We Don't Need No Light Meter,
when I was your age we used to squint/half squint to measure light!
OK, I am not that old. Actually my father didn't even take photographs beyond the average vacation on the beach photo.
Yet, there are times when you have to calculate exposure manually, or even harder, calculate flash settings. Mixing flash and ambient is no rocket science - to quote a certain DH. However, it seems that one of the issues that is hard on everyone is when to start in terms of aperture, shutter speed and flash output.
Photographer Domjan Svilkovic came up with a nifty little card that can help you do just that using the ultra highly modifiable yet super cheap YN460 strobe. I would go and say that it may be considered a printable flash meter. Seems that the low price is driving those to be very popular.
The card and instructions after the jump.
click for bigger version.
It's not meant to be more precise than 1 f-stop but it should give you a very good starting point. The flash power levels are given for 2 meter subject distance at ISO100. It is also assumed you can get away with a 1/250s sync-speed (if not, 1/200s should be close enough) - important only when also calculating the ambient exposure.
The chart consists of several connected 'scales'. First, there is a main scale that goes from 0.5 to 22 in a typical 1-stop increments. This scale is used both for aperture and distance (in meters). Below the main scale is a small -4 to +7 scale that is primary used to quickly calculate how much more/less light you need if you change the subject distance. For example, with the subject at 8m you need 4 stops more light than at the default 2m subject distance.
At the bottom right there are two power scales for two different YN flashes. They connect the flash power level with the aperture at the standard ISO100 and 2m subject distance. For example, with a YN460 you get a correctly exposed photo at ISO100, 2m, f/5.6, power level 5.
In the lower left corner there is a ISO 'scale' that tells you how many more stops of light do you get if you use some higher ISO. It the top right corner there is a list of icons depicting the ambient light level (sunset, heavy overcast, light overcast, sunny and snow/beach) at 1/250s. To correctly expose on the sunny day you have to use the f/11 aperture (below the sun icon) at ISO100, 1/250s.
The chart can be used in a lot of different ways. I'll give just two examples:
Example 1
You are shooting outside on a bright sunny day and would like to be able to get a deep blue, a bit underexposed sky by flashing the subject with a bare YN460-II at power level 6 (to get an near instant recycle). At what distance should you put your flash and what aperture should you use?
- Set you camera at 1/250s, ISO100.
- Find the symbol for the Sun. It is above f/11 - that's your starting point.
- You want to underexpose the sky by one stop so hop one stop to the right - you are at f/16 so that's your aperture.
- The power level 6 (what you want) @2m distance would require the f/11 aperture (the aperture above the white '6' in the last row). As you want to shoot at f/16 you need to position the flash 1-stop closer than the default 2m:
- Look at the small scale that goes from -4 to +7 and locate the -1 (stop). You have to put your flash at 1.4m.
- That's it!
Example 2
You are shooting sports with your 70-200 f/4 lens and the YN460. You would like to light a subject 15m away at f/4 and power level 6.
- The closes 'full f-stop distance' would be 16m so locate the number 16 on the main scale.
- Look up the small number below it. It says +6 ( as in +6 stops more distant subject than the starting point of 2m).
- The fastest your lens can go is f/4 so you look up the basic power level below the f/4 mark - it's 4 (blue is for YN460 mkI).
- You know you need to now gain +6 stops. You can gain +2 stops by going to the target power level 6 but that's it. You are still +4 stops short
- Look at the ISO scale and find the ISO that matches +4 - it's ISO1600. That's it! You shoot at power 6, f/4, ISO1600, 16m distance.
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Comments
That chart just confuses me.
That chart just confuses me. But I think I get the concept. I just set the Viv 285 to 1/2 power (sync speed 1/160) and dial the aperture up around f/16, fire off a round or two and walk it in. I really need to get a set of good ND filters so I can get my aperture around f/4 where I want it.
580 EX
Very interesting. Can you maken one for the Canon 580EX?
This defintely needs to be
This defintely needs to be clearer.
If you just get out there and
If you just get out there and shoot and experiment, rinse and repeat, enough times you will develop enough sensitivity to do this with any flash. I often use a mixture of different strobes that have different power outputs and are even different brands but I now know them intimately.
For those starting out with strobes this is a good starting point but I'd suggest to try and guess the settings each time before using the chart. That way you won't get dependant on it.
It's not very clear to
It's not very clear to understand. I should use manual flash settings like: 1/1, 1/2, 1/4 etc, instead of some term 'level six'.
re: scale
Hi Jonathan,
yea... sadly this is te scale on the B side of the YN460...
I am aware that my chart is
I am aware that my chart is not as simple to use as some other similar charts out there but I am quite certain that to make it any simpler would require either making it huge or losing some of the functionality. This is not a type of 'just follow this line' chart that you can use with basically no understanding of what you are doing or why. This chart should help you think and calculate in 'stops' - not just f-stops but also distance 'stops' and power-levels. Basically, if you can do the calculations in your head then this chart will make it much easier and faster.
Is it faster to use this chart than to just take a few test shots? Possibly not. On the other hand, it's useful while planing the shoot and as it's not a completely abstract 'criss-cross-lines' type of a chart it could possibly help you build your intuition when it comes to guessing the correct light levels.
I don't think any of us mean
I don't think any of us mean to belittle the amount of work that went into the chart and I find it admirable that anybody would bother to do it but I find it completely impenetrable. The computer dial on the side of my Vivitar 285 is easier to understand and that thing requires a degree in astrophysics to make sense. If you're gonna make a chart then, yea, it should be a simple 'follow the line' chart. If you want the user to 'build intuition' they should just leave this chart alone, get out of the house, and shoot.
awesome
This is flippin awesome.. i have been planning to do something along these lines, but wasn't considering putting in the ambient.. I'm an engineer so I like math, formulas, and relationships, but really, anyone serious about lighting should take the time to understand this. Please do one for the 580EX II now :) Thank you for taking the time to put this together! It really could/should be included with the strobes (I guess it could be calculated from the specified light output, but I don't think they give per each level?]
Is the 580EXII linear? is 1/32 really 1/32 the power of 1? If so, you'd only need to know where 1 falls under on that chart, and could easily calulcate the rest.
-jeremy
Thanks! Unfortunatelly, I
Thanks! Unfortunatelly, I have no experience with high-end Canon flash so can't calibrate the chart for anything other than the YN flash. Here is the 'source' file that you can easily edit:
http://domjan.fizika.org/scale.svg
As you say, it's just a matter of testing the correct exposure at full power. With 580EXII there is the added complication of flash 'zoom'. You could possibly add another sub-chart that would tell you how many stops do you get at which zoom level - something similar to the ISO sub-chart. You can either calibrate the power chart for the widest setting and have all the numbers in the zoom chart positive or you could calibrate for the most used setting and have wider positions negative and longer positive. Should be simple enough.
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