While fully manual shooting is possible with most modern digital cameras fitted with PASM (Program, Aperture-priority, Shutter-priority, Manual) modes, where metering is used to measure the lighting of the scene, and set to the camera setting, there are also situations with earlier digital SLR camera models, for example the Nikon D80 and Fujifilm FinePix S2 Pro, where metering is not functional when the camera is mounted with fully manual lenses.
One solution to getting the correct exposure with a camera and lens setup without metering, aside from using an external light meter, is to refer to the guide of the 'Sunny 16 Rule.'
The Sunny 16 rule, a technique for estimating the correct exposure for a photograph on a sunny day without using a light meter, says 'On a sunny day set aperture to f/16 and shutter speed to the [reciprocal of the] ISO film speed [or ISO setting] for a subject in direct sunlight'. So if you're shooting at ISO 100, set the aperture to f/16 and shutter speed to 1/90 or 1/125 sec. The rule is based on incident light rather than reflected light and is less susceptible to errors caused by high-contrast scenes.
The rule is also flexible, can be interpolated, and should work as long as the camera settings are maintained within the recommendations of the exposure triangle. To adjust to variations of the bright daylight conditions, the aperture should be adjusted to f/11 for a slight overcast, f/8 for overcast conditions, f/5.6 for heavy overcast, and f/4 for sunset or twilight sessions.
For a grainy black-and-white night shot, set the camera ISO speed to 1600, the lens aperture to its widest, and 'chimp' your way through a bracket of shutter speeds (say 1/90, 1/125, and 1/180 sec. or nearest) to get the best exposure possible. Further tweaks and converting the image to black-and-white, if you are shooting in JPEG colors, are recommended on the desktop image editor at a later stage.
The Series E 35mm 1:2.5, a legacy lens produced for the Nikon EM (1979), FG (1982), and FG20 (1984) 35mm SLR camera series, is noted as capable of producing sharp images, especially when stopped down, though not for any explicit bokeh quality. A good copy of the lens, which is pretty old by now, may still be with its smooth focusing action, and the long focus throw that is frequently commented on. The lens focuses down to 0.3 meters with decent macro capabilities.
Legacy lenses, older lenses originally designed for film cameras, such as 35mm or medium format systems, are characterized by their manual focusing capabilities and are frequently sought after for their unique optical qualities. The manual focus lenses group, on the other hand, also includes modern lenses designed without autofocus, which may feature advanced optical formulas and are built with exotic materials, targeted to enthusiasts who prefer the tactile experience of manual focusing or specific artistic effects.
As with the Nikon D80, the Fujifilm FinePix S2 Pro's menu system does not list a lens registry item to index the focal length of the lens, and the camera is not fitted with an aperture coupling arm either, a feature, when available on other cameras, enables the aperture of the lens to be controlled by the camera automatically. Shooting with the Series E 35mm 1:2.5 lens mounted is fully manual.
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