When things go wrong...

[Nesster]

(it hurts me too) I'm thinking of the Ellmore James version of the tune...

Anyway, an example of things gone wrong in so many directions... Kids, don't try this at home - it takes someone with long experience and college-level training in b&w photography to achieve these results


When things go wrong (It hurts me too) by Nesster, on Flickr

So What's Wrong With This Picture?

1) MX shutter hangs in the cold. Actually I've noted a pattern, I think maybe Pentax when they went miniature lost a bunch of reliability. Those tiny cameras break, drag, and really need CLAs by now. E.g. Nikon or even Fuji, if the Fuji has survived till now, are still clicking, while the Pentax is going to Eric.

2) Idiot photographer believes MX light meter in the cold - maybe because of the very pretty light show it puts on. I had moments where I was thinking, "Oh boy, there's more light than I thought!" as the ever colder batteries seemed to make the meter read faster.... Goes to show, I do throw away my common sense when offered a crutch in the form of a built in meter.

I took a nice long photo-walk to Chinatown before new year's - in the mounds of snow. The film for most of it is very very thin, only the faintest bit shows... the above is one of the better shots. And all the ones like this are similar: the left is very dark, the right is brighter, but as I say, the whole thing is woefully under exposed. The camera settings should not have produced such a large degree of under exposure - I was at 1/500 and between f/5.6 and f/16 so it should have worked... Something wrong with that shutter, I think. Some other pics on the roll did come out... unless I was shooting at settings I don't know about...


3) Foma 400 is slow, very slow, a sloth of a ISO 400, more like 160, in D-76 or Xtol anyway. And did I mention grainy and noisy? Yet cheap me thought, Let's try some fresh dated stuff (my first batch was recently expired) to see if it's better. Nope. I mean, when there's enough exposure it does give an old fashioned look, but there are better films to be had. I'm feeling bad I gave my daughter a roll to shoot when we went to the Met.

4) and scratches easy, does Foma 400. I'm hoping it's the Foma and not the newly acquired MX that does this. Some scratches in daughter's Foma as well, so I'm thinking it's the film cartridge or something when I developed it...

5) and the scanner when pushed is very noisy and adds its own lines - Epson 4490 - and just about any scanner - likes some density in the negative. Too thin, and you see every blemish and water spot and scratch on the film AND the scanner noise and those lines that are dust on the top light...

[goombles]

Sorry to say this, it's everything that's 'wrong' with this photo that makes me like it

[Nesster]

[cooltouch]

Heh, your description made me appreciate it!

Does the MX have a horizontal shutter? If so, it might be capping. I had an old Canon FTb that did that, causing the same problem and that's what it turned out to be with mine. Does this only happen when it's cold? If so, it might just need the lube replaced, I'm thinking -- viscosity increasing because of the cold.

I was out with my film gear day after Christmas, which for around these parts was the coldest day of the season yet. And I was out on my bike, so my gear got really cold.

I'm using the 675 hearing aid battery in my Canon F-1 for the meter, and one difference I've noticed between the zinc-air battery and the old mercury one is the mercury one handled the cold better. Zinc-air's output plummets when it gets cold. Fortunately I was concerned about this so I brought my Gossen Luna Pro along as a backup. It uses a 9v which seems to be more impervious to the cold. Yup, the F-1's meter, which is usually dead-nuts accurate, was reading about 2 stops off. In my case, 2 stops too much exposure. It's annoying not being able to trust the meter in these sorts of situations, but at least the Luna Pro was there to back me up.

[Nesster]

Yes, Michael, I think it's lube and capping. I've had a Spotmatic that did that as well... it's ironic as I've been attempting to buy a mechanical shutter SLR for the winter and each one has some issue - at any rate, with Pentax I can get a good CLA.

The ironic thing is that a disposable camera such as the Fuji ST605/n - at least with the samples I've had - doesn't seem to have this shutter issue in the cold, or wet... Unfortunately I gave away my 605 and the 605n that I bought for $5 is a partial operation... the rewind button's gone and thus rewind is often in the dark bag...


I love the Luna Pro with its fire detector 9v battery! Mine's the 'digital' version with the lights - I have to light up the center - which probably isn't as nice as one with a needle, but probably does better in the cold.

[cooltouch]

[Nesster]

Well, this one's 'digital' in the most primitive manner - it has 3 lights, you take your reading and press the memory recall button while turning the dial to get the middle one to light.

The thing's in the middle:

big meter little meter by Nesster, on Flickr

That there picture represents about $60 investment... I lucked out on everything, though probably the $15 I paid for the Pilot is a going rate.

[fish4570]

cool pics, first and last, Jussi.
my FE2 is doing fine in the cold (as in mid- and upper 20sF), but i don't stay out for long in such weather.