du nur Us babbelst, ich versteh da nicht viel! Es wäre angebracht, wenn du ein derartiges Video neu auf deutsch machen würdest, damit die (rein) Deutschsprachigen auch etwas davon abbekommen. Das Thema scheint interessant, zumindest für mich, da ich 'ne alte Leica M3 ohne Belichtungsmesser besitze. Ich freue mich auf dein neues Video mit vielen praktischen Beispielen, in deutscher Sprache.
Es tut mir leid, dass Du die Sprache nicht verstehst. Aber dafür gibt es halt natürlich sehr viele andere Zuschauer, die kein Deutsch verstehen. Ich kann es nicht jedem recht machen und mein Kanal ist auch aus Zeitgründen nur in einer Sprache. Was Du gerne machen kannst, ist die Untertitel aktivieren - da ist auch eine automatische Übersetzung auf Deutsch verfügbar. Da alle Untertitel in allen meinen Videos sorgfältig editiert sind, sollte auch die Qualität der Übersetzung relativ gut sein. Ansonsten gibt es natürlich auch sehr viele andere sehr gute Kanäle, die deutschsprachig sind.
@@tomscameras Danke für die rasche Antwort. Klar, dass man es allen nicht recht machen kann. Es gibt, sagst du, sehr viele andere Zuschauer, die kein Deutsch verstehen, aber gibt es nicht auch sehr viele andere, die Shakespears Sprache nicht intus haben? Du könntest doch mal den Spiess umdrehen, und den Nicht-Deutsch-Verstehenden" raten, die treue Us-Übersetzung zu lesen ! Warum nur und ausschliesslich in eine Richtung fahren? Einmal drehst du dein Video auf Deutsch (dann lesen die Amys die treue Übersetzung) und ein anderes Mal drehst du dein Video auf Us-language (und wir lesen die treue Übersetzung) : das wär doch eine gerechte Verteilung, oder nicht? Und das gäbe dir überhaupt nicht mehr Arbeit, wenn du in der Muttersprache dich äussern würdest, da ja die Übersetzung für die Us-Sprechenden vorhanden ist. Das Gute in deinem Video sind die praktischen Beispiele mit Angabe der Daten, anderswo konnte ich das nicht so richtig finden, nur eigentlich bei den Amys, bei denen oft die Übersetzung nicht vorhanden ist. Du könntest also wieder ein Video über "Sonne 16" drehen, mit anderen Situationen und Kommentaren, halt nur auf Deutsch und folglich automatischer Übersetzung für die Cousins im Us-Staat und anderswo ! Na ...?
Well. he explains the concept of the Sunny 16 rule. But like his other YT video makers on this subject, many of whom proudly announce that they don't need no stinking light meter, he fails to explain that even the most diligent application of the rule can result in an exposure which is up to 2 stops over or under correct exposure. Why? Because the brightness of the sun, the reference point for the rule, varies greatly for two reasons: (1) the latitude of the photographer's location, and (2) the season of the year. While it would be possible to take such additional factors into account, doing so would make the "rule" more troublesome to apply than it would be worth. So if you value your time and investment in film, forget it.
The point of this video and today’s application of sunny 16 is not to have most accurate exposure, of course. The point is to reenact how photography worked in the old times. Why would you use a camera from the 1930s or 1950s anyway? More modern ones will be easier to use and better in quality, but that’s missing the point. And also what’s wrong about gaining some knowledge about lighting? I do find it liberating to be able to guess exposure even if it’s not 100% accurate! Remember that photography is fun and it is not always about perfection! But you are right, there are a lot of additions to the simple "Sunny 16" rule, and huge exposure tables that have been used in the old days, sometimes even printed or engraved on some cameras! Of course then it comes quickly to a point where you'd just rather use a modern exposure meter. But maybe I'll once make another video about this subject ...
The sunny 16 rules works perfect on old camera's from those days, because in those days the film rol was not so accurated as now. The film rol speeds ASA was not so fast as now. For example, i like to a lot with my Zeiss Ikon Nettar 512, which has 4 speeds, 25, 50, 100, B and T. In those days where 25, 50 or 100 ASA. That was very fast at that time. And now to day I will only using 125 ASA max. Not 400 as a lot photografers using. It's to fast.
@@LeendertCordemans Thanks for your comment! I agree it is easier with slower cameras and film speeds. I have a Zeiss Ikon 6x9 box camera that has only one single speed setting. (plus long-time of course) But you can vary the aperture between f/11, f/16 and f/22. Not a lot from today's point of view :) ... I believe most photographers were not as focused on getting hyper accurate exposure as we are today ... but with a slow b&w film and 6x9 cm negative, what can go wrong if your exposure is off a little bit!
Used the "sunny 16" when I was ten years old. Yes.... I carried a cheat sheet because I was a kid and just learning. Now I'm 73 and was recently gifted an Argus C-3. Being made in 1940 I'll be trying to live in full manual mode. Sunny 16... here we go! This was good and fun and very helpful.
Hi Mark, many thanks for your feedback! I think it was very smart of you to bring a cheat sheet - in the end, it's the result that counts! 🙂
By the way, if you're in Europe or the U.S. and using your camera right now, maybe be careful - it's really dark especially from November to February, so you might want do add 2 to 3 f/stops to your exposure. But in the warmer half or two thirds of the year, "Sunny 16" really works pretty well!
This has been one of the best explanations of the Sunny 16 rule I've come across on RUclips. Including the settings on the example photos really helps. Thank you.
Many thanks for your feedback, I really appreciate it!
Love the more practical demonstration of compensating various f-stops unlike many other videos. Thank you
Many thanks for your feedback, I really appreciate it!
Nice video, something completely different. All of these rules were known in the past. And actually I still often follow them today. Herzliche Grüße aus Frankfurt - Elke
Hi Elke! Yes the knowledge from the past is vast, and it's fun to remember and use it today! :)
Real pleasure to watch you work your craft. Thanks.
Many thanks, I appreciate your feedback!
Thank you Thomas for another great video. Very enjoyable and clear explanation. I have for decades relied on the light meter of my Spotmatic II but have recently also acquired a Pentax SL (which I really like) and of course has no light meter. I have been exclusively shooting BW with the SL and it has introduced me to handheld light meters and Sunny 16. So this video was a great help! Greetings from Sweden, Kaj
Thanks Kaj for your comment. I am glad the video was of some help. The Pentax SL is a real beauty! A friend of mine collects these old Pentax cameras and I am always amazed how gorgeous they look and also how small and compact they are! All the best from Cologne!
I like the immediate feedback here - seeing the b/w image right after the capture! Thx.
Thanks! Actually I gave this film to a not-so-good lab, so I had to wait 3 weeks to get the results. Now I found a much better and faster lab for b&w film here in my town :)
Awesome! Love seeing Germany again and film photography is a wonderful thing
Many thanks for your comment!
Thanks Tom! This is the best video of sunny 16! I have been a long time subscriber but came across this gem of a video. Great stuff and greetings from Plön.
Excellent exposure tutorial. Excellent production value. Examples with exposure data is invaluable to a newbie. As you approach a subject in street, sharing your thought process as you proceed is invaluable.
Just one small recommendation. Music is great, but maybe just a little bit lower when example pics display. I found it a tiny bit distracting.
But, overall, this is one of the best Sunny 16 tutorials on RUclips in my opinion. 👍👍👍
Many thanks for your feedback, I really appreciate it!
Hello, great video!
Personnally I just look at the shadows, it is much more precise :
Shadow
Full sun - sharp shadow: f / 16
Veiled sun - diffuse shadow: -1 stop => f / 11
Against the light or in the shade (clear shade): -3 stops => f / 5.6
Sun above the horizon, before diving: about -4 stops or about f / 4
No shade
Hidden sun, white sky, visible sun disk with sunglasses: -2 stops => f / 8
Overcast sky, light gray, invisible sun disk: -3 stops => f / 5.6
Overcast, leaden gray, it can rain: -4 stops => f / 4
Rain: from -4 to -5 stops or f / 4 to f / 2.8
Interior
From -9 to -10 stops
Dim lights: between -12 and -15 stops
I use this and I have great result, hope it helps.
Many thanks for sharing, this is a great advice!
Liked and subscribed, thank you for showing your pics after every process, it’s really helpful. I am finding the courage to shoot sunny 16 with my rangefinder, it’s very freeing!
Hey, thanks for your comment! Yes it give a feeling of freedom if you're not so much depending on all the camera functions :)
very helpful tips .. i'd heard of "Sunny 16" but not understood .. ISO : shutter speed relationship very helpful👍
Many thanks! I Hope you’ll have a lot of fun trying out sunny 16 :)
Loved the Contax! Thanks.
Thanks for your comment! Yes, the Contax II is a fantastic classic camera and it was highly innovative back then!
Really nice video Tom. I don't subscribe much but have sub'd here and looking forward to future videos!
Hey, thanks very much for this positive feedback! I've got a new video in preparation but unfortunately it's gonna be after Christmas when I'll be able to upload it.
Liked and subscribed. Thank you for this helpful explanation and demonstration.
Thanks for your feedback! I hope you'll have fun if you try it out for yourself!
I really appreciate your attention, well explained how film and digital works. My question is : I think that the two ways of reaction to light are different in the film negative and in the digital sensor. What I want from your experience is to tell me how to use as much as possible the silver hyalides on the film. (Density of the negative), because if it is an underexposed film, it does not react a lot of silver hyalides, it washes them away and does not use them (the more the negative film is impacted by the light, the more it uses the silver hyalides without burning the photo). I have seen many professional photographers use the external exposure meter in landscape photography, applying reciprocity in their shooting.
If you really want to have the technically best result, I also would always recommend to use a light meter! Sunny 16 is not meant to give the technical best result. It is to recreate old times and appreciate what photographers in the old days did achieve! And also Sunny 16 is fun and it teaches you some skills that might be good to have, but it is not if you are really aiming for perfection!
And oh yes, if the shutter time is longer than 1/2 ... 1 second then you have to also consider reciprocity!
About how to expose film ... it really depends on the type of film. For color negative film I try to be as accurate as possible, no over- or under exposure. Same of course for slide film ... there you don't have a lot of leeway. If it is a critical subject, I often do bracketing with + 2/3 ... 0 ... - 2/3 ev.
But most black and white films, you can well over expose a little bit, then you get a more dense negative which often is good IMO.
I do like that negative film can preserve many details in the highlights, whereas digital can show harsh clipping. Sometimes my analog photography is influenced by this. I have deep shadows. In digital, I tend to lighten up the shadows in the RAW converter. In analogue, I like the deep shadows just as they are. Maybe weird that the choice of the medium influences your result so much. But that is part of the excitement and fun of photography maybe!
Well explained video thanks for your help Tom.......
Thanks Antony, you’re welcome! 🙏
Superb video, the very best RUclips demonstration of The "Sunny Sixteen" method of film exposure.🌟🌟🌟
Well, many thanks! Glad you like it!
This was direct , simply explained and very very helpful. Thank you!
Many thanks! I hope you have fun and success trying it out for yourself!
I am in Kharkov, Ukraine, approximately 51 degrees north latitude. For two months, I have been practicing the Sunny 16 rule, shooting on black and white film ISO 400, at different times, approximately from 10:00 to 17-18:00. I used the Sunny 16 rule on the Sun, with and without clouds, in haze and in cloudy weather, and also at sunset. Finally, as a result of a long experiment, I began to get negatives of normal density.
The fact is that when shooting in the bright Sun, with sharp shadows, at f16 - 1/500, the negative always turns out weak. At f11 - 1/500, the negative is also weak! Only at the aperture f8 and even f5.6 with a shutter speed of 1/500 did the negatives begin to turn out to be of normal density. Moreover, the results of my experiment confirm the exposure meter readings - in bright sunlight, July-August, in my area, with ISO 400 film, Sunny 16 starts working with aperture f8. If you shoot in the shade or from sun to shade, the aperture should not be less than f4 - f5.6.
It's not all that clear-cut, right?. Before using the Sunny 16 rule, be sure to shoot and develop a test film.
Thank you for your attention and all the best to you, colleagues!
Hey, many thanks for your detailed feedback! I do often use the "sunny 16" myself but I admit I almost never shoot ISO 400 film - if I do, like JCH Streetpan 400, I tend to expose it like ISO 200-250 ... so that would kind of confirm your findings! What ISO 400 film do you use?
Also, I never use f/16 in practice, I go for f/11 in very bright sunlight. Maybe f/16 is more for when you are at the sea (and the water reflects light) or in the snow (so the snow reflects light ...) or something like that.
In the end "sunny 16" just a starting point. So you did the right thing: Experiment and get to your own findings!
Warm regards to Kharkov!
@@tomscameras
@@tomscameras Shooting on film is quite expensive for me, so I once bought about 30 m of what seemed to me to be a universal film, Fomapan 400, and have been shooting only on it for about a year now.
Settings on example photos, very helpful. Many thanks.
Thanks for your comment, I'm happy if the video was of any help for you!
I simply could not get the Sunny 16 rule for some strange reason. That is, until I watched this video. Cue the light bulb turning on over my head. 😃 Thank you so much Thomas!
Many thanks, I'm really happy that it works for you now :)
Really great video, great work!
Many thanks! Glad you like it!
Echt gutes Video!
Dankesehr! :)
Nice explanation and content
Thanks David, I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
Very helpful, danke!
Thanks! Hope you have fun trying it out yourself!
Wish we could arrange a photo walk or something in Cologne and go out with other film photographers and learn more from each other.
Good video pal
Thanks!! :)
The best sunny 16 explanation on RUclips
Oh, many thanks !! :)
The other exposure rule for capturing good (black and white) photos coming down from my dad and the 1940s was: “F8 and a 60th and BE there”
Yes. That's basically an even more simplified rule ... :D but yes even that will take you quite far during a normal day of shooting. It's really only in the evenings and/or when you are in a dark shade (like a dark forest) or anywhere indoors where all those rules really start to fall apart at some point.
Fantastic tutorial video. Somewhere I read that Sunny 16 rule works when the subject is Front or Side lighted - is that always true?
Can’t I take photo of a subject which is back lighted with Sunny 16 rule.
It works best with front or side light, yes. If your subject is backlit, then you have to decide if you want to expose on the background - and have the subject e.g. like a dark silhouette - or expose on the subject itself.
In the first case, I'd use standard "sunny 16", depending on how bright the background is (e.g. sun shines through the leaves of a tree etc.) you can even under expose by 1 stop then.
If you want to expose on the subject itself, I would recommend over exposure by about 2 stops.
Best is if you practice a bit for yourself.
I'm using sunny 16 a lot by now and I see how my results are getting better and better!
@@tomscameras - thanks for the explanation.
Another question, in this video you have used different aperture, shutter speed & ISO combinations for different lighting conditions.
In that case can we call this as “Sunny 16” rules where “16” indicates F/16?
war richitg hilfreich. danke!
Danke! Dann wünsche ich viel Spaß beim Ausprobieren!
Love it!!!!!
Lovely. i expose my photos according to the zone system.
I'm too impatient for the zone system, but it's the best possible way to expose !!
I really liked the simple way of explanation and the shots taken with their shooting parameters in the sunny 16 rule. By the way I added a Like and subscribed.
If you can help me, what is the difference between the capture of photons (light) on a colour negative on the sensor of digital cameras. ? Thank you. Take care. All the best.
Hi Federico, thanks for your comment! I am not entirely sure about your question analogue vs. digital. Very simply said, analogue film is a chemical process, the light-sensitive emulsion in the film normally consists of a thin layer of various silver halides and silver halides do react when light hits them. There are other chemicals added to form the different color layers if it's color negative film. Later when you develop and fix the film, you thus get a negative image. Photographic film is really a wonder of chemistry.
Whereas in digital photography, you have a sensor that consists of tiny photoelectric cells, these react to light and transform it into electricity. (Very roughly like a solar cell also does transform light to electricity.) Then you set up an array of several of these cells (like individual pixels ...) next to each other, and voilà you've got a digital sensor.
Note that these photoelectric cells cannot differentiate colors, that is why there normally is a color filter in front of every single pixel - red, green or blue - that's called a Bayer filter!
I'm super simplifying things here, if you want to know anything more specific, or wanted to know something else in the first place, just feel free to ask again ;)
Maybe you also find this link interesting: How to make a daguerreotype for yourself. This gives you a lot of insight into how an analogue photo is created:
www.dpreview.com/news/1895936545/video-how-to-safely-make-a-35mm-daguerreotype-at-home
You should check your shutter curtain, there might be a hole in it. Great content!
Yes, you are right, I got a weird light effect on a few pictures. However, the Contax II has a metal shutter so there cannot really be a hole like in an old Leica or other cameras. Also the camera was overhauled by a specialist a few years ago. Have to look into that further!
tomscameras Looks more like a light leak due to worn baffles to me. I’d inspect the seals between back and body and also the internal baffling around the shutter and on the lens side (possibly an internal reflection issue). It’s clearly happening on only one side though. Good hunting!
@@NutsAndMarbles Many thanks for your tips! I am really wondering what was going on there and your suggestions will maybe help me to find the source of the light leaks!
I doubt it you are right.
I deny the correctness of the rule of Sunny 16.
Which aperture in the snow and on the beach in the Summer?
My carton Agfa Berlin two ruler exposure meter made in 1920 is better.
Sunny 16 is a rule of thumb. It's not the perfect fit for all extreme situations. Also think of long, dark winters ... but having said that: if you're using a typical low/medium ISO negative film, you've got a lot of leeway, especially you can over expose quite a lot.
I made this video about two years ago and today I'm shooting cameras without meters regularly and don't often miss the meter. If in doubt, I just use an iPhone app. Especially when the sun is already low over the horizon. But often I can go for hours and not use any app, just following Sunny 16. I'm myself kind of amazed how good it works in many situations, and again: Yes there are also many situations where it wont work (or needs a lot of additions, like your 1920 meter will have).
Don't worry about it Jaco. Just manually bracket your exposure and you'll probably get a decent exposure from one of the shots. f22 is probably what you want to use in snow and beach scenes with bright sun. If not science behind the sunny 16 rule, there are at least decades of experience that shows the sunny 16 rule actually works. But as Tom points out, it is a reasonable approximation. If we want pinpoint accuracy, we might try taking our digital cameras with us and matrix meter the scene, note the shutter and aperture indicated and adjust the old film camera accordingly. Ken Rockwell suggests that in the context of trying to implement the zone exposure system. I'm not certain, and not asserting as fact, but It may be that the zone exposure system (said to have been articulated by Ansel Adams et al in the late 1930s) and sunny 16 rule were born about the same time. It was a different age with different technology but that doesn't mean those concepts are wrong or useless. I don't have a separate exposure meter. But your approach of using the Agfa meter Jaco is great and probably is more accurate or precise than the sunny 16 rule. With my Rollei 35s I'll use its meter and the sunny 16 rule and try to cross check them. With my Nikon FM3a I go with it's center weighted meter. With m F5 I use its matrix meter. Different approaches for different cameras with different capabilities. At the end of the day, we all just want to enjoy our photography. Best wishes to you Jaco.
I use Sunny 16 for ages, on a few SLRs, whereas the interal light meter is being broken, or no more matching batteries could being found.
Yes! That's a great use case! Also if you find an old camera somewhere at a swap market or garage sale and would like to test it, it makes sense to stick to 1/100 or 1/250 of a second and just adjust aperture - because those are normally the speeds that work the best, even when the shutter is worn out or the lubricants are old and sticky!
@@tomscameras Just right, Tom ! And, quite often, the slower speeds are somehow stuck, or no more precise, and the same goes for the faster speeds, 1/500s and up.
@@tomscameras I have also a way old Yashica classic Rangefinder, without any kind of lightmeter, and therefore "no batteries included" :) It's pure mechanical, it works that way.
I'm old, this is how I learned to shoot and how most of the time I still do. If it's important bracket bracket bracket
Yes, you are right about exposure bracketing! That always helps to get the perfect shot whenever you're in doubt!
I am thinking just setting it to 500?
Hey! With analog film (negative film, either black and white or color) if in doubt, go just to the next slower speed. A bit of over exposure never hurts! So you have got ISO 400 film, you can shoot it at 1/250 no problem! But having said that, if you go for 1/500 with ISO 400 that is not a big difference so should also work.
Color slide film is a bit more „picky“ but the sunny 16 rule was really meant for negative film which has some leeway to handle slightly „wrong“ exposures without any problem.
I have a camera where I can only choose Auto, 1/100 og B for shutter speed, and the light meter is broken (therefore Auto is no use). So I want to have my shutter speed at permenantly 1/100. If I use a 400 ISO film, is there a rule I can follow to get the right exposure?
Yes! You can still use 1/100 second and use "Sunny 16", but you have to close the aperture by two extra stops! For example, f/16 and 1/400 second is the same as f/32 and 1/100 second! (You can also do the other way round - in my video there is a photo where I use f/2.8 and 1/500 second instead of f/5.6 and 1/125 second. Both gives exactly the same amount of exposure!)
Now it can well be that your lens does not offer f/32. I would say if you are not in a super bright location (desert / mountains with snow etc.) then you won't have a problem. Use negative film (no slide film!). The film can easily handle 1-2 stops of "wrong" exposure!
And if you are in a really bright location like desert / snow-covered mountains etc., then using ISO 400 film does not make any sense anyway.
Thank you so much, very informative! All my lenses go to f22, and I'll probably switch to a 200 ISO soon anyway, when the days get brighter here I Denmark. Thank you again!
@@laer2873 yes ... or just go for ISO 100!
What if my shutter speed goes from 250 and next click is 500? I have a Konica Auto S2. ASA 400
I would go for the one that is the closest, and if in doubt, then also go for a little bit of a slower shutter speed. It doesn't matter if you over expose film a bit, but it's always bad to under expose. So in your case, go for 1/250 with ISO 400 film!
Did you try this with slide film? I can assure you it won’t work. B&W has a lot of latitude to save you and there are options in post processing.
Yes, you are right: Sunny 16 is definitely not made for slide film, because there you want to have exactly the right exposure. I also explain that in my video :)
Buongiorno Tomas, che tipo di fotocamera usi in questo video? Grazie Roberto
Hi Roberto, it is a Zeiss Ikon Contax II, made in 1938.
@@tomscameras thanks you very much. Congratulations for your videos. Nice to meet you. Bye
Thank you Roberto, very informative video, nice camera and viel glück mit super liebe wunsche ich dir,,,, :-)
@@alxdeu2008 Thanks a lot for your feedback! I think you meant me and not Roberto 😀
@@tomscameras yes, i did,, i am sorry for the confusion,,,
Sunny 16 worked fine for me. All my years using Leica M3, M4 and IIIf cameras it gave very useable images without a light meter.
Thanks also for your feedback! Now that I am shooting analog much more frequently with various cameras, I also find myself often in a situation where I don’t bother to measure light, cause sunny 16 just works very well. With more experience you also get a feeling for additional adjustments in certain more complex situations.
I doubt it you are right.
I deny the correctness of the rule of Sunny 16.
Which aperture in the snow and on the beach in the Summer?
My carton Agfa Berlin two ruler exposure meter made in 1920 is better.
@@jacovanlith5082 f22, it even said as much in the included instruction sheet inside the box.
Absolut wundervoll!
Ähem! Dankesehr! :)
This seems like it should only work in ideal lighting conditions. For example shooting on portra 400 at 1/400 at f/5.6 feels way under exposed but that’s just my gut 🤷🏻♂️
Well it depends on the lighting conditions. As described in my video or elsewhere when you search for sunny 16. Why shouldn’t it work?
Your falling into the common mistaken mindset that the Sunny 16 method is a fixed method. It’s not. It’s a base. It’s basically the same as an incident light meter but using your eyes.
You shift it which ever way you want using the correct stops to balance it.
You say Portra 400 at 1/400 at f/5.6 feels way under exposed and let’s say under the lighting conditions at the time it is. You can then over expose it a stop by shooting it at 1/250 at f/5.6.
Still want to keep it at box speed but add some more light? No problem. Open the aperture to f/4.
But hang on, you decide you actually don’t want such a shallow depth of field. So you decide to close your aperture from f/4 to f/8. This is 2 f stops so you then need to balance this by decreasing your shutter speed by two stops which would be 1/125. You’ve balanced the exposure using Sunny 16 as a base.
When I set my digital camera in Shutter Priority mode it comes very very close to Sunny 16. When I use an incident light meter before I even look at my light meter I’ve used Sunny 16 in my head, I then look at the light meter and guess what….95% it’s accurate to what I thought it would be.
@@George-tp7zz Very good advice, many thanks for your comment!!
I am "an old pro" and I come from a generation that not only had to be able to judge light, but also distance in the days before cameras had rangefinders, and I believe many of today's DSLR photographers would benefit by learning these skills.
Yes, I also believe that it totally helps to learn and practice those skills. Also it feels like a relief to me not having to rely on technology that much!
I doubt it you are right.
I deny the correctness of the rule of Sunny 16.
Which aperture in the snow and on the beach in the Summer?
My carton Agfa Berlin two ruler exposure meter made in 1920 is better.
Light meters always distract me when shooting that’s why I use my m3 more than my m6
Sometimes I have the same feeling. It's funny because a few years ago I'd have said it is crazy to shoot a camera without a light meter, and by now it feels very natural to me!
I'm currently thinking to get a classic Nikon and am considering a Nikon F eyelevel without light meter - before prices rise more. OTOH, I've already got more than enough cameras to shoot, but that's a different topic :)
I doubt it you are right.
I deny the correctness of the rule of Sunny 16.
Which aperture in the snow and on the beach in the Summer?
My carton Agfa Berlin two ruler exposure meter made in 1920 is better.
@@jacovanlith5082 what?
Schade, dass du nur Us babbelst, ich versteh da nicht viel! Es wäre angebracht, wenn du ein derartiges Video neu auf deutsch machen würdest, damit die (rein) Deutschsprachigen auch etwas davon abbekommen. Das Thema scheint interessant, zumindest für mich, da ich 'ne alte Leica M3 ohne Belichtungsmesser besitze. Ich freue mich auf dein neues Video mit vielen praktischen Beispielen, in deutscher Sprache.
Es tut mir leid, dass Du die Sprache nicht verstehst. Aber dafür gibt es halt natürlich sehr viele andere Zuschauer, die kein Deutsch verstehen. Ich kann es nicht jedem recht machen und mein Kanal ist auch aus Zeitgründen nur in einer Sprache.
Was Du gerne machen kannst, ist die Untertitel aktivieren - da ist auch eine automatische Übersetzung auf Deutsch verfügbar. Da alle Untertitel in allen meinen Videos sorgfältig editiert sind, sollte auch die Qualität der Übersetzung relativ gut sein. Ansonsten gibt es natürlich auch sehr viele andere sehr gute Kanäle, die deutschsprachig sind.
@@tomscameras Danke für die rasche Antwort. Klar, dass man es allen nicht recht machen kann. Es gibt, sagst du, sehr viele andere Zuschauer, die kein Deutsch verstehen, aber gibt es nicht auch sehr viele andere, die Shakespears Sprache nicht intus haben? Du könntest doch mal den Spiess umdrehen, und den Nicht-Deutsch-Verstehenden" raten, die treue Us-Übersetzung zu lesen ! Warum nur und ausschliesslich in eine Richtung fahren? Einmal drehst du dein Video auf Deutsch (dann lesen die Amys die treue Übersetzung) und ein anderes Mal drehst du dein Video auf Us-language (und wir lesen die treue Übersetzung) : das wär doch eine gerechte Verteilung, oder nicht? Und das gäbe dir überhaupt nicht mehr Arbeit, wenn du in der Muttersprache dich äussern würdest, da ja die Übersetzung für die Us-Sprechenden vorhanden ist.
Das Gute in deinem Video sind die praktischen Beispiele mit Angabe der Daten, anderswo konnte ich das nicht so richtig finden, nur eigentlich bei den Amys, bei denen oft die Übersetzung nicht vorhanden ist. Du könntest also wieder ein Video über "Sonne 16" drehen, mit anderen Situationen und Kommentaren, halt nur auf Deutsch und folglich automatischer Übersetzung für die Cousins im Us-Staat und anderswo ! Na ...?
Well. he explains the concept of the Sunny 16 rule. But like his other YT video makers on this subject, many of whom proudly announce that they don't need no stinking light meter, he fails to explain that even the most diligent application of the rule can result in an exposure which is up to 2 stops over or under correct exposure. Why? Because the brightness of the sun, the reference point for the rule, varies greatly for two reasons: (1) the latitude of the photographer's location, and (2) the season of the year. While it would be possible to take such additional factors into account, doing so would make the "rule" more troublesome to apply than it would be worth. So if you value your time and investment in film, forget it.
The point of this video and today’s application of sunny 16 is not to have most accurate exposure, of course. The point is to reenact how photography worked in the old times. Why would you use a camera from the 1930s or 1950s anyway? More modern ones will be easier to use and better in quality, but that’s missing the point. And also what’s wrong about gaining some knowledge about lighting? I do find it liberating to be able to guess exposure even if it’s not 100% accurate! Remember that photography is fun and it is not always about perfection!
But you are right, there are a lot of additions to the simple "Sunny 16" rule, and huge exposure tables that have been used in the old days, sometimes even printed or engraved on some cameras! Of course then it comes quickly to a point where you'd just rather use a modern exposure meter. But maybe I'll once make another video about this subject ...
The sunny 16 rules works perfect on old camera's from those days, because in those days the film rol was not so accurated as now. The film rol speeds ASA was not so fast as now. For example, i like to a lot with my Zeiss Ikon Nettar 512, which has 4 speeds, 25, 50, 100, B and T. In those days where 25, 50 or 100 ASA. That was very fast at that time. And now to day I will only using 125 ASA max. Not 400 as a lot photografers using. It's to fast.
@@LeendertCordemans Thanks for your comment! I agree it is easier with slower cameras and film speeds. I have a Zeiss Ikon 6x9 box camera that has only one single speed setting. (plus long-time of course)
But you can vary the aperture between f/11, f/16 and f/22. Not a lot from today's point of view :) ... I believe most photographers were not as focused on getting hyper accurate exposure as we are today ... but with a slow b&w film and 6x9 cm negative, what can go wrong if your exposure is off a little bit!
There are many photographers who didn’t ever use meters and were fine.
I watched with interest until your crack about Scotland...bye