Aperture Settings

[Walksalot]

I have a Pantex Me and the light meter went south. I decided to play with the manual setting and I am having a bit of a time with it. I shot a whole roll of film and only two picture turned out and they were shot on a sunny day, the rest lacked light. :( Is there a rule of thumb as far as cloudy days and sunny days and aperture settings go? I asked a person at a camera place and she said to use a flash. I explained to her I was taking picture of the outdoors and she said to use a flash :?: . My only concern with using a flash to take a picture of a mountain is that the flash needed to light up the mountain I am taking a picture of will melt my camera 8) .

[TonyMo]

Hey Walksalot,
Missing the light meter will be a challenge. However, on sunny days try using the "sunny f16 rule." Like it says on clear sunny days, set the aperature to f16. Set the shutter speed to the closest number equal to the speed of film you are using ie: ISO 100 = 1/100, ISO 400 = 1/400.
This is just a guide. Bracket your exposure (set aperature OR shutter speed one or even two stops over and under this setting) you should get decent results.

TonyMo