The most common questions I receive in regards to shooting film are usually about metering and exposure. I have covered a lot of other topics in the blog posts Film is Not Dead and The Secrets of Richard Photo Lab, but I wanted to share a dedicated write-up about metering as this subject often seems to cause a lot of confusion.

Metering film vs. digital

A lot of people worry about their exposure when they start out shooting film. Not being able to see your results until you get your scans back and learning to trust your own abilities instead of instantly reviewing an image or histogram on the back of your camera takes time and getting used to. Most of the concerns I hear from photographers who mainly shoot digital are based on the experience that one stop of exposure changes your results drastically. That’s different with film and therefore exposure is in general much easier with a little bit of practice.

Exposure range vs. fixed value

Instead of a “fixed value” that delivers a perfectly exposed image, you work with an exposure range when shooting film. With digital, your ISO setting simply states how sensitive the sensor is to the amount of light that falls onto it. With color negative film, the ISO rating usually states the minimum value at which you will be able obtain a properly exposed negative. Portra 400, for example, requires to be metered and exposed for at least ISO 400 (“box speed”), but it can be exposed from about ISO 800 to ISO 25 (-1 to +4 stops) with decent results (normal processing, no pushing or pulling).

Overexposure and Underexposure

Overexposing doesn’t make your images brighter, it makes your negatives more dense. Underexposing doesn’t make your results darker, it produces muddy colors and washed out blacks. Because color negative film usually gives the most pleasant results when overexposed, a lot of film photographers rate their film at half box speed (ISO 200 instead of ISO 400) and expose for the shadows, which results in 2-3 stops of overexposure. In digital terms this sounds adventurous, but with film it’s not a problem. Film has so much latitude that losing highlight detail is usually not a concern.

Exposing for the shadows

An incident light meter always shows a reading for neutral grey, which is zone “V”. Instead of zone “V” you assign zone “II” to “IV” by literally holding your meter into the shadow (the darkest part of the picture). As mentioned above, the reason isn’t to get a brighter result. With digital, blown out highlights are a problem if you expose too bright. With film, it’s the other way around and you need to make sure that you get enough exposure for the shadow detail. Underexposure is the most common problem I see when discussing unsatisfying results with fellow photographers.

Meter Settings

An easy way to make sure your film gets enough exposure is to rate it at half box speed. That gives it one full stop of exposure more and leaves a bit of headroom for mistakes. You do this by setting your meter to ISO 200 if the film speed on the box reads ISO 400. All the fuss about how to meter with bulb in and out and pointing the meter up, down or at whatever angle doesn’t make sense for me at all. I think that’s far too complicated. In theory, metering with a retracted bulb reduces the amount of light that falls onto the cell of your meter, and with pointing it down a little you take the proportion of the sky back a bit. In reality that’s not necessary.

Incident vs. reflective metering

The easiest and most reliable way to meter when shooting film is to shoot in manual using an external handheld light meter. Do not rely on your internal meter and don’t shoot in any kind of auto mode, especially when you’re just starting out. A lot of internal meters are not precise and this metering method isn’t ideal. You need to know how much light falls onto your subject (incident metering) and not how much light is reflected by your subject (reflective metering, e.g. your internal meter). This is especially important in difficult light.

My metering method

I meter all color negative film the same. I use a very simple analog incident light meter (Sekonic L-398 A), nothing fancy or expensive. I rate my film half box speed. If I shoot Porta 400, that means I set the meter to ISO 200. Then I meter for the shadows, which means I bring my meter into the part of the scene that has the least light. If I don’t have a shadow anywhere close, I shade the bulb of the meter with my hand. I hold the meter in a standard 90 degree angle to the ground, which means nothing else than parallel to the subject, with the bulb facing the direction of the camera. That’s it.

Examples

Here are a couple of examples for different lighting conditions. All of these images were metered exactly the same way.

*Hasselblad 503CW + Carl Zeiss Planar T* 2.8/80 (Kodak Portra 400, overexposed by 2 stops)*
*The strongest shadow area of the scene is right next to the chair, that’s where you hold your meter.*

*Hasselblad 503CW + Carl Zeiss Planar T* 2.8/80 (Kodak Portra 400, overexposed by 4 stops)*
*For a landscape/cityscape you take a normal reading and shade your bulb with your hand to get the shadow value.*

*Hasselblad 503CW + Carl Zeiss Planar T* 2.8/80 (Kodak Portra 400, overexposed by 2 stops)*
*If you are already standing in the shade you just take a normal reading.*

Scanning and density correction

If you meter using this method and your shots turn out too dark or too bright, it’s very likely that your lab doesn’t scan (density correct) your images right. Try checking your negatives against the light and see if they look properly exposed. If they look ok, talk to your lab. If your lab isn’t the problem, check if your meter and the shutter of your camera are working properly.

The following two shots are metered the exact same way. You can see that one is really bright and airy while the other one is bold and contrasty. The different look is caused by the light being different and the images being scanned differently, not by me metering or exposing differently:

*Hasselblad 503CW + Carl Zeiss Planar T* 2.8/80 (Kodak Portra 400 and Kodak Tri-X 400, both overexposed by 2 stops)*

Shutter speed limits

Most older film cameras only offer full stop shutter speed increments and very many of them are limited to a shutter speed of 1/500 or 1/1000 of a second. This would make these cameras unusable with a digital sensor without the use of ND filters. I don’t ever use filters, and my Hasselblad has a maximum shutter speed of 1/500. When I’m shooting outside in daylight, I very often would have to set my shutter to 1/2000 (+2 stops) or even 1/4000 (+3 stops) according to the meter reading. I can’t because of the physical limitation of my camera. I usually don’t stop down, I just pick the setting that is closest to the reading and err on the side of overexposure.

Most color negative film can be overexposed 4-5 stops with medium format and 2-3 stops with 35mm. I expose my B&W film (Tri-X 400) the exact same way, even though it’s probably wise to be a bit more careful with B&W if you don’t like a lot of grain and contrast.

Which meter to use

It really doesn’t matter which meter you use as long as it works properly. I would in general recommend to buy a new meter over a used one, just because you know it’ll work. I use an analog Sekonic L-398A because it doesn’t require batteries. Be careful when buying older analog meters off Ebay, they often don’t work properly. An inexpensive digital alternative is Lumu. I really like the concept and I backed their project on Kickstarter. Lumu is a little device that you can plug into your iPhone. It works just as well as any other external meter and it saves you having to carry around an extra item.

Guessing exposure

One very nice aspect of using an external handheld meter is the fact that you will learn very quickly how easy metering really is when shooting film. If you shoot on a regular base it will probably only take you about 4-5 rolls until you can guess your meter reading for most lighting conditions. I usually meter once per scene (not once per shot) and only double check if I’m not sure. That makes shooting film very easy and enjoyable. And it can also save a lot of worries because you can safely buy unmetered cameras, which is a huge advantage if you like to shoot old Leicas.

There is a little more to the zone system, metering and exposure than I’ve mentioned in this blog post. But I wanted to share an easy, practical and enjoyable approach that makes it fun to shoot film and helps prevent the most common misunderstandings – especially for photographers who are used to shooting digital.

Metering for Film