All the Hi-Matic shots were made with the camera in full-auto exposure mode. The camera was built to accommodate a 1.35v Mercury battery. Not having that, I used a 1.5v and adjusted the ASA down to 125. The exposure values shown in the camera's viewfinder matched those of a reliable handheld meter, but I still got a bit of underexposure in the negatives. I think there are some 1.4v batteries available that might give better results, so I'll try to track down a source.
I'm not sure how the coupled meter adjusts both the speed and the aperture. The shutter release has quite a long throw, so I suspect the mechanism works in a somewhat similar fashion to the way exposure is handled by the Olympus RC, although the Oly offers only shutter-priority and full-manual modes.
The full-auto mode in the Hi-Matic 7s is not entirely to my liking due to the fact that the meter reading in the viewfinder only displays an EV value, so you do not know the exact aperture and shutter settings that are being selected by the system. Theoretically, you can set the Hi-Matic's shutter and let the camera adjust the aperture, but I'll need to get a battery with the proper voltage to make sure that everything is working as designed. Of course, full-manual operation is also an option, but the narrowness and closeness of the setting rings on the lens makes that process a bit awkward.
4 comments:
I am surprised by your exposure challenges with the HiMatic on ColorPlus. I've always just thrown whatever battery I had that fit into my old cameras and have gotten acceptable exposures. Or maybe I wasn't, but (especially early on) I didn't know what I was looking at. Or perhaps the ColorPlus, being essentially Kodacolor 200 from the 90s, lacks the latitude of Fuji 200 or Kodak Gold 200.
It is pretty difficult to sort out all the variables sometimes. Another one I didn't mention was that I've lost track of how many times I've used my current batch of Unicolor C-41. The camera that always comes through with exposures is the Spotmatic because of the bridge circuit. I had some problems with getting correct exposures with my Nikons and Minoltas which I now believe was just a misunderstanding on my part of the interaction between the cameras and some older lenses. All part of the fun of old cameras.
Sometimes it is all of the variables...old equipment, different films, processing, scanning, a variety of lens choices and, of course, this still learning photographer that make this process so much fun.
My next project is to compare results from 35mm Kentmere 100 and Arista Ultra 100 in Rodinal. I've seen some examples of both on line that look pretty close to what I used to get from Acros. I also have some 120 Acros that I want to put through a couple box cameras and process in Rodinal.
Post a Comment