Photo light calculator

Camera settings

  • Aperture: f/5.6 - average aperture, could be cheap kit lens
  • Shutter: 1 sec - long exposure, needs tripod
  • ISO: 100 ASA - lowest ISO, very little noise
  • No Neutral Density filter

    • Scene lighting: EV5

    -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
    -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
    starlight to dim ambient lightmoon eclipse to night home interiorneon lights to landscape after sunsetbright light to weak sunbright daylight to direct sunlight
    • Pure Exposure Value: EV100 = 4.97 (based on shutter & aperture)
    • Luminance: 4 cd/m² = 0.37 cd/ft²
    • Luminance: 1.17 fL (foot Lambert)

    Explanation

    • Explanation: EV is an estimation of how much light you need for a decent photo with these settings.
    • This can be natural light (sun, moon), artificial continuous light (lamps) or strobes.
    • If your camera settings indicate EV10 and you actually have EV=15 in your scene, your photo will be overexposed. If your settings need EV=10 and you actually have EV=3 your photo will be underexposed.

    Examples

    References

  • Exposure value
  • Scantips: Exposure Value (photography)
  • Based on work at web.forret.com and fredparker.com