Setting shutter speed on rangefinder

[chris_zeel]

First of all, apologies for the newbie question.

I just both a Zorki 4K equipped with Jupiter 8 (total 20euros, I think that's a bargain) just to see how it works, as a cool collectible item and for the lens.

I have figured out how it works with focussing and all the knobs and et cetera, but now the most important part:

How do you know what shutter speed to use since it has no meter?
Do you need a light meter?


The original manual I found online shows a step by step walkthrough how to take and image and just says "set a required shutter speed", while next to it is a picture of smiling woman holding the camera (how can she know what shutter speeds to use in what conditions?).


Any links to useful articles and such are also welcome!


Oh, one more thing: What is the synchronization dial for? What does the synchronization mean on the camera?

[msteen1314]

Nice purchase,

A light meter will be needed and the shutter speeds will be chosen in conjunction with the appropriate aperture for the light conditions at hand

The below quote is from Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorki_4.

"As with other Soviet-era rangefinders, the shutter speed selector rotates when the shutter is released, and should not be changed until after the shutter has been cocked. If the shutter speed is changed without cocking the shutter first, the setting pin can be broken when the film is advanced."

All the best
Martin

[kansalliskala]

[chris_zeel]

I've read about the sunny 16 rule, also about a rule with f/11..


What kind of lightmeters are advised or just good enough for these rangefinders? Or are there original accessory ones?

[martinsmith99]

[Farside]

[Arkku]

[chris_zeel]

[cooltouch]

Hmm . . . if I were in your predicament, I'd try putting the dial back where it was before I moved it. And then, when winding on the film, being very gentle as I did so.

You asked about meters. Any good handheld meter will work. These days you can pick up the Gossen Luna Pros (they're called "Lunasix" in Europe) for cheap. I've owned several and currently own two. Very accurate. Plus, you can buy attachments for them. One of the most useful is the variable spot attachment, which allows you to meter tighter areas of a scene -- 7.5 or 15 degrees worth.

The newer ones are probably more practical than the older ones because of the batteries they use. The Luna Pro F and SBC take a 9v battery. The old ones take the 1.35v mercury PX625, which these days require the use of the Wein replacement or 675 hearing aid batteries. I don't know what sort of battery the Gossen digitals use.

There are other good ones out there: Sekonic and Minolta come to mind.

[chris_zeel]

[philslizzy]

well all there is to be said about shutter speeds has been said except:

The required shutter speed should be about 1/125th of a second but if it is a dull day then 1/30th is better. Because 1/30th is quite slow you must hold the camera steady to avoid camera shake.

What aperture to use? Well light meters are a good investment, the Luna range can be VERY expensive but you could find an old Leningrad meter, solar powered so no battery. but they can be a bit dodgy as the solar cell wears out over the years. BUT...

... I discovered this on this forum, an exposure calculator that is about 99% accurate. I use it with my manual film cameras. I'll just link you to the PDF document. Just print it , and make it it gives you all the info you need to take a well exposed photo. This is what we used before metering.

download it from here: http://www.squit.co.uk/photo/files/ExposureCalculatorMini.pdf

A tip. I printed this out then cut it out and cut out the holes, you'll know which, then laminated it. I printed, cut out and laminated the slider. It's great and sits in the back of the camera case, Good luck, That Jupiter is a great lens.

Ok so you're a newbie so some advice. When you get your photos back if they are flairy or have bright streaks, the light seals may be shot. This happens on old film cams, all is not lost they can be replaced easily and cheaply. Ask here for advice and as always you'll get plenty.

Good luck and show us your photos - good or bad!
Phil

[Olivier]

Thank you Phil for the calculator link.

Question about Zorkis, Feds and other old cams : I have several Zorkis, Kievs and foldings, and none has light seals.
Did they have light seals in the past ?
Is it necessary or advised to place light seals ?

Have a nice day.

[MartinCrabtree]

A lot of older cameras got by with light baffles instead of seals. Last forever and seem to work well.

For exposure with my meter free cameras I have a Weston Master II refurbished by George Milton of Quality Light Metric in Hollywood CA. It's within a 1/3 stop of my Nikon F5 meter which is good enough for me. The invercone took me a couple years to find and enables the meter to be used as an incident light meter. It's a selenium cell meter so requires no batteries. Doesn't do so well in low light situations but that's it.




Can say anything regarding the camera as I've never used one.

[Olivier]

Thank you Martin.

Your Weston lightmeter is like new !
Beautiful.

[MartinCrabtree]

It cost me $16 US and $80 shipped to refurbish and will last longer than me. And the fun part is that few know what it is.

[Olivier]

[Lenny On Ice]

[Olivier]

Thank you Lenny.

[buerokratiehasser]

use digital P&S as light meter, get perfect exposure and histogram, plus digital advance copy

[peterqd]

I never had a light meter when I started with B&W film many years ago. My first camera had only one speed and only one aperture
setting which was probably around f8 - more expensive cameras had two apertures - sunny and cloudy The film speed was
equivalent to 100 or 125 and the shutter speed was about 1/60th. I don't remember having any major problems with exposure because
of the wide film latitude, as Arkku mentioned.

When I progressed to 35mm, the film boxes in those days had a rough guide to exposure settings printed inside, which was very useful.
I wish they hadn't stopped doing that.

A meter would definitely be very helpful for you if you use it correctly. However, my advice is just go ahead and experiment with a few
125 films to start with. Choose your settings for each shot using the sunny 16 rule as a guide and make a note of each one. You might
have a few disasters but you'll soon get the "feel" of it and be able to judge exposure settings yourself in normal situations without a
meter.

Good luck!

[Olivier]

Right with Peter.
About f16 rule :
http://www.slrlounge.com/photography-essentials-the-sunny-16-rule/


About digital camera used as a light meter it doesn't work all the time as digital cameras don't always have full apertures or give manual operating.
My Samsung EX1 f1.8 this way and was quickly disappointed as apperture goes from f1.8 to f6.7 and speed goes from 16s to 1/1500s.

What I use is my smartphone (android).
I don't shoot with it, just use 2 apps :
Lightmeter Free https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dq.fotometro
and Tiny Light Meter working like a spotmeter http://tinycouch.com/tinylightmeter/

[philslizzy]

Hi Martin, I've never changed the light seals in a Zorki, but I have had one or two that let in the light. Sorry I havent answered this question sooner.

[buerokratiehasser]

Yes of course, you need to calculate a bit for the aperture you want on the real camera.
Apertures go quadratic, time goes linear.
A calculator may be helpful indeed