How do you guys use slower shutter speeds with film?

Echoii

Echoii

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Jack
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Hi Guys,

Last night a took my newly acquired Lubitel 166b out for my second ever roll of 120 film and i was hoping to get some pictures in "Golden hour" light, it was pretty bright, but still dark for ISO 100 film (All i have) the problem was, the lubitel leaves a lot to be desired in shutter speeds lowest is 1/15 highest is 1/250. And i needed 1 second or longer for most of the shots according to my light meter app in my phone. (I appreciate this isn't the best medium format camera so not really the camera fault but mine.)

How do you guys get around this problem? Is the answer to use bulb mode, although i don't know if i trust myself to get the correct amount of time in bulb mode!

Thanks in advance.

Jack
 
The normal way is to mount it on a tripod and use a cable release with the shutter set to B. The shutter will stay open as long as the releases is pressed.
It is easy enough to judge from 1/2 second and up.

Practice by tapping your fingers to the beat of a second hand... two beats to a second. A single beat gives you the half second timing. It will be as accurate as the other settings on the camera are likely to be.
 
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For print film, count heartbeats and treat each one as a second. Might be worth checking that you don't have a wildly different resting heartrate but for negatives it should be close enough. Or wear a watch!
 
Count elephants?
 
Echoii said:
How do you guys get around this problem? Is the answer to use bulb mode, although i don't know if i trust myself to get the correct amount of time in bulb mode!
Click to expand...

I'd be more inclined to trust your timing than the camera's! I wouldn't assume that the shutter speeds on any Lubitel are even accurate.
 
I would be tempted to increase your aperture to a smaller size and get your shutter speed to a fair few seconds and just time it with your second hand on your watch.
also the longer the shutter time the less margin is the error for the timing.
 
I always carry a pocket watch with a large second hand to time exposures. My shutters have a "T" setting as well as "B" so for longish (over 1 second) exposures I use that. ("B" holds the shutter open as long as you keep the release pressed; "T" opens the shutter on the first press and only closes it on the second, making it easier for long exposures.)
 
Count by saying - One Thou-sand, Two thou-sand - at a steady pace, but practice first counting against your watch, if by 20 thousand you're at close to 20 seconds you've cracked it

Just remember too - being 1 second out on a 1 second exposure is a stop out, being 5 seconds out on a 60 second exposure is Sod-all of a difference :)

And for all exposure longer than 30 secs I just use the standard timer on my smartphone - simples

Dave
 
Thanks for all the advice guys, i will use Bulb mode for the rest of the roll and post the pics up if i was successful!

Will try both watch/stopwatch and elephants!
 
ChrisR said:
Count elephants?
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Not many of those around here - until August when the circus comes to town.

EDIT: Actually, that's no good. They are an animal free circus now!


Make sure you add a bit for reciporaty failure. If that sounds like gibberish, look it up! Then err on the side of too much exposure rather than not enough. This isn't digital!


Steve.
 
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It's elephants! It's always elephants anything else is just plain wrong. Yes, you can count one-thou-sand two thou-sand or Mississippi's but it's not right a bit like blended whisky.
 
Steve Smith said:
Make sure you add a bit for reciporaty failure. If that sounds like gibberish, look it up! Then err on the side of too much exposure rather than not enough. This isn't digital!
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WHS. @Echoii For most films, I don't think you need bother about reciprocal failure below half a minute or so (is that true? Edit: apparently not, see next post!), but over a minute it just gets weird and you either have to check the film spec sheets or one of them there new-fangled appy clappy things.

Someone will be along in a minute to tell you the truth!
 
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Some films are worse than others; Acros is very forgiving. As well as loss of speed, you get changes in contrast (consult the film intructions for processing amendments) and with colour, colour shifts. The normal "safe" range of exposures is 1 sec to 1/1000th and if you step outside these times you should check up on what the maker says.
 
Fp4 needs pretty hefty adjustments pretty quickly. Half a stop at 2s and a couple of stops by 30s. Fomapan makes this look excellent.
 
Éléphants........Pink ones!! :D
 
I reckon éléphant must take considerably longer than elephant!
 
My Light Meter has a stopwatch on too!

#justsayin'

iPhone-on-stopwatch.jpg
 
TheBigYin said:
depends if you follow it with a suitably gallic shrug...
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Twenty éléphants with twenty shrugs and your head falls off? No longer need to worry about the exposure...
 
With the "t" being silent, the extra time spent on the acutes is already compensated for without the shrug.

"1 rock hyrax, 2 rock hyraxes, 3 rock hyraxes or should they be hyraces? b****r! Overexposed..." I'll stick to éléphants! (Or the second hand on my watch.)
 
So turns out the latitude on Ektar 100 was pretty good or my meter was wrong, either way i got lucky and got a photograph that i really like the colours. (I thought i was going to get nothing if i'm being honest)

It's pretty much exactly what i had in my head i just wish i could have got the focus a lot better on the fallen branch!


11741141_10153535551679602_256859212005875095_o.jpg


Dunham massey sunset
A photo posted by Jack (@echoii23) on Jul 24, 2015 at 1:45pm PDT
 
if you have a tripod and a stable scene, you could do say 2 1/15th shots to get 1/8th, if the winding is seporate from the shutter cocking
 
pingu666 said:
if you have a tripod and a stable scene, you could do say 2 1/15th shots to get 1/8th, if the winding is seporate from the shutter cocking
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Good point and this would theoretically be possible on a Lubitel, although you'd have to be very careful when recocking and pressing the shutter for the second time not to move the camera at all.
 
Echoii said:
So turns out the latitude on Ektar 100 was pretty good or my meter was wrong, either way i got lucky and got a photograph that i really like the colours. (I thought i was going to get nothing if i'm being honest)

It's pretty much exactly what i had in my head i just wish i could have got the focus a lot better on the fallen branch!


11741141_10153535551679602_256859212005875095_o.jpg


Dunham massey sunset
A photo posted by Jack (@echoii23) on Jul 24, 2015 at 1:45pm PDT
Click to expand...

I could be wrong, but that doesn't look like a focusing issue to me, as the middle of the photograph looks relatively sharp on my screen. I think it's just the nature of the lenses in those Lubitels: fairly sharp in the centre of the frame, but usually quite mushy outside of there, especially toward the extreme edges. It's either that or the film wasn't lying flat in the camera.

When I use my Lubitel or Holga, I usually try to get the subject of the photograph toward the centre of the frame, otherwise it'll be blurry. It's certainly not a reason to abandon the camera, but it's a limitation you might want to consider working around or incorporating as a creative effect.

I hope you continue to enjoy the camera.
 
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skysh4rk said:
I could be wrong, but that doesn't look like a focusing issue to me, as the middle of the photograph looks relatively sharp on my screen. I think it's just the nature of the lenses in those Lubitels: fairly sharp in the centre of the frame, but usually quite mushy outside of there, especially toward the extreme edges. It's either that or the film wasn't lying flat in the camera.

When I use my Lubitel or Holga, I usually try to get the subject of the photograph toward the centre of the frame, otherwise it'll be blurry. It's certainly not a reason to abandon the camera, but it's a limitation you might want to consider working around or incorporating as a creative effect.

I hope you continue to enjoy the camera.
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It's very possible after studying other photographs i have taken with the Lubitel, Although i feel in my fear of not getting a photo at all, using the lens wide open will not have helped.

I suppose the only way to find out is to go back and try and take the photo again with a slower aperture and double checking the focus :)

Thanks for the help guys!
 
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