Small question on underexposed films


Status
Not open for further replies.

thesmallprint

New Member
Jan 17, 2009
55
0
0
I was at sentosa last monday and brought along my holga 135bc
I played around with it using Fujicolor superia 200.
Apparently i took all my pictures in the day although all of it is just pns.
When i went to the shop to develop , the uncle told me it was underexposed.:dunno:
(i played with around 6rolls of film already . all under exposed , no picture ! :cry:)
Dint ask the uncle there as he always have the 'i dont care about you attitude'
I was wondering how is that possible and what can i do to get the shots out.
Any 1 can help me with my problem ? thanks!
 

So you passed all 6 rolls of 120 film to the uncle, he develops it and he says its under-exposed after you came to collect it a few days later?
 

first thing you need to examine the negative, is unexposed or underexposed?

unexposed, noting recorded on the negative, totally clear, there is nothing you can do.

underexposed, faint image recorded on the negative, if it is more than two stops is gone case, the print out will be very flat and off color, also very grainny.

let us know more after you see the negatives.
 

Yeah, if you didn't reel the film properly, and it didn't get exposed at all, the roll is unexposed. If due to wrong settings, and the film was exposed for too short a time, it's under-exposed.

Did you paid for developing the film? If so, the uncle should have the developed film, in its holder to return you. Take a look at the developed film. You should see nothing at all if the roll was unexposed. For under-exposed film, there should be certain areas (like if you took with the sun in the frame) that could still be seen.

For under-exposed shots, you could ask the shop to push/pull the film. But since it's already developed, there's nothing you can do anymore. Btw if the shop uncle gives a can't care less attitude, why not go somewhere else to develop your next roll?
 

yeah i know , i meant that i tested around 6 rolls of film altogether already and its 35mm films .
I've recieved the negatives already and some of the shots are pretty clear to me but the uncle told me all of the shots are underexposed.
Guess i now know where to go and where not to go .
So how long should i keep my shutter open for day shots ?
 

yeah i know , i meant that i tested around 6 rolls of film altogether already and its 35mm films .
I've recieved the negatives already and some of the shots are pretty clear to me but the uncle told me all of the shots are underexposed.
Guess i now know where to go and where not to go .
So how long should i keep my shutter open for day shots ?

So that means the negatives are predominantly light with some gray/dark lines/details when you look at it (make sure you have some light shining from behind)? Right?

Dark Negatives = Overexposed Pictures
Light Negatives = Underexposed Pictures

Did you shoot Digital before? Do you know about the three Triangles (ASA or Film Speed/Aperture/Shutter Speed)?
 

200 film with the 135BC in daylight should give at least a decent exposure.. nothing showing up in 6 rolls of film then something is wrong, assuming you had load the film correctly I suspect its the daylight/cloudy aperture switch.. prob its stuck inbetween the 2 settings and blocks all the light completely..
 

yeah i know , i meant that i tested around 6 rolls of film altogether already and its 35mm films .
I've recieved the negatives already and some of the shots are pretty clear to me but the uncle told me all of the shots are underexposed.
Guess i now know where to go and where not to go .
So how long should i keep my shutter open for day shots ?
well, if the film is underexposed, that is the user problem, and this uncle is kind enough to tell you, to me, this is value added service, anyway, it the film is taken underexposed, you go anywhere to process it also still will be underexposed.

btw, not all labs offer pull and push processing service, this service usually only provided by pro labs, the original price for negative processing is already cost more than neighborhood labs, and pull and push service is charging 100% more, since they have to readjust the processing time and can't process other people film at the same time.

and also, you need to know how much you had under or overexposed your neg, so you need to tell the lab pull or push by one stop or two stops. if you don't tell, the lab will not know how much to pull or push.

and very importantly, you have to have consistant exposure, don't send in a roll of neg with brackting exposure, else the all the lab people will be rolling on the floor laughing.

Hope this help.
 

which is the proper settings for the daylight/cloudy aperture ? it's the on directly above the lense right ? if it is then it's always on the sun .
And i did not shoot digital before . I'm just a student who have just picked up photography as a hobby and dont have that much money .
be glad for more info . thanks .
 

which is the proper settings for the daylight/cloudy aperture ? it's the on directly above the lense right ? if it is then it's always on the sun .
And i did not shoot digital before . I'm just a student who have just picked up photography as a hobby and dont have that much money .
be glad for more info . thanks .

There are details on the negatives right?
 

which is the proper settings for the daylight/cloudy aperture ? it's the on directly above the lense right ? if it is then it's always on the sun .
And i did not shoot digital before . I'm just a student who have just picked up photography as a hobby and dont have that much money .
be glad for more info . thanks .
usually when you buy a roll of film, there is this kind of exposure guild printed on the film package box, just follow the exposure suggestion should fine.

00LpxC-37412084.jpg
 

which is the proper settings for the daylight/cloudy aperture ? it's the on directly above the lense right ? if it is then it's always on the sun .
And i did not shoot digital before . I'm just a student who have just picked up photography as a hobby and dont have that much money .
be glad for more info . thanks .

yea, its the switch directly above the lens..btw, when you asked how long should you keep your shutter open for day shots you don't mean it was on bulb mode do you?

btw, for those that don't know, the holga 135BC is a "lomo" cam..
 

thanks alot but i dont understand one thing , what does f/22 or f/16 means ? and the .f/8 at at 1/250sec.
I'm still a nub :(
 

thanks alot but i dont understand one thing , what does f/22 or f/16 means ? and the .f/8 at at 1/250sec.
I'm still a nub :(

its the aperture values, aka the size of the hole for light to go in, for the 135BC its fixed at f/8.. thats what the 1:8 on the lens mean..
 

Last edited:
thanks alot , but after so much information i'm still kind of lost haha .
 

thanks alot , but after so much information i'm still kind of lost haha .

Go pick up a book.

To get a decently exposed picture involves 3 different factors.
1 - Film Sensitivity/Film Speed/ASA/DIN/ISO
2 - Shutter Speed
3 - Aperture


1 - Film Sensitivity
Film Sensitivity is the same as ISO on digital cameras, it represents how sensitive is your film to LIGHT!

Take a ISO/ASA (ISO or ASA) 100 film and ISO/ASA 200 for example. The 200 is more sensitive to light, and reacts to dimmer light, which means you can use the ISO/ASA 200 film in darker areas compared to a ISO/ASA 100 film.

A ISO/ASA 1600 film does not necessarily mean that it is 16x more light absorbent compared to ISO/ASA 100. ISO/ASA 1600 is 4 stops higher compared to ISO/ASA 100 films (Refer Below).

Summary
More numbers = film more reactive to light and is able to take darker stuff!
Less numbers = film is less reactive to light and is able to take brighter stuff!

-----

2 - Shutter speed
How long the shutter opens to let light react with the film.

Summary
Longer shutter speeds = More light goes in!
Less Shutter speed = Less light goes in!

-----

3 - Aperture
Aperture is how wide the "eye" is. Wider "eye", more light goes in!
Aperture is measured in ƒ-stops, less numbers = wider = more light goes in!
That means ƒ2 is significantly brighter compared to ƒ8!

Summary
Less ƒ numbers = More light goes in!
More ƒ numbers = Less light goes in!

-----

Summary of Everything
More light goes in = Brighter picture!
Less light goes in = Darker picture!

-----

Stops are ... okay whatever screw it

--------------------------

The Window

Imagine your camera is like a window with shutters that open and close.

Aperture is the size of the window. If it’s bigger more light gets through and the room is brighter.

Shutter Speed is the amount of time that the shutters of the window are open. The longer you leave them open the more that comes in.

Now imagine that you’re inside the room and are wearing sunglasses (hopefully this isn’t too much of a stretch). Your eyes become desensitized to the light that comes in (it’s like a low ISO).

There are a number of ways of increasing the amount of light in the room (or at least how much it seems that there is. You could increase the time that the shutters are open (decrease shutter speed), you could increase the size of the window (increase aperture) or you could take off your sunglasses (make the ISO larger).
 

Last edited:
oh well , although abit off my own topic , but where can i buy velvia 100f at a normal price ? planning to take some shots on sat and see the results .
 

Go pick up a book.

To get a decently exposed picture involves 3 different factors.
1 - Film Sensitivity/Film Speed/ASA/DIN/ISO
2 - Shutter Speed
3 - Aperture


1 - Film Sensitivity
Film Sensitivity is the same as ISO on digital cameras, it represents how sensitive is your film to LIGHT!

Take a ISO/ASA (ISO or ASA) 100 film and ISO/ASA 200 for example. The 200 is more sensitive to light, and reacts to dimmer light, which means you can use the ISO/ASA 200 film in darker areas compared to a ISO/ASA 100 film.

A ISO/ASA 1600 film does not necessarily mean that it is 16x more light absorbent compared to ISO/ASA 100. ISO/ASA 1600 is 4 stops higher compared to ISO/ASA 100 films (Refer Below).

Summary
More numbers = film more reactive to light and is able to take darker stuff!
Less numbers = film is less reactive to light and is able to take brighter stuff!

-----

2 - Shutter speed
How long the shutter opens to let light react with the film.

Summary
Longer shutter speeds = More light goes in!
Less Shutter speed = Less light goes in!

-----

3 - Aperture
Aperture is how wide the "eye" is. Wider "eye", more light goes in!
Aperture is measured in ƒ-stops, less numbers = wider = more light goes in!
That means ƒ2 is significantly brighter compared to ƒ8!

Summary
Less ƒ numbers = More light goes in!
More ƒ numbers = Less light goes in!

-----

Summary of Everything
More light goes in = Brighter picture!
Less light goes in = Darker picture!

-----

Stops are ... okay whatever screw it

--------------------------

Stops are a standard measurement for exposure settings. They are also known as f/stops.
 

If you are uncertain about the relationship between shutter and aperture, I'd suggest sticking with negs first. Slides are even more sensitive to correct metering, with a low margin of error.


oh well , although abit off my own topic , but where can i buy velvia 100f at a normal price ? planning to take some shots on sat and see the results .
 

Status
Not open for further replies.