Elmo 311 Lowlight??

[fultonrosario]

Ok, i just bought this off of Ebay and I'd like to know if anyone knows a way that I can maybe can my hands on an instruction booklet for it? Thanks to anyone who can help!

[Alex]

Well, I just happen to have one in my hand...

It has basic features...the most interesting one for me is the 6 FPS.

It is an f 1.1 lens with a 9-27, 3-1 zoom lens.

It also has 18 FPS.

A button that says BLC...which means backlight to give you a higher exposure value to compensate the automatic metering system when you are shooting into the sun.

The red button is a battery tester.

The filter button on the other side is for daylight or indoor shooting.

There is a "T" on the on off button..it might mean timer.

(I haven't put batteries in mine at this point)

It seems to have two viewfinders...I'm not sure why!

One very bad thing....there is no manual exposure control and it looks like it has no f-stop settings...

...so you cannot begin to learn about the importance of f-stops....

...this camera is better than nothing but I classify it a "dead-ender"...meaning you will outgrow it's capacity after a few times using it.

The 6 Fps is cool however...and with the 1.1 lens opening...you could probably shoot in real low-light situations....especially if your going for an blur-streaky, surreal type of effect.

But having no manual exposure control...or an f-stop guide in the viewfinder relegates this camera to point and shoot.

The double-A batteries go in the handle.

There is a remote control connector on the swing out handle.

Focus goes down to 3.2 feet...which is pretty good.

Hope that helps.

Alex

[fultonrosario]

wow, thanks so much for your help.

this may sound stupid, i'm new to this, but what is an f-stop, the importance of it, etc.
also, what does manual exposure do?
what does 6fps look like on film? i mean, i took a simple super8mm class in high school but the cameras just had the either 18fps or 1fps...thanks for your help!

[Alex]

An F-stop setting regulates the amount of light that comes through the lens for purposes of properly exposing each frame of film.

The smaller the f-stop number...f-stop 2.0....the wider the opening....and more light is let in to expose each film frame.

the larger the f-stop number...f-16.0...the smaller the opening.

A cool way to learn more is borrow a 35mm Single-lens Reflex Camera with the external knobs for shutter speed, ASA rating, and an F-stop ring located on the barrel of the lens.

...these 35mm still cameras also came with a "depth of field" preview...which can teach you the value of "depth of field" as it relates to f-stop opening.

6 frames per second was very popular when MTV was in it's infancy.

Filmmakers would shoot at 6fps per second...then transfer the film at 6fps...the result was a strobey, real-time...blurred-edge style of look.

If you shoot at 6fps and playback at 18...you will get a speeded up "Keystone Cops"
type of look.

Hope this helps...check out the archived threads on this forum....(pages 2-6)...numerous books were mentioned for the beginning super-8 filmmaker.

Alex