Learned my film camera's light meter is basically guessing above 800 ISO

I found this out from a blog post by a lab in Chicago called Midwest Film Co. They tested a bunch of vintage cameras and showed how the selenium cells get lazy over time. Has anyone else run into this with their old gear?

2 comments

2 Comments

paul_webb453d ago

Yeah, that lines up with what I've seen. Those old selenium meters do fade over time, especially if they sat in a drawer for decades. I had a Canonet QL17 that was underexposing by two stops at 400 ISO, totally useless above 800 like you said. Only fix is either get it recalibrated by a repair shop or just use an external meter. Honestly, for most vintage cameras, I'd just get a cheap handheld meter and leave the built in one for reference. Metering apps on your phone work pretty good too, just need to be careful in bright sun.

nathan8513d ago

Wait, is that why my old Minolta has been acting totally weird with Portra 800? I guess I thought I was just losing my touch.