P3D Re: Sunny 16 rule etc.

["Gerald Belton" <gbelton@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Date:          Tue, 16 Dec 1997 12:41:31 -0700
Keith Sanborn <mrzero@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I am vaguely familiar with the sunny 16 rule having seen those little
> drawings on Kodak instructions, but could someone give a summary of the
> details or refer me to where I could find them: i.e. what shutter speed it
> assumes, what asa, what time of the year or geographic location, etc.?

That's the beauty of it; it automagically adjusts for all of those 
things.

The sunny 16 rule says that if you are in bright sunshine, you can 
get acceptable exposure by setting your f-stop to 16 and your shutter 
speed to the reciprocal of your film speed.  So for film with a 100 
rating, use f-16 and 1/100.  Use 1 stop down for extra bright scenes 
like snow, white sandy beaches, etc.  Open up a stop for shade, 2 
stops if it's cloudy, etc.

Of course, modern color negative films have a very wide exposure 
latitude.  That's why really cheap point-n-shoot cameras with fixed 
apertures and a single shutter speed work.  Many color negative films 
look ok, especially to the untrained eye, if they are overexposed up 
to three stops and underexposed up to two stops.  

This isn't rocket science, folks.  Film is cheap, and the best way 
to find out what works FOR YOU is to experiment.  If you like the way 
your pictures come out, keep doing what you are doing.  If you don't, 
ask what you can do to make them better.  If you like your meter, use 
it.  If you don't like it, change it.  It's certainly not something 
that deserves a religious flame war.  It's not like Mac vs PC :-)

Gerald Belton gbelton@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://personal.msy.bellsouth.net/~gbelton
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