Hello I am completely new to film and have just bought a super 8 camera, and intend to start shooting shortly. In the last few months I have learned a great deal about film and have learned the basic concepts enough to start shooting. That being said the one thing that is baffling me is exposure and aperture. Can someone please explain to me in simple terms exposure and aperture in a simple basic way and how they relate to each other and also how they relate to a light meter. I am very sorry for the extremely nubbish question and i am very embarrassed i have tried to learn this on my own but everywhere I go it is explained in a way as if you already understand the basic concepts witch i don't. Thank you very much. All help is appreciated.
Exposure and Aperture
- Thread starter Van_Arsdale
- Start date
OK let me try to explain in simple words.
Aperture control the amount of light reaching the film or image sensor. It plays the same role which iris play in human eye. When the light is too intense iris gets small and when the intensity or amount of light is less iris gets bigger to absorb as much light as possible. If you have gone into any dark room where there is no light (only a ray of light entering the room) you have experienced that after some time you get able to see things its because your iris gets bigger and when you see the sun suddenly in open place it hurts your eyes, at that time the iris gets small and low amount of light enters in your eyes same function is performed by iris.
Exposure means that a certain amount of light needs to be able to reach the film or sensor, before the image is correctly exposed. You can say when a a picture is being taken it takes time to get the picture printed on film or sensor so at that time the amount of light entering should be upto certain setting
I hope things would have become atleast clear upto some extent...
Aperture control the amount of light reaching the film or image sensor. It plays the same role which iris play in human eye. When the light is too intense iris gets small and when the intensity or amount of light is less iris gets bigger to absorb as much light as possible. If you have gone into any dark room where there is no light (only a ray of light entering the room) you have experienced that after some time you get able to see things its because your iris gets bigger and when you see the sun suddenly in open place it hurts your eyes, at that time the iris gets small and low amount of light enters in your eyes same function is performed by iris.
Exposure means that a certain amount of light needs to be able to reach the film or sensor, before the image is correctly exposed. You can say when a a picture is being taken it takes time to get the picture printed on film or sensor so at that time the amount of light entering should be upto certain setting
I hope things would have become atleast clear upto some extent...
"Exposure" is literally the light hitting the film, making a chemical reaction that after some other chemical reactions in a lab somewhere, will result in an image. You are "exposing" your frame of raw stock to light.
That light has to be controlled by lenses, which control focus and the amount of light that is passed through to the film. The latter, the "amount" of light, is controlled by the aperture (which is a fancy word for... hole).
"Big" apertures (big holes) have small "f" numbers, like f2.0 or f2.8, and they let a lot of light through to the film, so you use these apertures when there's not much light being reflected from what you're shooting, relatively speaking. For example, an indoor shot lit by household lamps.
"Small" apertures have big "f" numbers, like f16 or f22, and they let relatively little light through the lens onto the film, so you use these when there's an absolute shitload of light being reflected from what you're shooting. For example, a person outside in direct sunlight.
As for using a light meter, it takes into account everything that effects you getting a good, proper exposure, and calculates it all for a given light measurement. It depends on 1. the "speed" or "sensitivity" of your film stock (it will say on the box) and 2. your shutter speed (probably 1/48th of a second). Set those two values, measure the light, and your lightmeter will give you the proper aperture to use, to get the right exposure.
Hope that helps.
That light has to be controlled by lenses, which control focus and the amount of light that is passed through to the film. The latter, the "amount" of light, is controlled by the aperture (which is a fancy word for... hole).
"Big" apertures (big holes) have small "f" numbers, like f2.0 or f2.8, and they let a lot of light through to the film, so you use these apertures when there's not much light being reflected from what you're shooting, relatively speaking. For example, an indoor shot lit by household lamps.
"Small" apertures have big "f" numbers, like f16 or f22, and they let relatively little light through the lens onto the film, so you use these when there's an absolute shitload of light being reflected from what you're shooting. For example, a person outside in direct sunlight.
As for using a light meter, it takes into account everything that effects you getting a good, proper exposure, and calculates it all for a given light measurement. It depends on 1. the "speed" or "sensitivity" of your film stock (it will say on the box) and 2. your shutter speed (probably 1/48th of a second). Set those two values, measure the light, and your lightmeter will give you the proper aperture to use, to get the right exposure.
Hope that helps.
For about $70 you can get an analogue light-meter with a "cine-wheel" on it. (I'll look up my model #, when I get back home)
It's similar to a regular still-camera light meter, but can be adjusted even more to take fps into account.
You can dial in the filmstock speed & light reading, and you can see what f-stop you need to set for. (Or, by dialing in any two you can see the other one). Tweak with the cine-wheel.
I haven't shopped for any digital ones recently, but they were much more expensive a few years back.
Very handy to have, 'cos even if your Super-8 camera has an auto-exposure option... it's probably gettin' on in years, and may not be so accurate at all. Plus, the modern filmstocks may have notches on them which certain cameras will not read, or read wrong. (There's a chart over at Kodak's website that lists many of the common mis-matches, and how to adjust for that)
What kind o' camera you got, anyways?
It's similar to a regular still-camera light meter, but can be adjusted even more to take fps into account.
You can dial in the filmstock speed & light reading, and you can see what f-stop you need to set for. (Or, by dialing in any two you can see the other one). Tweak with the cine-wheel.
I haven't shopped for any digital ones recently, but they were much more expensive a few years back.
Very handy to have, 'cos even if your Super-8 camera has an auto-exposure option... it's probably gettin' on in years, and may not be so accurate at all. Plus, the modern filmstocks may have notches on them which certain cameras will not read, or read wrong. (There's a chart over at Kodak's website that lists many of the common mis-matches, and how to adjust for that)
What kind o' camera you got, anyways?
Hey man would you happen to know a good replacement battery for the light meter?
Can I shoot in the automatic exposure mode without a battery. Or do I need an external light Meeter if I dont have a battery.