Spotmatic 2 - noob question

[mark_blundell]

<p>Hi All -<br>

I'm fairly new to manual cameras, but recently started using my Granddad's Zenit 122. this has unfortunately broken and i have replaced it with a Spotmatic 2 , consequently I have several different M42 lenses, some of which have manual auto switches on them for what i understand is auto aperture.<br>

I am a little confused to the correlation between the light meter switch and auto / manual on the lenses themselves.<br>

My routine for taking pics has been to focus - full aperture - turn on metering and select exposure / aperture. when i do this often the viewfinder is very dark, but trusting the light meter snap away. I've had two films developed and some of the pictures are under some over and very few correctly exposed.<br>

Can someone point me in the right direction as to what i am doing incorrectly please. I've looked on the net and cant find a conclusive answer.<br>

thanks in advance.<br>

Mark</p>

[SCL]

<p>Look here for a manual http://www.butkus.org/chinon/pentax/pentax_spotmatic/pentax_spotmatic-splash.htm. Spotmatics were great cameras in their day.</p>

[ed_gerken]

Yes, the finder gets dark when metering at small apertures. Click to a higher shutter speed so the lens is not stopped down

so far. F8 is plenty small, unless you're trying for maximum depth of field.

 

These stop-down metering cameras are usually a bit limited in exposure range. They will be off in dark, low-light situations

and may only read so high with a fast ASA in bright light. A hand-held meter will probably be more accurate, but that's an

extra step for every picture and another thing to buy and learn.

 

Make sure your ASA/ISO dial is set for the film you're using. Weak batteries, corrosion in the battery compartment; dirty

meter switch, ASA or shutter meter contacts; loose meter-pin engagement when the lens is mounted, variations between

lenses, sloppy apertures or f-stop adjustments on lenses; sluggish or inaccurate shutter speeds; out-of-spec, aged electronic parts. Any or all of these things could cause fluctuating or variable

exposure readings.

 

Till you learn more about the camera and the problem, go more for mid-range settings of both shutter and aperture. Prefer a

higher shutter speed of 1/500 or 1/1000 to a tiny f16 or f22 aperture.

 

-Ed

[tom_cheshire]

<p>Put the lens on "automatic", focus, push the meter switch, meter/set the aperture, turn off the meter, shoot. </p>

<p>If your lens aperture is "sticky" it may have a problem closing or opening as quickly as it is supposed to. To test that, remove the lens, set it at f16 or whatever is the smallest aperture and push that pin on the back of the lens a few times looking into the lens at the action of the iris. It should open and close quickly. Not drag itself open/closed. </p>

[ed_gerken]

Oh, the auto-manual switch on the lens- In manual, it's always stopped down to the shooting aperture. In "auto," it is wide

open till the moment of exposure. It means "auto stop-down" only, it's not a form of automatic exposure. You still need to

meter and set the camera manually for every shot.

 

-Ed

[walter_degroot]

<p>thhe auto manual switch, lets you close the lens to check depth of field<br>

it will also let you use the lens on an older M42 camera that does not have auto-diaphragm.<br>

example: some of the very early 1950 east german slr's like the CONSOL OR PRACTICA..<br>

some early cameras ( BEFORE THE DIAPHRAGM CLOSING PIN WAS INVENTED)<br>

were Pre-set.. there was manual control to stop down the lens and a second ring to stop the diaphragm at a PRESET setting so you just turned the ring till it stopped.<br>

these cameras had NO meter.<br>

for example if you determined with your meter or the sunny 16 rulke, that the exposuer was 1/125 @ f/8<br>

you would turn the second ring so the lens would open and stop at f/8 not f/16 or f/4<br>

you would focus wide open and when ready to shoot, turn the ring till it stopped<br>

to the preset aperture. You may still find some of these lenses around<br>

they were slower to use.More modern lenses will have the stop-down pin ( on m42 lenses)<br>

most other cameras with bayonet lens mounts use a lever.<br>

<br>

when you look on butkus.org he has manuals for some M42 cameras that do wide open metering at the time of exposure.<br>

almost all the rest of the m42 cameras use stop-down metering.<br>

<br>

</p>

[leon_b1]

<p>If you're finding that some of the pictures are correctly exposed, you may also need to do a little testing of the meter. The Spotmatic meter, IIRC, uses a fairly simple averaging system which means that any bright light sources or large areas of sky in a frame will often result in an exposure rather darker than you want unless you compensate accordingly. Similarly, a frame featuring a lot of dark foliage, for example, may end up over-exposed, as this will dominate the average reading picked up by the meter which will then suggest an aperture / speed to make this dark surface 18% grey.</p>

<p>For a very rough (but simple) test of the meter's accuracy, take the camera outside on your next bright, sunny day between the hours of 10 am and 3pm. Find a surface in full sunlight that is around 18% grey - some rocks or concrete - or get hold of a grey card to meter from. Set the shutter speed to the film's rated speed, close down to f/16, and meter - the needle should be more or less centred. My Spotmatic is fine under these conditions but it does easily get fooled by sky, bright light sources, or large areas of a dark surface within the frame. You eventually start learning to compensate.</p>

[leon_b1]

<p>The 'manual' function of the 'auto/manual' switch, by the way, is usually only bought into play if you need to use extension tubes or a bellows, as they often don't have a coupling for the aperture mechanism. You can just leave it set to 'auto' in normal use, I think.</p>

[mark_blundell]

<p>Thanks very much for your replies everyone - very helpful, each one of you has contributed to my understanding of the camera and how the lenses interact with it.</p>

<p>@ Ed - good advice with going of a longer exposure instead of the higher F-Stop, I'm pretty sure i was doing the opposite before.<br>

Realise that auto is not auto exposure as you explain and that i still have to meter.<br>

@ Tom - Iris is fine - just my skills are not ;-)<br>

@ Walter - the Auto / Manual checking the DOF is the penny dropping - thanks now i get it!<br>

@ Leon - Kind o f realise that i cant rely on the meter to shoot something that is half in and half out of light - something next to a window for instance - the meter will be fooled.<br>

will check out the meter with the grey card that you mention. I think that ir measures okay, but should double check for myself.<br>

For the time being i am happy to shoot with the lenses in their manual mode as 2 of my 4 lenses dont have this functionality, so i'll get used to that first. I do however take the point that i can switch between the two without worry and with the lens in auto the aperture will close to what has been set in the manual mode.</p>

<p>Thanks again all - will have to get out there and give it a whirl at the weekend and might post some results. Its a steep but enjoyable learning curve for me. the shots that I have that are good are very good with a nice warm feel to them, far better than digital!<br>

mark</p>

[mark_blundell]

<p>okay - after taking advice and going out on an excursion at the weekend i am very happy.</p>

<p>changing exposure rather than aperture has made all the difference. This was shot on Fuji Superis 200, mostly at f2.8. Zenitar Fisheye 16mm and 35mm Helios</p>

<p><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3573/3485246739_527dd0692c.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="332" /></p>

<p><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3625/3485288425_ca63962260.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="250" /></p>

<p><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3608/3486061588_2a254c0452.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="407" /></p>

<p>some more on my Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/blunders500/</p>