Film speed

[technicolor]

Brief intro: I bought a ricoh slx500 for $15 at a thrift store. First roll turned out fairly well, just kinda out of focus..cause its my first roll. Second roll, first few frames are actually really good. Then, everything else is half way black. The people at photoquick said perhaps my shutter opens too slowly, which makes sense I guess. Its problem in need of a tune up.
I remembered though that I started messing around with the iso speed for one reason or another about the same time that my photos stopped coming out correctly. Is this related at all, or random.
In short: Can changing the iso speed a few times during a roll mess things up?

[Michael Fanelli]

Brief intro: I bought a ricoh slx500 for $15 at a thrift store. First roll turned out fairly well, just kinda out of focus..cause its my first roll. Second roll, first few frames are actually really good. Then, everything else is half way black. The people at photoquick said perhaps my shutter opens too slowly, which makes sense I guess. Its problem in need of a tune up.
I remembered though that I started messing around with the iso speed for one reason or another about the same time that my photos stopped coming out correctly. Is this related at all, or random.
In short: Can changing the iso speed a few times during a roll mess things up?

Film is not digital, you have to use one speed for all the shots. The ISO to set is printed on the roll. There are special purposes when changing the ISO might make sense (make up for a lack of EV compensation) but these cases are not common.

[technicolor]

But would changing the speed create half exposed images?
I changed the speed from the marked 400 down to 200 or 100 a few times simply the light meter on the camera said there was too much light, and this fixed it. I dont think i know what I'm doing.

[92135011]

HUH
this is film dude! dont go changing the ISO!
if the film is rated at 100, set it up for 100
Your film speed does not change if you change the iso manually with the iso knob
However, you can push process the film (usually close to 50% more money on colour film) which you can push 100ISO to 400ISO (2 stops)
But remember, if you push, you are pushing the WHOLE roll so make sure you dont change the iso.
The camera only does what you tell it to do.
If you say to it that you loaded it with 400iso film, then you will meter according to 400iso.

[another view]

At this stage of the game, treat this as a rule: Set the ISO on the camera to whatever the film says on the box.

There can be a lot of cases why you might want to use something different but that's best figured out after you've become very consistent with your exposure using the rated speed. There are cases where you might do this with color negative (print) film, slide film and black & white - but the reasons are all different. Once again, don't even worry about this yet. ;)

When you're learning something new it's always best to start with the manufacturer's recommendation, then change one thing at a time so you know exactly what caused the effect that you got.

[technicolor]

Hmm, I think I had even less idea than I thought I did. Oh well. Spose I'll stick with the marked speed, and take in the camera to see if it can be fixed.

[92135011]

have a better idea

A. find someone else with a camera and compare
B. go to your friendly camera store and use their light meter

save yourself the fee of checking out you camera at a repair shop
if thre is no damage, some places still charge up to $25 to look at it

[Clemmie]

Ricoh SLX500 - Classic 'heavy metal' SLR from the mid-70's. Anything in this class, in reasonable working order, is a real find at just $15.

One thing to note on this model (from some quick research I just did) is that it originally used a PX625 or PX13 Mercury battery, which is obsolete. Many battery makers push replacements that 'fit', but aren't the correct voltage - which can cause metering errors. There is one correct voltage replacement available: the Wein MRB625. http://www.weincell.com/

Usually, when we think there's a camera problem, it's actually the Operator that needs 'fixing' - which is to say, a little practice and experience - so don't go racking up a repair tab just yet.

Just stick with the rated speed on your next roll - don't go changing it around during the roll - and you'll probably find out the camera is just fine. If the metering does prove to be off a bit, it may just require a different battery (listed above) or a small adjustment in settings to compensate for it.

btw: What part of North Carolina are you in?

[TEMPESTboy]

But would changing the speed create half exposed images?
I changed the speed from the marked 400 down to 200 or 100 a few times simply the light meter on the camera said there was too much light, and this fixed it. I dont think i know what I'm doing.

I don't know if anyone answered this, but when you change the speed from 400 to 200, the camera thinks it needs 1 more stop of light for the same exposure, same thing when you go from 200 to 100. This is pretty basic, but the higher the ISO number, the faster the film, the less light it needs to be exposed. If your first shots were good, then there is a good chance nothing is wrong with it. The next time your camera says there is too much light, try using a faster shutter speed or smaller aperture instead of changing the film speed to compensate. To choose the right film (speed), you could always just meter with the camera with no film in it at different ISOs. Then put in the most appropriate film and shoot away!

[mdmc]

[CENTER]

I don't know if anyone answered this, but when you change the speed from 400 to 200, the camera thinks it needs 1 more stop of light for the same exposure, same thing when you go from 200 to 100. This is pretty basic, but the higher the ISO number, the faster the film, the less light it needs to be exposed. If your first shots were good, then there is a good chance nothing is wrong with it. The next time your camera says there is too much light, try using a faster shutter speed or smaller aperture instead of changing the film speed to compensate. To choose the right film (speed), you could always just meter with the camera with no film in it at different ISOs. Then put in the most appropriate film and shoot away!

If he were shooting at the wrong iso, then the film should be evenly over or under exposed, assuming the camera has a focal plane shutter.
If the fame is half black then the shutter must be sticking or he' using flash.
mark.

[TEMPESTboy]

[CENTER]



If he were shooting at the wrong iso, then the film should be evenly over or under exposed, assuming the camera has a focal plane shutter.
If the fame is half black then the shutter must be sticking or he' using flash.
mark.

Ah yes, I misread the original post.

[technicolor]

I'll get my scanner in tomorrow and I'll post an example of what I mean. For now, I'll try to explain a bit better:
From what I can tell my shutter opens from left to right, meaning the first part to be open is the left side. After I changed the iso, about one half of each frame, the right half, was solid black. The person at photo quick said this could be because the shutter just didn't open quick enough, so I was getting a shot with the shutter stil in the frame. This made sense to me, i don't know if it actually has any real basis. I was just curious if somehow the iso change could be related. And no, no flash was used. I guess I'll try another roll without the speed change. Photoquick doesn't charge if the shots don't turn out .

Clemmie: I live in Hendersonville, just south of Asheville. Where is Lincolnton?

Thank you all for the responses.

[Lemming51]

If you don't already have it, read the user manual for the Ricoh SLX 500 at http://www.butkus.org/chinon/

[another view]

From what I can tell my shutter opens from left to right, meaning the first part to be open is the left side. After I changed the iso, about one half of each frame, the right half, was solid black.

Hendersonville, home of GE Lighitng - a place I've dealt with for my day job. Asheville is beautiful, been there a few times.

One thing to keep in mind is that the image is hitting the film upside down and backwards compared to how you see it in the viewfinder. There are prisms, blue smoke and mirrors inside the viewfinder that straighten everything out so you don't have to look at it that way. Take a look thru the lens itself and you'll see.

So - if the shutter opens from left to right and the right half of the frame is black (looking at the negative in the same orientation as you see in the viewfinder) then the FIRST half of the exposure isn't happening. Could be a sticky shutter or wrong flash sync speed. Someone brought up the sync speed idea but I don't see whether you were or weren't using flash - were you? This is exactly what happens (although I think Nikons shutters are up and down so you'd lose the top or bottom on their cameras) when you use too fast of a sync speed.

The other possibility is that the shutter is sticky which can happen with a mechanical camera that sits around for awhile. If you're lucky it might just need some use to get working properly otherwise it's going to need some service. Cycle the shutter for awhile without film in it and see if that fixes it - assuming you're not using flash as above.

[technicolor]

Wasn't using a flash, so thats not an issue. I hadn't thought of the actual loading and advancing of the film though. Could that have caused the half exposed frame? It looked to me that some of the frames had some double exposures on it, so perhaps the film teeth weren't lined up as was proposed, and then it wouldn't advance enough? or something like that.

[another view]

OK, we'll forget about the flash! ;) Loading the film wouldn't give you a half-exposed shot. The film that's exposed to light when you load the camera is completely destroyed - there won't be anything on it. This part you probably don't even get back from the lab as negatives, it's trimmed off. If you opened the back of the camera with film in it, you would have a gradual line where the light leak happened, and it would be yellow/orange. Don't ask how I know this...

It may take a couple of tries to get the hang of loading a camera like that. I don't think that's the problem here though - if the film wasn't loaded right you'll get nothing, it won't pull frame #1 thru the camera (don't ask how I know this either). As you close the back and advance to the first frame, keep an eye on the film rewind knob - it should be turning when you advance the film. This means that the film is spinning inside the 35mm canister, IOW it's going thru the camera. The double exposures may mean that something needs adjustment.

[mdmc]

So what was the problem?
Mark.

[Dzerzhinski46]

This is curious. I have an old Canon TLb that had exactly the same problem several years ago. Half the frame black, half exposed. The funny thing is, it works perfectly now. No half frames or anything. One reason I suspect (now I don't know this for sure ) is that the lens I was using might have affected the camera's operation, but this is a poor explanation at best! The only thing I can think of at the moment is that you threaded the film wrong, that the teeth on the film advance are worn or something of that kind. Next time when you open the back, check the teeth. It probably isn't the problem, but it doesn't hurt to check.

Your mistake with the ISO is very humorous, and I would laugh, but that would be extremely rude at this point. Well, lesson learned. Keep up the hard work, you will get better. Besides, no photographer is perfect, least of all me.

A small bit of advice. You can roughly check if your light meter is accurate by applying the "Sunny 16 Rule", you can find it on the web. It is basically a method for daylight camera exposure without a light meter. You can roughly verify that your meter is working yourself this way, though going into a shop and comparing your light meter to an accurate on is probably the best way.

The person at photo quick said this could be because the shutter just didn't open quick enough, so I was getting a shot with the shutter stil in the frame.

Oh, almost forgot! If what the photo person said was true, you have a sticky, or broken shutter. But in light of the fact that your second roll came out all right, I would doubt that this is true. Since your roll turned out fine, the shutter is probably not the problem. Don't quote me on that one though !

Good luck with your next roll!

Dzerzhinski