Metering with a compact digicam

[cy_j]

Has anyone ever worked with a meterless rangefinder with a compact digicam acting as (cheapskate) meter? The digicam - Fuji F30 - was just gathering dust so I had the bright idea (or not) of making it as a light meter. And since my only RF is an FSU, I personally find it strange to have to buy a meter 2-3 times more expensive than my cam. But that's just me.

I've tried a couple of negative rolls already, and the results look underexposed. You may wish to take a look here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyril_in_cebu/

specially under the "Amsterdam" folder.

I did remember - belatedly - someone writing that digicams mimic positive film's sensitivity and so are calibrated as such. Is that correct?

Anyone else tried using a digicam with their FSU rfs?

Thanks for any input!

 

[Elessar]

there can be a couple of variables here:

1. your film camera's shutter/iso settings are not working accurately
2. your digicam's iso may have some variance also

so the two points combined may account for your underexposed shots.

just my guesses.

 

[cy_j]

You just gave me an idea. I tried the same iso and aperture and eq. focal lengths on my Nikon D70 and my wife's Sony A350. The DSLRs agree with the Fuji. So it looks like I may have to check on the curtain tensions of the rangefinder. May be time to do some CLA.

 

[limonello]

Another possibility is that there is nothing wrong with the shutter on the film camera and that the underexposure is happening at the scanning or at post-processing stage?

If you are shooting colour negative film or traditional black+white film, there is quite a lot of dynamic range in the film which you might be able to recover scanning.

You may want to:
(a) try to rescan the films with a different setting; and/or
(b) test your camera out with slide film which has a narrower DR and is less forgiving of wrong exposure.

 

[jasbay]

my guess is the shutter speed no longer accurate on the FSU body. dun bother CLA as its cheaper getting another FSU cam. just compensate 1 stop or pump up the exposure thru PP. btw, I am fine with ur amsterdam output.

 

[cy_j]

my guess is the shutter speed no longer accurate on the FSU body. dun bother CLA as its cheaper getting another FSU cam. just compensate 1 stop or pump up the exposure thru PP. btw, I am fine with ur amsterdam output.

Thanks for the comment

I just did a CLA myself, one thing I noticed is the shutter sound now is much nicer, more soft. I'm thinking of doing a test roll, 12 shots +1EV, next 12 as per digicam's exposure, and the last 12 -1EV underexposed. That should do the trick!:think: