Sunny 16 rule?

Does the "sunny 16" exposure rule apply to
digicams? That's where on a bright sunny day
if you shot at f16 the exposure will be correct
if the shutter speed is equal to the ASA rating
of the film. So if you shot with ASA200 film,
you'd set the camera for 1/200 sec (closest match
would be 1/250 on most cameras).

Since many digicams don't stop down more than
F8, you'd double the shutter speed. IE:
set the camera at ASA200 and use 1/400 sec
(probably 1/500 is nearest setting).

Oh and here's a neat fact, the rule also applies
to taking photos of the full moon (since the moon
is in bright sunlight!). With a telescope having
an F8 objective lens shooting with ASA 100 film,
shutter speed of 1/200.

That's with film though, I assume digicams follow
the same rules.

Ken Scharf wrote in news:lbpYc.40252$%
:

Does the "sunny 16" exposure rule apply to digicams?

Yes.

That's where on a bright sunny day
if you shot at f16 the exposure will be correct
if the shutter speed is equal to the ASA rating
of the film. So if you shot with ASA200 film,
you'd set the camera for 1/200 sec (closest match
would be 1/250 on most cameras).

Since many digicams don't stop down more than
F8, you'd double the shutter speed. IE:
set the camera at ASA200 and use 1/400 sec
(probably 1/500 is nearest setting).

Nope - F8 is two stops so you have to multiply with 4
or rather divide as 1/800 is a quarter of the time
of 1/200. But even better is to shot at ISO100, F5.6
and 1/800 or ISO50, F4 and 1/800. The compact digicams
(with small sensors) are not optimally sharp at F8.

Oh and here's a neat fact, the rule also applies
to taking photos of the full moon (since the moon
is in bright sunlight!). With a telescope having
an F8 objective lens shooting with ASA 100 film,
shutter speed of 1/200.

That's with film though, I assume digicams follow
the same rules.

Yepp.


/Roland

"Roland Karlsson" wrote in message
...
Ken Scharf wrote in news:lbpYc.40252$%
:

Does the "sunny 16" exposure rule apply to digicams?

Yes.

No. It applies to negative films where there's enough latitude that the
printer can rescue your incorrect exposures. It's advisable to use the meter
(and the histogram) with slide films and digital cameras, or with negative
films if you care about getting the most from the film.

David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan

"David J. Littleboy" wrote in
:

Does the "sunny 16" exposure rule apply to digicams?

Yes.

No. It applies to negative films where there's enough latitude that
the printer can rescue your incorrect exposures. It's advisable to use
the meter (and the histogram) with slide films and digital cameras, or
with negative films if you care about getting the most from the film.

The sunny 16 rule is very dependable in bright sunshine as our
Sun is a very dependable source of light. If it was not, we would
be in great trouble.

Of course, a meeter is needed for the shadows. But for well lit parts,
nope not at all.


/Roland

"Roland Karlsson" wrote

The sunny 16 rule is very dependable in bright sunshine as our
Sun is a very dependable source of light. If it was not, we would
be in great trouble.

Well, the brightness of the sun at the Earth isn't a constant. It's 7%
brighter in January than in July (the Earth is 3.5% closer to the sun in
January). Might not make much of a difference to what shutter speed you use,
but it's just one variable (among many other more important ones) that can
vary the intensity of sunlight in a picture.

grim wrote:
"Roland Karlsson" wrote

The sunny 16 rule is very dependable in bright sunshine as our
Sun is a very dependable source of light. If it was not, we would
be in great trouble.

Well, the brightness of the sun at the Earth isn't a constant. It's 7%
brighter in January than in July (the Earth is 3.5% closer to the sun in
January). Might not make much of a difference to what shutter speed you use,
but it's just one variable (among many other more important ones) that can
vary the intensity of sunlight in a picture.

You do realise that 7% is just under one tenth of a stop?
If you compare two good lightmeters you will probably find
twice that much difference between them. A high quality
mechanical shutter fresh from a CLA will typically have
errors near a sixth of a stop. Slide film can vary up to
one third stop from its rating on a batch to batch basis.

A seven percent variation in light is really pretty tiny.

Peter.
--

grim wrote:
"Roland Karlsson" wrote

The sunny 16 rule is very dependable in bright sunshine as our
Sun is a very dependable source of light. If it was not, we would
be in great trouble.

Well, the brightness of the sun at the Earth isn't a constant. It's 7%
brighter in January than in July (the Earth is 3.5% closer to the sun in
January). Might not make much of a difference to what shutter speed you use,
but it's just one variable (among many other more important ones) that can
vary the intensity of sunlight in a picture.

You do realise that 7% is just under one tenth of a stop?
If you compare two good lightmeters you will probably find
twice that much difference between them. A high quality
mechanical shutter fresh from a CLA will typically have
errors near a sixth of a stop. Slide film can vary up to
one third stop from its rating on a batch to batch basis.

A seven percent variation in light is really pretty tiny.

Peter.
--

"Roland Karlsson" wrote in message
...
"David J. Littleboy" wrote in
:

Does the "sunny 16" exposure rule apply to digicams?

Yes.

No. It applies to negative films where there's enough latitude that
the printer can rescue your incorrect exposures. It's advisable to use
the meter (and the histogram) with slide films and digital cameras, or
with negative films if you care about getting the most from the film.

The sunny 16 rule is very dependable in bright sunshine as our
Sun is a very dependable source of light. If it was not, we would
be in great trouble.

If you care about your exposures, you'll find that Sunny 16 is rarely
correct.

Of course, a meeter is needed for the shadows. But for well lit parts,
nope not at all.

It's not just shadows: sunny 16 simply is simply wrong too much of the time
to use for slides and digital.

David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan

In article ,
David J. Littleboy wrote:

It's not just shadows: sunny 16 simply is simply wrong too much of the time
to use for slides and digital.

Certainly with the Canon DSLRs, and the raw convertor in Photoshop, you get
behaviour which is rather more forgiving than slide film. In general,
rescuing something that's been underexposed by 2 stops is feasible, and you
can still get detail back from something that's nominally up to a stop past
blowout sometimes.

"David J. Littleboy" wrote in
:

If you care about your exposures, you'll find that Sunny 16 is rarely
correct.

It's not just shadows: sunny 16 simply is simply wrong too much of the
time to use for slides and digital.

Depends on what you define by correct. If you compare the
Sunny F16 to an incident meeter you will be surprised how
near it is on a clear day. An incident light meeter assumes
that the subject contains some almost white parts.

If you use a spot meter and take a photo of a dark tree trunk,
then it contains no white parts and it can be exposed much
more than the Sunny F16 rule.


/Roland