ASA meters on cameras- PLEASE HELP

[noahstout]

I'm looking to buy a super 8. Some camera listings give an ASA range- does that mean the camera has a dial to set the ASA. I had a broken camera that only had a filter for tungsten/sunlight. For my new camera, should I get one that has a meter. I see that kodak films have many different ASA. I want to use plus-x, tri-x, and ektachrome, but I'm nervous I might be messing up by putting them in the wrong camera or on the wrong setting.
please help,
thanks,
noah

[Jerome Cain]

bet you know tri-x is black and white which good for limits lights such as indoor same as for ektachrome but it is colors. Plus-x (b/w)and K40 are best because of grains and daytime colors. Just use your meter light but s8mm camera got a small gauge that can not figure but I used it although it works. Just look at your automatic light meter for asa and study and stay underexposure. it is hard to explain thru this because english is not my area however check goggle search about s8mm and meter light so for asa too that way you can get more details of how to use it that you can capture nice picture. i can explain in live instead but,... Jerome, deaf filmmaker

[random8]

Any super 8 camera you would buy has a built in meter. The film speed is set automatically by the camera, according to a pattern of notches in the film cartridge (except on Beaulieus you have to set the speed yourself, I think). The range of speeds it lists is the range the light meter will adjust to, but any currently available film should be inside that range (Kodachrome, at the low end, is ASA 25, and Tri-X, at the high end, is ASA 200). The filter in your camera is to correct the color of the light -- color films are color balanced for tungsten lighting, and when used in sunlight need a filter if you want the colors to look right. You remove this filter when you're filming indoors; most cameras just have a switch or other control to do this.

Make sure you can get batteries for the meter if it uses batteries separate from the ones that power the camera motor and shutter. When you get the camera, I would shoot a roll to test the meter before you film anything important. If you have a handheld meter, or another camera with a built in meter, you can use it to check the Super 8 camera's meter. They shouldn't be wildly different, but the Super 8 camera will generally require a little bit more light because of the way the light passing through the lens is split before it gets to the film plane.

As for what kind of camera to buy, go with whatever you can afford. I just got started with super 8, and I bought a cheap Sankyo off Ebay for $10, which has given me surprisingly good results. It doesn't have a lot of features (only 18 fps [img]frown.gif[/img] ), but it takes nice pictures, and I don't think it had ever been used before I got it.

Hope that helps some,
Bill

[Actor]

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The film speed is set automatically by the camera, according to a pattern of notches in the film cartridge
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The film speed is not set by a pattern but by the width of the notch. All three of my cameras have a single pin which gets depressed if the notch is narrow and is unpressed if the notch is wide. I.e., the meter is set to ASA 40(narrow notch) or ASA 160(wide notch), nothing else. I think most cameras are the same way.

I have never seen a Canon 814 or 1014 but it is my understanding that they have more than one pin and will set the meter to the actual speed of the film, not just 40 or 160. There are probably other cameras that will do the same.

On some, not all, cameras a second notch determines whether the 85 filter is enabled. If it is not then the 85 filter is switched out regardless of the position of the tungsten/daylight switch. My guess is that B&W films are notched to keep the 85 filter out of the light path. Right now the only B&W film I have is in one of my cameras. As soon as I finish shooting it I'll check the notching before sending it to the lab.

&lt;font color="#a62a2a" size="1"&gt;[ January 21, 2003 08:44 PM: Message edited by: Actor ]&lt;/font&gt;

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ January 21, 2003 09:10 PM: Message edited by: Actor ]</font>