Using manual exposure in Super 8 camera

[kathyvout]

Does anyone know how to figure out what F stop the manual exposure is when the auto exposure is broken on a Super 8 camera? I can do plus or minus two or three stops but I don't how to use this without having the metering system work. Will the aperture open and close down if the auto exposure is not working? And how can I figure out what F stop I'm shooting at? Any ideas?
Thanks for your help. I have a Minolta autopak D12.

[Alex]

Hello artthatmoves. I have never owned one of these Minolta D cameras but I have always been intrigued by them.

I'm assuming the most important thing to do is see if the f-stop numbers are still visible even though the internal automatic exposure meter does not work anymore.

Does the internal automatic exposure meter usually light-up or at the very least is it visible even when not lit up?

If the exposure meter used to light up and now it doesn't you may want to see if the exposure meter is sometimes visible depending on how much the camera lens is zoomed in when you are pointing it at a non-dark image, but don't point it at the sun as you can damage your eyes.

If you don't mind wasting one cartridge of film you can do some fade in and fade out tests with the manual exposure dial.

If you really want to develop a complex method for determining what f-stop you are at even if you cannot see the f-stop settings but the manual exposure is working, it is possible, although I would not recommend it since the bottom line is it will still be a guess.

I would recommend shooting outdoors for your test during the daytime and on a tripod, find a very contrasty scene to shoot. While filming, fade all the way in, (probably will take about 3-5 seconds, pause, with the camera still rolling for a couple of seconds, then fade all the way back out while you are filming. If when you get the film back the image fades from dark to light, and then from light to dark, then you know that the manual exposure function is working.

If you can completely fade the film in and out, then in theory you could do f-stop timings. For instance, if you want to set the f-stop to f5.0, you may discover that when the camera's f-stop is completely closed, it takes exactly 3.1 seconds for the meter to hit f5.6 as you manually fade in.

The way to determine what f-stop you are at is to do division. If the full range of fade in to fade out is x number of seconds, and there are y number of f-stop positions, then divide x into y.

So if it takes five seconds to completely fade from one extreme to the other and you have 10 f-stops, then you know the manual exposure meter travels about 1/2 second per f-stop!

However, if you find that this crazy technique actually works, I would probably "re-rack" the f-stop prior to setting a new f-stop number. In other words it probably makes sense to always start with the f-stop either completely faded in or faded out and do the calculation each and every time rather than assume you are at f5.6 and now you want to go to f.11. Insteasd rerack to either end of the f-stop range and then redo the f-stop shift.

When it's all said and done, I'd rather you try and get the camera's light meter repaired than go through the above procedure.

[Alex]

I never know whether to give a short or long answer, or ask a follow up question first, such as, does the manual exposure dial actually cause the f-stop needle to move?

[kathyvout]

thanks a lot for your efforts at explaining this. I will try one of your ideas after I get an estimate on cost of replacing or repairing the meter. By the way, there are 9 different plus/minus stops on the manual exposure. I think that 5 of these are full F stops and four represent 1/2 a stop. and yes I can see the f-stops thru the viewfinder, but the needle in the meter is stuck between 8 and 16 , although sometimes if I tilt the camera a bit the red F stops will move a little.

[kathyvout]

unfortunately no. which makes me wonder if I will be able to open or close the aperture at all. I am going to do a test roll. I recently got the instruction manual for the camera and it says that the red color I see in the viewfinder is supposed to go white when its in manual exposure mode so I am thinking now that there might be a bigger problem.
thanks again for your assistance.

[oldasdirt]

This is a reoccurring thing with super 8 cameras,especially those found on ebay.I've so bought three cameras off ebay and ALL of them suffered some type of malady with the auto/manual iris.I have a Sankyo right now that has an iris that seems to be permanently stuck in the wide open position.

I could probably work with this one with a series of ND filters,but what if I want a tight DoF?

I think what the super 8 community desperately needs is a group of techs in various parts of the world who will work on super 8 gear for a nominal price.Perhaps a barter system.

[Alex]

If you shoot with negative super-8 film stock you will have a bit more leeway. You can always use polaroids to pre-determine what your exposure should be.

I cover that subject on my super-8mm.net website, I think it's page 8, a whole page
devoted to polaroid bracketing to ensure accurate super-8 exposures.

[saledin]

i know this is a little off subject.....i had one of my beaulieus stripped of its automatic zoom and exposure mechanisms. im a little intimidated by the prospect of filming without the auto exposure doing its job. im sure you get some great exposure sweeps....does anyone have any experience with this type of filming and is it worth the it????