Overexposure by 1 click Explanation

Amnesialocal · May 2, 2018

Dear all,
This is my second post here and I would like starting with a thanks to the site and all the expert people here. I hope you could clarify some of my doubts.

I recently bought an Hasselblad 500c with 80mm planar C.Zeiss and start shooting some film.
I have realised that I don't have absolutely clear the concept of overexposure ( or underexposure) by 1 click. Neither I can understand if 1click is equal to 1 stop.

For what I read around this is my understanding and it would be very appreciated if you could help me to clarify if I understood correctly or ( probably) all the opposite.

Let start with a practical example:
My light meter is telling me this (assuming I want to shoot at f2.8)

f2.8 1/250 ISO 100

Let's assume that this is my starting point, and that from here I would like to overexposure by 1 click.
Are these 3 options correct?

OPTION 1:
- Changing shutter speed:
f2.8 1/125 ISO 100

OPTION 2:
- Changing aperture:
f5.6 1/250 ISO 100

OPTION 3:
- Changing ISO in the light meter
I will set in the light meter ISO 50, and apply the result to my gear with film ISO 100
f2.8 1/125
This actually is equal to option 1

Please could someone kindly review this settings and clarify if they are correct?And eventually clarify where I am wrong?

Assuming ( probably not) that the above is correct, and considering specifically the Hasselblad 500 and the C.Zeiss with opening of 2.8-4-5.6-8-11-16-22 and time from B to 1/500 I was wondering what I could do to overexpose by 1/2 click.
If I am not again wrong it seems I have only one option ( OPTION 2) available, as in the other scenarios and considering my equipment I don't have possibilities.
In this case ( as same starting point) overexposing by 1/2 click my settings should be:

f4 1/250 ISO 100
Am I wrong?

Apologise for the really long post, but I am very lost and confused about it and any help would be very appreciated and useful.

Many thanks in advance and I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Regards
Amnesia

Dave Colangelo · May 2, 2018

Since you have a Hasselblad lets forget about aperture/and shutter speed for a minute and instead talk in EV which, you have the luxury of using as your lens has nice EV locks. F2.8 and 1/250 computes to EV11. If you wish to over expose the shot by 1 Stop simply move the EV setting to 10, similarly if you want to under expose the shot move the arrow to 12.

Here is a pic of my 500C/M with 80 Planar set to EV11 for reference

With the Hhasselblad system you have the luxury of using the EV lock for easy setting adjustment. Some light meters can be set to read out in EV and you may find that metering in EV will help you set the camera faster as you can meter and simply set the EV using the EV range. Once you have the EV on the lens set any combination of F-Stop and Shutter Speed you spin the rings two will yield the same exposure.

For half stop exposure on the Hasselblad system you can adjust the lens to lock in place between EV's. For this I find it simplest to look at the EV scale and get the arrow to settle in-between numbers. The Hasselblad used 1/2 F-Stop adjustments to achieve this as the lens is not capable of intermediary shutter speeds.

For reference in your example, Option 1 is correct. Option two would yield to 1 stop under exposed.

In general you meter should always be set to the film speed you are shooting (or the speed at which you wish to rate the film in a push/pull case). Messing with this setting will often only serve to confuse you and may lead to errors.

Amnesialocal · May 2, 2018

Hi Dave,

Many thanks for your fast answer.
I didn't know ( as lot of things really) about EV and it is very easy and simple.

Really many thanks! I will definitely use this system.
Nevertheless I guess then I understood not correctly the change of aperture for overexposure (option 2)

at f5.6 the speed should be ... 1/30?
Am I still wrong?

Many thanks

Dave Colangelo · May 2, 2018

Correct at 5.6 you would be at 1/30 For 1 stop of over exposure.

Lets take another look at our EV example. With our EV set to 11 we can see all the options available to us

2.8 and 1/250
4 and 1/125
5.6 and 1/60
8 and 1/30
11 and 1/15
16 and 1/8
22 and 1/4

So our metered setting would be 5.6 and 1/60 for EV11 if we wanted one stop of over exposure but want to maintain our F5.6 apeture we would slow the shutter speed down (allow more light in) to 1/30

80 Planar set to EV11:

Dave Colangelo · May 2, 2018

On somewhat of a side note, one of the best Hasselblad references is "The Hasselblad Manual" written by Ernst Wildi you can find a copy for under $5 on ebay if you poke around a bit. Its well worth it and offers a lot of insight into the nuances of the Hasselblad system and lots of great info on photography in general. its for sure worth picking up a copy if you plan to use your 'blad regularly.

Other than that Im happy to answer any Hasselblad questions you may have here! I have had quite a saga with my 500C/M over the past few years and learned quite a bit.

Amnesialocal · May 2, 2018

Dave, amazing information.

I need still to digest and elaborate these info, but I can't say thanks enough for the explanation and advices.
I will definitely try to find the manual asap.

If you are also so expert with digital backs I would like really to open a new thread in regard of it (I.e. phase one H20).

Many thanks
A.

Dave Colangelo · May 2, 2018

Amnesialocal said:
If you are also so expert with digital backs I would like really to open a new thread in regard of it (I.e. phase one H20).

For the time being I have only used the film backs on my V series camera but if you start a new thread I'm sure someone else here may be knowledgeable on them.