Correct exposure in full(bright) sun ?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Canon EOS FAQ forum : One Thread

If I lake a picture of a subject in bright miday sun , the returned prints seem to lack contrast and are "washed out". The sun is to my back, shining on the subject.I use an Elan IIe, 800speed print film. Any other pics turn out fine , but those in direct sun lack color and contrast? Is this normal or is the camera's meter off? looking for any suggestions on this. I'am using the camera in creative modes with mostly f 8.0 stop, I let the camera chose the speed usually 750 to 1000, 1500 (this is in AVmode 560mm tele 400canon +1.4 converter)

Thanks D.C.

-- Dennis Connell (cyberern@wctc.net), May 10, 2000

Answers

I assume you're referring to a slide or negative (in order to rule out print processing errors). Correct exposure for a middle-toned subject in the midday sun is 1/800 (1/750 is the best your readout will do) at F16. This comes from the "sunny F16 rule" I learned in high school photo class: 1/ISO speed at F16. If your meter isn't giving you this reading (meter off a clear blue midday sky to test it) you can adjust the ISO manually or take it to Canon for an adjustment.

If you're opening up 2 F-stops from F16 you'll need to use a shutter speed of 1/3000. Thus, your shutter speed of 1/750 to 1/1000 at F8 is over exposing by about 2 stops. If this is slide film it will be totally washed out. But if it's negative film, tell the lab to reprint it and to compensate for the extra density (it should look ok).

A little slower film is better for sunny midday shooting (I use 100 ISO chrome most of the time and a tripod with long lenses).

By the way, the Canon 400 5.6L and 1.4 converter require exposure compensation on some EOS cameras (-.05 for EOS5/A2/A2E). Sorry, I don't know about the Elan.

-- puppyface (puppyface@aol.com), May 11, 2000.


Why would the 1.4 convertor require .5 stops exposure compensation?

D.C. why are you using 800 film outdoors? That's way, way, way too fast.

-- Steven Fisher (srf@srf.com), May 12, 2000.


Why is minus .05 exposure comp needed with the Canon EF400 5.6L & 1.4x combo? According to "When using the EOS5/A2/A2E with Super Telephoto in Conjunction with Extender" (serial no. CT1-7101-000, a white sheet added added to my 1996 A2 instruction book), the EF 400 5.6L, 500 4.5L & 600 4L all need -.05 exposure comp for Evaluative & center-weighted metering. Spot metering is OK except with the 400 5.6, it also needs - .05 EC.

If you're using the Extender EF2.0 you need -.05 EC for the EF300 4L (all metering modes. The EF400 5.6L needs -1.0 EC in all metering modes. The EF500 4.5L & 600 4L need -1.0 in Evaluative & center- weighted and -.05 in spot metering.

Why? I don't know other than the voice of Canon has spoken. I'd speculate that the light loss is due to the additional extension and/ or lens elements. I've heard mention of similar compensation needed for other bodies as well. Canon does state that this is mainly important for slide shooters as the exposure latitude of negative film is wide enough to skip the adjustments.

-- puppyface (puppyface@aol.com), May 12, 2000.


Ihave been using 800 speed films because 90% of my pics are in low light conditions with an f5.6 or f8.0 (with converter1.4x)telephoto , sometimes these are hand held.Is there a beter way?I like prints because if they are ,( what I consider), good then I can scan them and do 8x10 enlargments with the scanner and software I have now. How slow of a film do you think I could get by with under these conditions, I'm looking for any suggestions.

Thanks for the help , Dennis C.

-- Dennis Connell (cyberern@wctc.net), May 12, 2000.


puppyface, I'm a little lost now. Are you referring to extension tubes or teleconvertors? It sounds like you're talking about extention tubes now. Not to mention you can't do .05 stops compensation on a camera that has .5 increments. The A2 like all EOS models is TTL and should notice the light loss... I feel like there's something that we're missing. Wouldn't -.05 stops would be like changing a shutter speed of 1/1000 to 1/950? :)

DC- in low light it wouldn't surprise me if you need 800 with that setup, f/5.6 and f/8 need a heck of a lot of light. Without being there it's difficult to accurately comment on what's needed.

With f/8 and that focal length you probably need 200 or 400 for outdoor handheld shots. Slower film than that and you're going to run awfully close to having a shutter speed below 1/focal_length.

-- Steven Fisher (srf@srf.com), May 12, 2000.



Sorry, I dully missed typed the exposure comp number (talking is much easiler!). The decimal point needs to be moved over one number towards the left so that -.05 reads -0.5, i.e., ONE HALF STOP EC. You see the Canon insert instructional insert "When using the EOS5/A2/A2E with Super Telephoto Lens in Conjunction with Extender" puts a zero on the left side of the decimal point and it was dark and late at night, bah, bah. But I should of proof-read the darn thing.

One of the key words in the title is "Extender" and you may also note that the word "tube" isn't used. The table has a box for EXT EF1.4X and another for EXT EF2.0X with the exposure comp for the various lenses. Now I don't own most of those lenses. My 200 2.8L and 1.4X need no EC (I've taken 100s of chromes with good exposures) and, like the table says, my 300 4L & 1.4X needs no EC as well. However, the 400 5.6L & 1.4X is listed on the table needing minus one-half stop (-0.5!) of EC. So what da heck--I don't own this lenses and maybe Canon is full of shit but that is the offical Canon advice according to A2 instructional insert CT1-7101-000 (Printed in Japan with no copyright date but in my 1996 instruction book).

-- puppyface (puppyface@aol.com), May 12, 2000.


If anyone knows how to upload a JPEG of the Extender 1.4/2.0X doc to this forum I'll post the scan.

-- puppyface (puppyface@aol.com), May 12, 2000.

The preamble to this forum suggests checking the FAQ before asking a question (or maybe before posting an answer!).

See http://www.advanix.com/~photo/bobatkins/info/faq30/a2comp.html

-- Bob Atkins (bobatkins@hotmail.com), May 14, 2000.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ