Room 221

Room 221 – A study of light at 400asa.

First thing’s first – Let’s explain ”ASA”.
Simply put it’s the ISO which the film is exposed at – The sensitivity at which light is let in. (I won’t go into further detail as there are a LOT of very good explanations on such online; And chances are, if you’re here reading a Photography blog, you already have an understanding of the basics like ISO and shutter speeds.)

This little light experiment was given a very simple directive; Point and shoot in Auto, let the results speak for themselves. I achieved this by removing any sense of composure/specific angle of capture for the most part. This test was more about the results of a Mid-range film sensitivity, in a bright setting; With changing gradients due to cloud cover. So, while not the carefully framed photographs you may be used to seeing, these still tell their own story.

Shot on my Canon AE-1 Program – Full Auto; My only choices as the man behind the camera were shutter speed (Suggested by the built in light meter) and composure. As aforementioned, composure was limited to simply showing the desired subject and nothing more. Leaving one option – Shutter speed.. How long would I allow the lens to remain open to capture my image? Longer time.. Brighter image. Shorter time.. Darker image. These are the basics.

However, as an AUTO experiment – I treated this camera in much the same way as I would, say; My Kodak ektar or Any other fixed focus, point and shoot Film camera. Of course; This is an SLR. Therefor, to get around this; I used my AE (Auto enabled) 50mm lens. It allows for some depth of field – which can be seen in the Door and the curtains, But for the most part it lends itself to a flatter image; Combining all the details of the room – as a pose to separating the subject from the background.

This is actually a very common mistake among new photographers – They fall into the number trap as I call it. MANY people talk about 25mm, 50mm etc.. It seems enticing and while it has it’s place; Like landscape photography – Many fall into the trap with portrait photography. I’m almost certain this comes from a confusion between Aperture and focal length. Lower the number, the better the isolation, right? Well yes and no. In aperture yes, an F stop of 2.8 will give you a significantly more isolated subject over a stop of F22.
So you can see where the confusion lies – 50mm MUST be better than say 85mm? Numbers can be confusing at first.

Which takes me back to my point; Using the 50mm lens. Mid range depth. It is simply a very standard focal length. A prime lens, with a single non-adjustable focus point. This is precisely why I chose it for this project; It cannot be manipulated to focus or to zoom for clever on project cropping, so to speak. What you see, is what you get. A relatively wide angle view; No ability to selectively focus.

So, the conclusion?
It did the intended job. Would I rely on the Auto focus function and a prime lens? Probably not.
As you can see, following the built in light meter and a mid-range film; Some images are a stop under exposed and some over. It’s hardly perfect. We’ve got light leaks, blowouts.. And yet, we still managed to capture that nostalgic look, some fantastic color and for the most part – I’m impressed by the detail this camera could capture given how rigorously I had limited it’s options.

This was shot pre-service, which I later discovered I had a faulty shutter release magnet. DEFINITELY explains some of those exposure issues.

Next time, a test using a cheap point and shoot, with Kodak Gold 200. Let’s see what results we can get, with one of the cheapest 35mm Film setups on the market.

Until next time,
Z