Canonet & Kodak Gold 400

[schrackman]

A couple weeks ago I bought a roll of this to try it out. Unfortunately, for about the first 10 or 12 pics I forgot to reset my ISO setting to match the film speed. Boy, did I feel stupid after that. There goes my Renaissance Fair pictures! Needless to say, all came out quite grainy and the color was quite off. Here's a couple that I managed to salvage...somewhat. I can print them, but they won't be very good quality:





At least the others came out all right once I set the ISO correctly. This is Pixie, the dog next door. She's a Staffordshire Terrier, some of the sweetest dogs you can ever own so long as you bring them up that way. Here she is saying hello to me in her usual way:



And here's my big, fat lab/shepherd mix, Peter:



And our little troublemaker German/Australian Shepherd mix, Spike:



A few gnarly looking cacti I found in Temecula while attending a conference:



Late afternoon sunlight hitting the side of a shop in Old Town Temecula. Yeah, that's my shadow all right.



Now I've got myself a roll of Kodak Elite Chrome 400 to try out. Hopefully I'll have this roll finished in a couple weeks and have some pics to post.

[photophorous]

Hi Shrackman,

I love seeing great pictures from a Canonet. I'm still on my second roll. That shot of the wind turbines is great...too bad about the grain. I like the cactus shot too, and Spike looks particularly sharp.

What kind of battery are you using in yours? I recently did a comparison of all my light meters and concluded my Canonet is over exposing by about 1 stop. Have you checked your meter readings?

Thanks,
Paul

[schrackman]

Thanks Paul. Yeah, I was a bit bummed about some of the pictures that would have otherwise turned out pretty decent.

As for a battery, what came with the camera was a Maxell LR44. But I have a feeling my photos are being underexposed. I'm going to do some testing on this next roll of film just to be sure.

So, where are YOUR Canonet photos? I'd like to see some myself.

Hi Shrackman,

I love seeing great pictures from a Canonet. I'm still on my second roll. That shot of the wind turbines is great...too bad about the grain. I like the cactus shot too, and Spike looks particularly sharp.

What kind of battery are you using in yours? I recently did a comparison of all my light meters and concluded my Canonet is over exposing by about 1 stop. Have you checked your meter readings?

Thanks,
Paul

[photophorous]

Thanks Paul. Yeah, I was a bit bummed about some of the pictures that would have otherwise turned out pretty decent.

As for a battery, what came with the camera was a Maxell LR44. But I have a feeling my photos are being underexposed. I'm going to do some testing on this next roll of film just to be sure.

So, where are YOUR Canonet photos? I'd like to see some myself.

Pretty decent is an understatement. That first shot rocks!

I posted some pics from my first roll a while back...I think you saw them...nothing memorable. I'm planning to take mine to Europe in a couple of weeks with some B&W film, so if I don't post anything before then, I will when I return.

I just looked up your LR44. That's a 1.5V alkaline calculator battery. I'm using a 1.4V zinc air (675) hearing aid battery. I bought a pack of seven at CVS for about $5. I read somewhere that they are actually identical to the Wein Cell that claims to be the perfect 1.35V and costs $5 for one. I guess I'll buy one of those and test it out. Let me know how your tests go, and I'll let you know how the Wein Cell works.

Thanks,
Paul

PS. I replaced my light seals and cleaned the viewfinder recently, if you have any questions on those procedures.

[schrackman]

Well thanks, Paul, but I'm still disappointed. Oh well, I've got a new roll of slide film now so I can try it again!

Yes, the battery is 1.5v. From what I've read that's mostly what others are using nowadays to replace the old merc battery. I'll let you know about the exposure tests once I'm done with this roll. Since you've done some maintenance to your Canonet, would you mind sharing how you cleaned your viewfinder? Mine needs its.

So what part of Europe are you going to and when are you going? Can't wait till you show off some of your Canonet shots after you get back.

Pretty decent is an understatement. That first shot rocks!

I posted some pics from my first roll a while back...I think you saw them...nothing memorable. I'm planning to take mine to Europe in a couple of weeks with some B&W film, so if I don't post anything before then, I will when I return.

I just looked up your LR44. That's a 1.5V alkaline calculator battery. I'm using a 1.4V zinc air (675) hearing aid battery. I bought a pack of seven at CVS for about $5. I read somewhere that they are actually identical to the Wein Cell that claims to be the perfect 1.35V and costs $5 for one. I guess I'll buy one of those and test it out. Let me know how your tests go, and I'll let you know how the Wein Cell works.

Thanks,
Paul

PS. I replaced my light seals and cleaned the viewfinder recently, if you have any questions on those procedures.

[Liz]

I've done things like forgetting to change settings and know that feeling of disappointment. However, you did get some nice shots. I really like the first and the last one here - great composition. Peter did a good job of posing for you - you could sell that image for doggy magazine! Really good shot.

Liz

[photophorous]

Yes, the battery is 1.5v. From what I've read that's mostly what others are using nowadays to replace the old merc battery. I'll let you know about the exposure tests once I'm done with this roll. Since you've done some maintenance to your Canonet, would you mind sharing how you cleaned your viewfinder? Mine needs its.

So what part of Europe are you going to and when are you going? Can't wait till you show off some of your Canonet shots after you get back.

Shrackman,

I read that the 1.5V alkaline batteries will drop in voltage as they get used up, which will give you different meter readings over time. Supposedly, the zinc-air batteries don't do that, but I have not confirmed. I paid $7 for a 1.35V zinc-air Wein Cell last night at my local camera shop to test it out. After swapping back and forth between it and the cheapo 1.4V zinc-air hearing aid battery, I've decided I wasted $7. Identical meter readings...still over-exposing by 1 stop. Oh well, at least I know. The hearing aid batteries have a smaller diameter than the Wein Cell, but in our Canonets that doesn't matter. Don't waste your money on a Wein Cell.

I'm going to Paris for 5 days, Bruges Belgium for 3 days, and Amsterdam for 3 days. We leave in a week and half. I can't wait! Never been overseas before. I'm taking my D70 and my Canonet. I'm nervous, because I have no excuse for not coming back with some good photos. It may take me a while to get the Canonet photos developed and scanned, because I plan to do it myself, but I should have some digital shots posted by 10/20.

Cleaning the viewfinder is easy...much easier than scraping off the old light seals. Here's a link to a diagram of how it comes apart:
http://members.tripod.com/rick_oleson/index-30.html You might want to look at the diagram as you read the following.

There are three tiny philips head screws that hold the top cover on the camera. Take those out. Then you need to remove the film advance lever and the rewind lever. For the rewind lever, open the film back, and stick something (I used a screwdriver) in the fork of the rewind shaft to hold it, then turn the rewind lever counter clockwise and it will unscrew. The film advance is a little trickier, but not bad. If you look at the film advance, you will see a metal ring that goes around the shutter release, and sits just on top of the advance lever. It has a slight countersink impression in its top. You need to unscrew that ring, but it's hard to grip. I used one of those rubber pads for loosening lids on jars, but you can probably find some other way to grasp it...maybe a rubber band. Mine was not real tight, but I've read that sometimes they are. If you have to use pliers, be careful about scratches. Once you get that ring off, the rest will follow. Pay attention to how the rest of the pieces come off, set them aside, and lift the top cover off. All I did was use a q-tip and lens cloth, with some lens cleaning solution, to wipe the inside of the cover, both front and back, and the outside of the other VF lenses still attached to the camera body. I did not need to take any other parts off. Then you just put it all back together in reverse order. Take a look and let me know if this makes sense. Feel free to send me a PM if you have questions.

Good luck,
Paul

[schrackman]

Thanks, Gene. Sorry about the misinformation on the youth rally. Not sure who told you Saturday but evidently they were wrong.

Howdy Ray, good to see ol' Pete is still around. That's a great shot of Pixie. Glad to see that the Canonet is working out well for you. I look forward to seeing how the Kodak Elite Chrome 400 turns out.

Sorry we missed seeing you last Friday night, we were told Saturday instead of Friday and drove all the way to Banning only to find everything dark and nobody there. C'est La Vie....

Take care.

Best Regards,
Gene

[schrackman]

Thanks, Liz. Actually, both my dogs are terrible at posing. When I try to get them to pose they think I want them to get closer to me for petting and playing, so they keep moving my way. These shots only came after commanding them to lay down numerous times!!

I've done things like forgetting to change settings and know that feeling of disappointment. However, you did get some nice shots. I really like the first and the last one here - great composition. Peter did a good job of posing for you - you could sell that image for doggy magazine! Really good shot.

Liz

[schrackman]

Wow, Paul, can I go with you to Europe? hehe. That sounds like sooo much fun. I hope you get some great pics.

Thanks for the tip on cleaning the viewfinder. When I finish this roll of Elite Chrome I'll give it a try.

Shrackman,

I read that the 1.5V alkaline batteries will drop in voltage as they get used up, which will give you different meter readings over time. Supposedly, the zinc-air batteries don't do that, but I have not confirmed. I paid $7 for a 1.35V zinc-air Wein Cell last night at my local camera shop to test it out. After swapping back and forth between it and the cheapo 1.4V zinc-air hearing aid battery, I've decided I wasted $7. Identical meter readings...still over-exposing by 1 stop. Oh well, at least I know. The hearing aid batteries have a smaller diameter than the Wein Cell, but in our Canonets that doesn't matter. Don't waste your money on a Wein Cell.

I'm going to Paris for 5 days, Bruges Belgium for 3 days, and Amsterdam for 3 days. We leave in a week and half. I can't wait! Never been overseas before. I'm taking my D70 and my Canonet. I'm nervous, because I have no excuse for not coming back with some good photos. It may take me a while to get the Canonet photos developed and scanned, because I plan to do it myself, but I should have some digital shots posted by 10/20.

Cleaning the viewfinder is easy...much easier than scraping off the old light seals. Here's a link to a diagram of how it comes apart:
http://members.tripod.com/rick_oleson/index-30.html You might want to look at the diagram as you read the following.

There are three tiny philips head screws that hold the top cover on the camera. Take those out. Then you need to remove the film advance lever and the rewind lever. For the rewind lever, open the film back, and stick something (I used a screwdriver) in the fork of the rewind shaft to hold it, then turn the rewind lever counter clockwise and it will unscrew. The film advance is a little trickier, but not bad. If you look at the film advance, you will see a metal ring that goes around the shutter release, and sits just on top of the advance lever. It has a slight countersink impression in its top. You need to unscrew that ring, but it's hard to grip. I used one of those rubber pads for loosening lids on jars, but you can probably find some other way to grasp it...maybe a rubber band. Mine was not real tight, but I've read that sometimes they are. If you have to use pliers, be careful about scratches. Once you get that ring off, the rest will follow. Pay attention to how the rest of the pieces come off, set them aside, and lift the top cover off. All I did was use a q-tip and lens cloth, with some lens cleaning solution, to wipe the inside of the cover, both front and back, and the outside of the other VF lenses still attached to the camera body. I did not need to take any other parts off. Then you just put it all back together in reverse order. Take a look and let me know if this makes sense. Feel free to send me a PM if you have questions.

Good luck,
Paul