{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-blogposting-js","path":"/blog/digital_film_long_exposure","result":{"data":{"mdx":{"body":"function _extends() { _extends = Object.assign || function (target) { for (var i = 1; i < arguments.length; i++) { var source = arguments[i]; for (var key in source) { if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(source, key)) { target[key] = source[key]; } } } return target; }; return _extends.apply(this, arguments); }\n\nfunction _objectWithoutProperties(source, excluded) { if (source == null) return {}; var target = _objectWithoutPropertiesLoose(source, excluded); var key, i; if (Object.getOwnPropertySymbols) { var sourceSymbolKeys = Object.getOwnPropertySymbols(source); for (i = 0; i < sourceSymbolKeys.length; i++) { key = sourceSymbolKeys[i]; if (excluded.indexOf(key) >= 0) continue; if (!Object.prototype.propertyIsEnumerable.call(source, key)) continue; target[key] = source[key]; } } return target; }\n\nfunction _objectWithoutPropertiesLoose(source, excluded) { if (source == null) return {}; var target = {}; var sourceKeys = Object.keys(source); var key, i; for (i = 0; i < sourceKeys.length; i++) { key = sourceKeys[i]; if (excluded.indexOf(key) >= 0) continue; target[key] = source[key]; } return target; }\n\n/* @jsxRuntime classic */\n\n/* @jsx mdx */\nvar _frontmatter = {\n \"date\": \"2006-08-08T07:00:00.000Z\",\n \"updated\": \"2006-08-08T07:00:00.000Z\",\n \"type\": \"BlogPosting\",\n \"title\": \"The digital + film road to long exposure\",\n \"entityId\": \"03015160-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5\",\n \"revisionId\": \"03015161-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5\",\n \"revisionNum\": 1,\n \"tags\": {\n \"arts.meta.techniques\": [{\n \"@id\": \"arts.meta.techniques.long_exposure\",\n \"objClass\": \"ontag\"\n }, {\n \"@id\": \"exposure\",\n \"objClass\": \"tag\"\n }]\n },\n \"sidebar\": \"## Rules of thumb\\n\\n* For most urban scenes where you are inside of the city, the lowest light I usually see is -1EV\\n* For scenes where you are taking pictures of the city, the lowest light I usually see is -3EV\\n* For scenes where you are taking pictures with the moon and stars, the most light you will see is -3EV\\n* Not all digital cameras will give you a long enough exposure in anything other than manual-exposure mode. My A95 will only take 1 second exposures in anything but \\\"M\\\" mode.\\n\\n## Other resources\\n\\n* [Film reviews (with an eye towards long exposure)](/blog/film_2006/)\\n* [Nocturnes Resources](http://www.thenocturnes.com/resources.html)\",\n \"description\": \"A set of pointers on how to get a good long-exposure night shot using film cameras without wasting tons of film. \",\n \"srcImages\": [\"arts.photo.night.highway-05e42601-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile\", \"arts.photo.night.baybridge-06201d91-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile\", \"arts.photo.night.rocks-0629ba81-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile\"]\n};\nvar layoutProps = {\n _frontmatter: _frontmatter\n};\nvar MDXLayout = \"wrapper\";\nreturn function MDXContent(_ref) {\n var components = _ref.components,\n props = _objectWithoutProperties(_ref, [\"components\"]);\n\n return mdx(MDXLayout, _extends({}, layoutProps, props, {\n components: components,\n mdxType: \"MDXLayout\"\n }), mdx(\"a\", {\n href: \"/photo/night/highway/\"\n }, mdx(props.imgs.Img1, {\n width: \"640px\"\n })), mdx(\"p\", null, \"I read Ken Rockwell\\u2019s site even though I violently disagree with some of his conclusions and opinions. I mean, he doesn\\u2019t shoot Canon, so I\\u2019m questioning if he\\u2019s got the right to have the same first name as I. :) But, sometimes he\\u2019s really right. Like when he talks about the \", mdx(\"a\", {\n parentName: \"p\",\n \"href\": \"http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/timing.htm\"\n }, \"importance of timing in getting a good image\"), \".\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Recently, he wrote about \", mdx(\"a\", {\n parentName: \"p\",\n \"href\": \"http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/night.htm\"\n }, \"his technique for getting properly exposed long exposure images at night\"), \" and I\\u2019ve been meaning to write about how I do it for some time now. This other Ken talks about digital cameras and certain models of Nikon. It\\u2019s worked for him, but I have another way of working that suits my thinking and my equipment much better, so I figured that I should still write about my technique.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Growing up as a photographer (My dad got me a Canon TX when I was in grade school) I always saw night photography in the books on how to take pictures, but never felt like it was something I could do. I was unnecessarily careful about wasting shots, which I really didn\\u2019t properly get over until 2005. I never had a tripod and I didn\\u2019t really have the confidence to brave the area outside of the TX\\u2019s coupling range. Eventually, I got over it and started figuring it out for myself.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"As far as I\\u2019m concerned, there are two types of night scenes to meter, where the dividing line is around -3EV @ 100 ASA. Most scenes with any sort of lighting in them are brighter than -3EV. When it\\u2019s just the stars and moon, it will probably be darker than -3EV.\"), mdx(\"h2\", null, \"\\u201CBright\\u201D night scenes\"), mdx(\"a\", {\n href: \"/photo/night/baybridge/\"\n }, mdx(props.imgs.Img2, {\n width: \"640px\"\n })), mdx(\"p\", null, \"For \\u201Cbright\\u201D night scenes, I use a digital camera as a meter. My Mamiya RB67 has no meter at all and the TX meter isn\\u2019t especially handy at night, so I take a small point and shoot digital camera \\u2014 a Canon A95 \\u2014 and use that. It\\u2019s got some issues, however. The longest it will ever hold the shutter open for is 15 seconds. I\\u2019ll set it to \\u201CM\\u201D mode, set the aperture to 2.8, set the ISO to 400, and take some pictures at various shutter speeds to figure out how much light I want. From there, I work out the reciprocity in my head. So, at f/2.8 / 15s / 400ISO gets adjusted for aperture to f/5.6 / 60s / 400ISO and then for film speed to f/5.6 / 4m / 100ISO (I usually either use Provia 100F or Velvia 100 while shooting). I\\u2019ve reached the point where I\\u2019ve got the progression of aperture settings memorized, but if you can\\u2019t remember them, just figure out how many clicks of the aperture ring or knob it is between whole-stops of exposure (if it takes 2 clicks to go from 2.8 to 4, each click is a 1/2 stop, if it takes 3 clicks, each click is a 1/3 stop), transfer the settings, and then use the aperture knob or ring to keep track of the aperture changes as you double or halve the shutter speed in your head.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Also, the A95 seems to lie in these situations. Because of accumulated dark-noise, I find that I have to add a little fudge factor for the A95\\u2019s dark noise, plus the usual adjustments for reciprocity.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Obviously, this takes a little more effort than using one of several specific models of Nikon camera or a digital. However, when your two main cameras won\\u2019t fit the bill and you don\\u2019t want to spend loads of money on a camera, you end up doing things my way.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"There is one advantage to doing this. The test exposures are too noisy and poorly composed to be displayed. Sometimes I don\\u2019t even bother putting the A95 on the tripod. However, they serve as a great record for the approximate time and exposure of a picture for later analysis and recordkeeping, so I get some of the advantages of shooting digital on a film camera.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Now, given that the A95 will do, at best, a 15 second exposure at f/2.8 at ISO 400, there are limits to how din I can go, hence why I divide things at -3EV. -3EV also happens to be around the light of a full moon, which most scenes with any sort of artificial light are above.\"), mdx(\"h2\", null, \"\\u201CDark\\u201D night scenes\"), mdx(\"a\", {\n href: \"/photo/night/rocks/\"\n }, mdx(props.imgs.Img3, {\n width: \"640px\"\n })), mdx(\"p\", null, \"This is where things get hard. Many exposure meters aren\\u2019t specced this dim, and I\\u2019ve been told that it\\u2019s not really worth bothering with anyway.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Beyond this, I use \", mdx(\"a\", {\n parentName: \"p\",\n \"href\": \"http://www.mkaz.com/photo/tools/moonlight.html\"\n }, \"Marcus Kazmierczak\\u2019s exposure calculator\"), \", even though it\\u2019s not necessarily accurate, as a good starting point. From there, I make \", mdx(\"a\", {\n parentName: \"p\",\n \"href\": \"http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm\"\n }, \"an educated guess\"), \" based on the cloud cover (if the clouds look like the sort of clouds that would cost you 2 stops during the day, they\\u2019ll probably cost you 2 stops under moonlight, too) and everything else.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Generally, you want to do the same sort of lighting conditions over and over again to develop a feel. If you shoot 2 days from the full moon, every time it\\u2019s 2 days from the full moon, you will eventually discover what exposure settings to consistently use.\"));\n}\n;\nMDXContent.isMDXComponent = true;","id":"a4f7ab99-36ca-5ffc-ab97-da59a0c1f53f","fields":{"sidebar":"

Rules of thumb

\n\n

Other resources

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My A95 will only take 1 second exposures in anything but \"M\" mode.\n\n## Other resources\n\n* [Film reviews (with an eye towards long exposure)](/blog/film_2006/)\n* [Nocturnes Resources](http://www.thenocturnes.com/resources.html)"},"srcImages":[{"id":"f88f342e-51bf-5979-8ef6-e904144b975f","key":"e285085b0551530ad02575dcc649e384","maxSize":2592,"size":857728,"srcSet":"/b2/arts.photo.night.highway-05e42601-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_e285085b0551530ad02575dcc649e384_t.jpg 100w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.highway-05e42601-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_e285085b0551530ad02575dcc649e384_m.jpg 240w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.highway-05e42601-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_e285085b0551530ad02575dcc649e384_n.jpg 320w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.highway-05e42601-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_e285085b0551530ad02575dcc649e384_w.jpg 400w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.highway-05e42601-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_e285085b0551530ad02575dcc649e384.jpg 500w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.highway-05e42601-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_e285085b0551530ad02575dcc649e384_z.jpg 640w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.highway-05e42601-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_e285085b0551530ad02575dcc649e384_c.jpg 800w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.highway-05e42601-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_e285085b0551530ad02575dcc649e384_b.jpg 1024w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.highway-05e42601-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_e285085b0551530ad02575dcc649e384_h.jpg 1600w","srcPath":"arts.photo.night.highway-05e42601-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile","width":2592,"height":1944,"sqSrcSet":"/b2/arts.photo.night.highway-05e42601-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_e285085b0551530ad02575dcc649e384_s.jpg 75w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.highway-05e42601-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_e285085b0551530ad02575dcc649e384_q.jpg 150w"},{"id":"c17b4487-3afc-50b1-be22-40fae3a2d4cc","key":"7b090a0b7580f51eec9625040ead80c7","maxSize":2592,"size":1869492,"srcSet":"/b2/arts.photo.night.baybridge-06201d91-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_7b090a0b7580f51eec9625040ead80c7_t.jpg 100w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.baybridge-06201d91-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_7b090a0b7580f51eec9625040ead80c7_m.jpg 240w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.baybridge-06201d91-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_7b090a0b7580f51eec9625040ead80c7_n.jpg 320w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.baybridge-06201d91-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_7b090a0b7580f51eec9625040ead80c7_w.jpg 400w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.baybridge-06201d91-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_7b090a0b7580f51eec9625040ead80c7.jpg 500w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.baybridge-06201d91-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_7b090a0b7580f51eec9625040ead80c7_z.jpg 640w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.baybridge-06201d91-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_7b090a0b7580f51eec9625040ead80c7_c.jpg 800w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.baybridge-06201d91-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_7b090a0b7580f51eec9625040ead80c7_b.jpg 1024w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.baybridge-06201d91-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_7b090a0b7580f51eec9625040ead80c7_h.jpg 1600w","srcPath":"arts.photo.night.baybridge-06201d91-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile","width":2592,"height":1944,"sqSrcSet":"/b2/arts.photo.night.baybridge-06201d91-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_7b090a0b7580f51eec9625040ead80c7_s.jpg 75w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.baybridge-06201d91-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_7b090a0b7580f51eec9625040ead80c7_q.jpg 150w"},{"id":"748ecbcc-92d6-5fc7-beb5-3471cae5f09b","key":"308e7c6ff5ddb900adc9b8325c69dd2a","maxSize":1024,"size":213221,"srcSet":"/b2/arts.photo.night.rocks-0629ba81-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_308e7c6ff5ddb900adc9b8325c69dd2a_t.jpg 100w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.rocks-0629ba81-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_308e7c6ff5ddb900adc9b8325c69dd2a_m.jpg 240w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.rocks-0629ba81-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_308e7c6ff5ddb900adc9b8325c69dd2a_n.jpg 320w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.rocks-0629ba81-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_308e7c6ff5ddb900adc9b8325c69dd2a_w.jpg 400w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.rocks-0629ba81-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_308e7c6ff5ddb900adc9b8325c69dd2a.jpg 500w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.rocks-0629ba81-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_308e7c6ff5ddb900adc9b8325c69dd2a_z.jpg 640w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.rocks-0629ba81-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_308e7c6ff5ddb900adc9b8325c69dd2a_c.jpg 800w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.rocks-0629ba81-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_308e7c6ff5ddb900adc9b8325c69dd2a_b.jpg 1024w","srcPath":"arts.photo.night.rocks-0629ba81-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile","width":1024,"height":660,"sqSrcSet":"/b2/arts.photo.night.rocks-0629ba81-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_308e7c6ff5ddb900adc9b8325c69dd2a_s.jpg 75w,\n/b2/arts.photo.night.rocks-0629ba81-f940-11e6-8d52-ffa6c436feb5-infile_308e7c6ff5ddb900adc9b8325c69dd2a_q.jpg 150w"}],"excerpt":"I read Ken Rockwell's site even though I violently disagree with some of his conclusions and opinions. I mean, he doesn't shoot Canon, so I'm questioning if he's got the right to have the same first name as I. :) But, sometimes he's really right. Like when he talks about the importance of timing in…"}},"pageContext":{"id":"a4f7ab99-36ca-5ffc-ab97-da59a0c1f53f","parent":"/blog","name":"digital_film_long_exposure","depth":2,"title":"The digital + film road to long exposure","type":"BlogPosting","date":"2006-08-08T07:00:00.000Z","hidden":null,"breadcrumbs":[{"url":"/"},{"name":"blog","url":"/blog"},{"name":"The digital + film road to long exposure","url":"/blog/digital_film_long_exposure"}],"excerpt":"A set of pointers on how to get a good long-exposure night shot using film cameras without wasting tons of film. ","updated":"2006-08-08T07:00:00.000Z"}},"staticQueryHashes":["1062461325","1937434333","2193146810","2240196328","3649515864","815954065"]}