The Range of Light Sources
By definition, the quantity of light is always much less than the reference standard for photography and human vision alike—the sun. Midday sunlight, clear and unfiltered by clouds or haze, produces around 100,000 to 130,000 lux (see box).
The lighting in a typical office is probably between 200 and 400 lux, so the difference between the two in practical photographic terms is about EV 7 or 8. Put even more practically, at ISO 100 a typical setting for bright midday would be 1/125 sec at ƒ/16, while in an office you would be shooting at, say, 1/15 to 1/30 sec at ƒ/2.8 at the same level of sensitivity.
One consequence of this is that in low light there is no typical, easily predictable setting. Levels vary hugely, as ...
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