Sunny 16 - Do you or not?

[riz]

<p>Hi,<br>

Just wondering how many of us use Sunny 16 Rule. Do you follow them or prefer your own judgment based on the lighting conditions and experience.<br>

As for myself, I don't. Rather don't even remember to refer them and stick to my own thinking. The DSLR's advantage of having couple of test shots and set the White Balance, ISO etc. is great help for me. So its 'trial & error' to start with. I know some people consider this as lack of competence but I am not a pro nor trained from any academy; still learning.<br>

Happy Weekend :)<br>

Regards,<br>

Riz</p>

[sarah_fox]

<p>The best use for the Sunny 16 rule is when you have a manual film camera and no light meter. The second best use is when you're pre-planning a shot without the benefit of being there or having the right lighting conditions at hand. This is especially true if you're planning any supplemental lighting. Otherwise you're best off metering and tweaking the exposure if necessary -- just as you're doing.</p>

<p>BTW, some photogs will look down their noses at you for any "trial and error" in your approach, but others (including pros) insist that "trial and error" is the best way to arrive at the results you want. With a digital camera, that means "chimping" by playing back the image on the LCD. Before digital, that would mean shooting a Polaroid proof. Don't be embarrassed to take this approach.</p>

[pat trent]

<p>I love to use the Sunny 16 rule with black & white traditional films outdoors. When walking my dog, it's so easy to just preset the camera's shutter and aperture and hyper-focal distance and then sling the camera over my shoulder--ready for a sudden photo-op that doesn't allow time to set up for that particular shot. This generally works pretty well except when shooting directly into the sun (i.e., back-lit subject), but then all I need to do is quickly adjust the aperture to open a stop. (Yeah, I know, the Rule calls for more than +1 for back-lighting, but I'm going by years of experience.)</p>

[stan_schurman1]

<p>If I'm using my Nikkor Ai lenses on my D5000 I'll use the sunny 16 rule. I also used it with my FM2 when the light meter crapped out and it worked very very well. Why resort to trial and error, especially when the shot is fleeting, when you can come very close to correct exposure using sunny 16? It doesn't take long to figure out the various permutations of sunny 16 so that you can get the correct exposure for almost any situation.</p>

[david_henderson]

<p>Not ever. I can't see the sense in guessing when I can measure.</p>

[vick_vickery]

<p>Only in an emergency, such as a broken/run-down meter, forgotten meter, etc. In the 50 or so years I've been taking pictures, it has happened a few times! :-)</p>

[steve m smith]

<p>For negative film in the normal range of daylight - yes. It's not as random as David's 'guessing' comment makes it out to be.</p>

 

[gertle]

<p>Sunny-16 came in handy a couple of times when I was doing moon shots on film. I still use the same technique in digital but I don't have to wait the the pix to come back to see how I did.</p>

[sandysocks]

<p>A light meter is absolutely useless for natural light. I reckon my educated guess is a permutation of sunny 16. As for measuring, what is the point of it if it usually gives you the wrong answer? Guessing means less fiddling around.</p>

[leicaglow]

<p>I use a lot of manual cameras, so I use the sunny 11 rule. I also have trouble remembering what film I have in the camera, so when I'm storing or leaving a camera for awhile, I set my shutter speed on the ISO of the film. So I would store a camera with ISO 100 film at 1/125th at f/11.</p>

[ben_goren]

<p>When I have a camera in hand, it’s nearly always with a specific purpose in mind. But,

sometimes, on the walk to the location to said purpose I’ll mount the 50 f/1.8 to the 5DII, set

the exposure to f/16, 1/100, ISO 100, set the lens to hyperfocal distance, and treat it as a disposable

film camera in the event that something just happens to seem interesting. This might be, for example,

when walking from the parking lot to the lakeside at the Tempe Town Lake Cardboard Boat

Regatta.</p>

 

<p>That’s about it, though.</p>

 

<p>Cheers,</p>

 

<p>b&</p>

[Lou_Meluso]

<p>Rizwan, I use "Sunny 16" when shooting with my film 35mm cameras even if they have a meter. It's just a habit. When I was coming up, the abillity to train your eye and brain to determine daylight exposures <em>quickly and correctly</em> was considered a rite of passage reserved for only the most serious workers. And not just for negative films. In my camera club in high school, we would play a game by carrying a small handheld meter and, when hanging out with the group, someone would point to a scene and shout "call the ball" meaning figure out the exposure. The first one to get it right, as compare to the meter "won". It was a lot of fun but doing it you learned to "see" light values and understand how they related to film speed. If you were really hot stuff, you could do the same thing with flash. We treated meters as a learning tool.</p>

<p>I remember and still use those techniques even today. Of course, in the studio, using a handheld meter to determine light ratios and using Polaroid was/is common. Using large format film, which can be quite expensive per shot, is another area where meters and Polaroid (now Fuji-roids) were/are common.</p>

<p>These days, visual estimation and handheld meters for 35mm digital photography have mostly been replaced by histograms and DSLR chimping. There is nothing wrong with that, but for some, it becomes a crutch of sorts in the same way in-camera and hand held light meters can be in the film world. And, the same as back then, it can also be an enormous learning tool as well. The advantages of using any metering/preview tool is it allows everyone the opportunity to achieve good photographic exposures. This has expanded the hobby of photography far beyond only those with hard won, specialized skill and knowledge. Past is past, at the end of the day one realizes that what is important is making good pictures and any technique or tool that helps you do that, including chimping, auto exposure, built-in/ handheld meters, Fuji-roids or "calling the ball" is perfectly OK. Make beautiful, compelling images with a sensitive eye, and no one will care how you got there.</p>

[SCL]

<p>I use it a lot as I often shoot with old manual lenses on my DSLR, which doesn't meter with them. I also do it to keep in practice and test my perception.</p>

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

<p>Sunny 16 is more reliable than reflective metering (and so is incident metering). Consistency matters, too, so I shoot in manual mode if the lighting stays constant.</p>

[sasvata__shash__chatterjee]

<p>If you can measure, that's the best way. Sunny f/16 is just a rule of thumb, with a lot of "slop". If doing B&W, with a lot of inherent latitude, then it works well enough. But, beware, there are quite a few pitfalls. For one, the intensity (and also the quality) of light changes based on geographic location (i.e. latitude and longitude), the time of the year, the time of the day: Sunny f/16 is Sunny f/11 in quite many a place. Sunny f/16 accuracy might also depend on the accuracy of the shutter and aperture mechanisms on the camera and lens. Again, a lot of variability, which usually can be handled within the wide latitude of B&W film, particularly if you do your own development. In general, don't mix a meter and Sunny-f/16 on a frequent basis, stick to one method or the other. If you are restricted to a given geographic area, with a few films and cameras whose characteristics you know well, you can get quite good at guessing the exposure required.</p>

<p>With digital cameras, and their metering capabilities, I can't even fathom why one would bother not metering, unless they just enjoy the "sport" of guessing and seeing how close to accurate they can get.</p>

[CoryAmmerman]

<p>I personally only use the Sunny 16 when I'm shooting with my Ai lens. However, I do think it's a good idea for pretty much everybody to at least know how to use it, should the need ever arise (i.e. meter breaks in the middle of a shoot.) It's like knowing how to change a flat tire. You hope you won't need that knowledge, but you don't want to be without it if you <em>do</em> need it.</p>

[matthew_newton]

<p>I didn't have a working light meter for my film camera for about my first 2 years of photography. I got very good with sunny 16, though I wouldn't have ever chanced slide film. Even now that I have a light meter I tend to set the camera and then actually check the light meter (in camera one). It gives me a pretty good idea of what aperature and shutter speed settings I am going to need with the film I have in camera before I even start metering or setting anything. It also helps me plan the shot of in terms of 'high shutter speed, low aperature', 'mixed', 'find a way to brace yourself', etc, etc.</p>

[charlesheckel]

<p>I don't use it when I've got a meter, but it's always there in the back of my mind, and when the meter isn't giving me the readings I expect, I'm going to be wondering why. Consider a sunny-16 kind of scene with large shadowed areas in front, which will integrate a shadowy-2.8 reading into your scene to give something like f/5.6. Could be you don't want much detail in those shadows, as they're just to frame the sunlit scene. Whether you do sunny-16, a spot reading, or just open up a stop is something else again.</p>

[gabor_szabo3]

<blockquote>

<p>We treated meters as a learning tool.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Louis, you're absoultely correct. That's how I learned guessing exposures. Make a game of it, learn to evaluate different lighting situations, test yourself against a handheld meter...<br>

Years later, it came in mighty handy when my mates and I went mad around Manhattan with Bolexes shooting avant-garde short films; I earned the nickname "The Human Light Meter". <br>

I'll admit to being a little rusty these days, sometimes using Adobe to correct those not-so-perfect negatives. B&W is forgiving, and a little contrast tweak or some dodge&burn in the wet or digital darkroom can do wonders.</p>

<p> </p>

[doug grosjean]

<p>On a trip with my 11 y/o son down the entire length of Route 66, Chicago to LA, in summer 2007; I dropped my lightmeter in a campground in Illinois on the second night out. Oh, crap....</p>

<p>For the rest of the trip I guesstimated, based on past experience and Sunny 16. If in doubt, I bracketed. All was well; I don't think I missed a single exposure.</p>

[eric merrill]

<p>Absolutely. Generally, most of the places/times I shoot, it's not useful to me. I'm generally not shooting in broad daylight. But when I do, I'll start with that if shooting manually, or I'll verify my shutter/aperture combination makes sense when in an auto mode. Noticing the shutter speed is way out of whack for what I would expect has caused me to realize more than once that I'm not shooting at the ISO I thought I was. :) </p>

[clark_yerrington]

<p>sunny 16 worked very well when i was just shooting B&W in a rollei TLR. seems like you can miss it by a stop or two and it's not the end of the world. but when i got a couple other MF cameras and started shooting slides i found i needed to be a lot more accurate, or i'd get back a lot of frames that weren't useable. so i got a handheld meter.</p>