Starter photography question (1 Viewer)

[Thebeard]

I recently aquired an oldish camera. Late 70's early 80's i reckon. Anyway i seem to be able to press the button and keep the shutter open as long as i like provided my finger is still pressing down. If i leave my finger on the button for a few seconds will i get the effect of cars moving? i.e. where you only see the lights moving in one constant stream?

 

[maims bond]

I recently aquired an oldish camera. Late 70's early 80's i reckon. Anyway i seem to be able to press the button and keep the shutter open as long as i like provided my finger is still pressing down. If i leave my finger on the button for a few seconds will i get the effect of cars moving? i.e. where you only see the lights moving in one constant stream?

In theory, yes. But the light streaks will only appear as straight lines if you use a tripod. Holding a camera by hand for night shots is generally a no-no. Even if you have a tripod you would be best advised to get a remote switch which screws into your button and permits you to hold the shutter open without even touching the camera which will avoid the slight shake you may get from using your finger. You'll need to learn a bit about metering light in order to take half-decent night shots or else you may end up with hopelessly over/underexposed shots. Do you know if the camera has a light meter built in? (i.e. when you look in the viewfinder is there a line running from -2 to +2 or something similar?)

 

[shitepipe]

most likely yes, but you'll need a pretty sturdy tripod or the hands of a surgeon- a robotic surgeon.

 

[Thebeard]

In theory, yes. But the light streaks will only appear as straight lines if you use a tripod. Holding a camera by hand for night shots is generally a no-no. Even if you have a tripod you would be best advised to get a remote switch which screws into your button and permits you to hold the shutter open without even touching the camera which will avoid the slight shake you may get from using your finger. You'll need to learn a bit about metering light in order to take half-decent night shots or else you may end up with hopelessly over/underexposed shots. Do you know if the camera has a light meter built in? (i.e. when you look in the viewfinder is there a line running from -2 to +2 or something similar?)

I'm pretty sure there is a metre on the right hand side of the viewfinder alrght. presume that is it then? Ok so how long should one keep the shutter open for to achieve the streaking effect? I'm aware that a tripod would be ideal but i might just use a ledge in the meantime. Would that suffice?

 

[maims bond]

I'm pretty sure there is a metre on the right hand side of the viewfinder alrght. presume that is it then? Ok so how long should one keep the shutter open for to achieve the streaking effect? I'm aware that a tripod would be ideal but i might just use a ledge in the meantime. Would that suffice?

yeah a ledge would suffice. However, rather than holding down the shutter release button, i'd suggest choosing a slow shutter speed e.g. more than 1 second at night. This way you will avoid having to hold your finger on the button and thereby reduce possibility of camera shake.

You seem to have a light meter as you described. The rule of thumb is that when the light meter is reading '0' then you have a correct exposure i.e. not too dark and not too bright. So, let's say you choose a focal length of f5.6, what you need to do then is choose your shutter speed, let's say 1 second. Then, press your button half way and look in the viewfinder. You will see the light meter reading will be somewhere in the range -2 (too dark) to +2 (too bright). Adjust your shutter speed until you see the light meter read 0.

The light meter will read different in each different night setting: you will need a really long shutter speed for a countryside (no light source) and a shorter one for a city street. Get me? Your camera will probably have an automatic option as well but you'll learn nothing using that.

 

[maims bond]

i should add, there's a correlation between the focal length (f-stop) and the shutter speed. So, if you move from f5.6 to the next highest number, you will generally need to double your shutter speed in order to achieve the same exposure. If you want long light streaks, you will need to leave the shutter open as long as possible.

 

[Thebeard]

i should add, there's a correlation between the focal length (f-stop) and the shutter speed. So, if you move from f5.6 to the next highest number, you will generally need to double your shutter speed in order to achieve the same exposure. If you want long light streaks, you will need to leave the shutter open as long as possible.

Thanks so much for this. I'll have to have a good look at the camera tonight and i'll confirm about the light metre. I'm also going to print this thread out and will study it when i have the camera with me. Thanks again, i'll let you know how i get on. Unfortunately i won't see the results until i develop the film. Old school.

 

[maims bond]

Thanks so much for this. I'll have to have a good look at the camera tonight and i'll confirm about the light metre. I'm also going to print this thread out and will study it when i have the camera with me. Thanks again, i'll let you know how i get on. Unfortunately i won't see the results until i develop the film. Old school.

No probs. Lots of books out there for the beginner, i'm really only a beginner myself. There are books specifically on low-light/night photography that i found really useful. Just watch out that you don't get one that concentrates on digital alone. Wait til you start getting your head around film speeds!ninjaaaa

One other thing: take notes of the setting you take for each exposure otherwise you won't know what worked and what didn't, very important.

 

[hugh]

The light meter may not tell you anything useful for figuring out exposures at night though ... that's probably outside the latitude of what its designed for. I would suggest setting up a shot, choosing an aperture (maybe the lowest one you have - 1.8 or whatever) and then blasting through a roll of film at a whole succession of different shutter speeds. Write down what you have done, get the film developed, look at the results and then you should have a ballpark figure for what sort of shutter speed you need for a night shot ...

 

[Thebeard]

The light meter may not tell you anything useful for figuring out exposures at night though ... that's probably outside the latitude of what its designed for. I would suggest setting up a shot, choosing an aperture (maybe the lowest one you have - 1.8 or whatever) and then blasting through a roll of film at a whole succession of different shutter speeds. Write down what you have done, get the film developed, look at the results and then you should have a ballpark figure for what sort of shutter speed you need for a night shot ...

That's great advice Hugh, thanks. The light metre doesn't work at the moment. i'm guessing because there is no battery in the camera. But it is still taking shots for some reason I'm going to take it into Halls CAmeras on Talbot street to get a battery and maybe see if they have any advice.

The camera is a Ricoh 35 ZF if you were wondering. I really like it.