Bottom arrow blinking on FG meter

[rickaubin]

This is the second FG that I've owned with a meter problem. In this

case, the bottom arrow is blinking instead of the recommended

shutter speed. The selected shutter speed is indicated solid as it

should be. I know the FG has some protection against shooting with

an empty camera (the M90 speed used until the film counter is at 1,

for example) so I'm wondering if I caused this. I was bypassing the

film advance by holding in the rewind button and advancing the crank

to do double exposures.

 

I'm wondering if the brain inside the FG was still counting even

though the counter was not (and is currently on 32). I'm well beyond

40 exposures on that roll (with doubles on about 7 frames). It is

worth noting that the shutter seems to be working properly. I set it

to 1 second and the shutter didn't revert to M90.

[jim_gifford]

I would sure be tempted to rewind that roll, load a new one and see if the "problem" fixed itself.

 

Be well,

[Robert_Lai]

When you load a new roll, the automatically set 1/90 speed is indicated in the finder by the LEDs for 1/60 and 1/125 shutter speeds both lighting up at the same time.<p>The bottom arrow blinking usually means underexposure. This may seem obvious, but:<p>Lens cap off?<p>Try opening up the lens fully, and point at a bright light source.

[rickaubin]

Thanks for your replies.

 

Jim: I'm definately gonna try to start a new roll and see what happens.

 

Robert: The lens cap was definately off and the lens was at 2.8. The shoot started off fine. I was shooting a basketball game. The meter indicated 1/30. After a few shots I noticed the arrow blinking. I tried removing the batteries, tried aiming the camera at a bright light source (if it was in fact underexposure) and even removed and replaced the lens.

[Michael R Freeman]

"I'm wondering if the brain inside the FG was still counting ..."

 

I'm pretty sure the "brain" in the FG only checks one parameter in regards to exposure count: "Is frame count equal to 1 or higher?". I have not had the top plate off an FG, but there is likely a contact strip under the film counter wheel that makes a positive connection when frame 1 is reached. Beyond that I'm pretty sure the FG hasn't a clue whether you are on frame 32 or 320.

 

Sorry - that doesn't help solve your problem. Sounds like you have a flaky flexible circuit or meter, as the blinking bottom arrow is only used for an underexposure warning to the best of my knowledge.

[johnw63]

Yeah. A blinking lower arrow is just underexposed.What sort of lens did you have on it ? Now the "over 40 frames" makes me thing the film isn't winding. Perhaps all your double exposure stuff got the film loose and it came of the winder. How long did it take to rewind the roll ? Did it feel easier to rewind very quickly ?

[rickaubin]

Michael: Thanks. I really didn't think the FG was that smart--I just didn't know if thte contact broke past 37 or so.

 

John: It felt like I rewound a whole roll--it didn't seem like less than that. Though I'll bet the film did foul somewhere along the way. I'm getting the film developed as we speak and I'm loading a new roll tomorrow. Time will tell.

 

BTW, I had a 50/1.8 ais lens mounted that night (wide open). The next day I pointed it into the bright sky with the lens wide open and the shutter set to 1 second. It still indicated an underexposure despite the bright spots that appeared in front of my eyes for several minutes after.