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old school slr cameras.
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ThaMa Gebir
Penumbra Institute
#1 - 2011-12-12 18:08:21 UTC
I have an old slr camera.
Praktica ltl (mtl 3).
The wide angle seems to be unable to close the arperture anymore.
Basically it is stuck at f1.8.

The lens is a Carl Zeiss Jena f1.8 - f22, 50mm lens.
Thr flash is a national pe-142 camera mounted flash (very basic).
The film is asa 200.

What can I do to take photos indoors and have them come out well?

Any ideas?

P.s. Repair is right now not an option as I cannot seem to find a good place for services here in vienna austria.

Best regards ThaMa.
Surfin's PlunderBunny
Sebiestor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#2 - 2011-12-12 18:38:32 UTC
An old school slr with a stuck f-stop? The balls are inert!!!

I'm sorry to say you may have to go buy a cheap disposable camera

"Little ginger moron" ~David Hasselhoff 

Want to see what Surf is training or how little isk Surf has?  http://eveboard.com/pilot/Surfin%27s_PlunderBunny
ThaMa Gebir
Penumbra Institute
#3 - 2011-12-12 18:45:31 UTC
To which balls are you referring good sir? :)

I will be going to some electronics/ camera shops tomorrow to see if there is anything they can do about the lens.
Until then I will be muddling through google.

Unfortunetly most shops are shut til then.

Best regards. Thama.
Surfin's PlunderBunny
Sebiestor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#4 - 2011-12-12 18:48:01 UTC  |  Edited by: Surfin's PlunderBunny
Good luck with it, I remember learning how to do photography on an old slr. That f-stop is the most vital setting for getting a good shot.

You could try to compensate with the lens aperture too, provided the lighting is not too extreme

"Little ginger moron" ~David Hasselhoff 

Want to see what Surf is training or how little isk Surf has?  http://eveboard.com/pilot/Surfin%27s_PlunderBunny
ThaMa Gebir
Penumbra Institute
#5 - 2011-12-12 18:53:32 UTC
1small thing to note.

It is the lens arperture that is stuck. Not the one on the camera...

Maybe I explained it wrong. :)
Morganta
The Greater Goon
#6 - 2011-12-12 19:04:57 UTC  |  Edited by: Morganta
unless you have skill at freeing up a stuck iris you're probably out of luck

you could try and force a shot out of that setting, but you'll need maths to get anything decent
ThaMa Gebir
Penumbra Institute
#7 - 2011-12-12 19:09:28 UTC
Yeah. Am currently toying with the idea of playing with the exposure times, however I need then to find a way to fire the flash at the right time to get the light right. Or diffuse the flash somewhat...
ThaMa Gebir
Penumbra Institute
#8 - 2011-12-12 19:12:54 UTC
As a side note I have taken the lens apart and the iris (arperture) will close when the lens is open, just not when it is closed and on the camera...
Lady Spank
Get Out Nasty Face
#9 - 2011-12-12 19:29:03 UTC
Does the light metering still work?

If it's truly stuck at 1.8 then you just have to work around that. It's possible it just needs a clean up although if you haven't tested it at all yet then its possible the aperture blades have become stuck. Apparently some of those aperture rings have a risk of some ball bearing coming loose and would definitely need repair. see the comments here... http://www.theothermartintaylor.com/moveabletype/archives/cameras/000100.html

If the camera no longer meters properly (its possible the battery could have corroded the connecitons in the camera), then you will need an external light meter. This would either be a professional/second hand light meter unit, another digital camera or even a smartphone app.

Anyway with iso 200 and an aperture of 1.8 you can shoot right down into fairly gloomy conditions at a shutter speed about 10 - 50. Daylight it's going to need to be set to a very fast shutter.

Thats a nice lens by the way, it would be worth getting it fixed if you can. I haven't used that body but I understand it has a nice big and bright viewfinder.

(ಠ_ృ) ~ It Takes a Million Years to Become Diamonds So Lets Just Burn Like Coal Until the Sky's Black ~ (ಠ_ృ)
Surfin's PlunderBunny
Sebiestor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#10 - 2011-12-12 19:37:58 UTC
Wait, I'm confused... so the f-stop works but the lens aperture is stuck then?

Just to clarify: f-stop is shutter speed, and the lens aperture is how wide the lens opens up to regulate the amount of light that can get in.

"Little ginger moron" ~David Hasselhoff 

Want to see what Surf is training or how little isk Surf has?  http://eveboard.com/pilot/Surfin%27s_PlunderBunny
ThaMa Gebir
Penumbra Institute
#11 - 2011-12-12 19:51:34 UTC
Yes surfin. Thats the problem.

The light meter isnt working due to the battery not being present.

I do have a tripod and have found out i probably need about 1 second exposure at that arperture setting.

Thanks all.

I am going to get to some shop tomorrow to see what can be done. And a new battery for the lightmeter... :)
Lady Spank
Get Out Nasty Face
#12 - 2011-12-12 19:55:02 UTC
If the battery compartment is not corroded then you should be good :D

If it's a little manky you can scrape off the corrosion with a blade and hopefully it will work ok.

Hope you get it all working, old cameras, best cameras :)

(ಠ_ృ) ~ It Takes a Million Years to Become Diamonds So Lets Just Burn Like Coal Until the Sky's Black ~ (ಠ_ృ)
Surfin's PlunderBunny
Sebiestor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#13 - 2011-12-12 21:10:48 UTC
Lady Spank wrote:


Hope you get it all working, old cameras, best cameras :)


Remember the huge video cameras that you stuck an actual VHS tape into? Those were fun Big smile

"Little ginger moron" ~David Hasselhoff 

Want to see what Surf is training or how little isk Surf has?  http://eveboard.com/pilot/Surfin%27s_PlunderBunny
ThaMa Gebir
Penumbra Institute
#14 - 2011-12-12 21:32:41 UTC
Lady Spank wrote:
If the battery compartment is not corroded then you should be good :D

If it's a little manky you can scrape off the corrosion with a blade and hopefully it will work ok.

Hope you get it all working, old cameras, best cameras :)



Well... it was ok a while ago, but on opening it a day ago I found it was corroded, must have been a battery leaked, I have plenty of fine sandpaper to redo it if needed, also worst case I can solder a new contact on it.

From reading up more on that lens I have found out that after a number of years the arpertures tend to jam open and then usually only need a clean and lube and they will usually work again.

I tell you what, when or if I get it working I will post some pictures and linkeh them when I have scanned them in. :D
Morganta
The Greater Goon
#15 - 2011-12-12 22:09:54 UTC  |  Edited by: Morganta
worst case there's ebay

I was able to get some decent glass for my Canon AE-1 on ebay
and it may come in handy if I go with a 5D or a decent video camera with a mount as the prime is in great shape

its just trying to decide what to spend 5 grand on
a DSLR that takes amazing video (as long as you don't move around too much and keep your shots to under 5 minutes)
a fixed lens professional camcorder with the accoutrements
or a somewhat more expensive ENG camera with lensing options that uses the same sort of DSLR sensor (and is still prone to movement issues)

its like what do you want to do?
make a movie (in short bursts) and take pictures
shoot run and gun video but sacrifice the cinematic look and lensing options and suffer AVCHD compression
or shoot video on a DSLR sensor that don't take photos but outputs full 4:2:2 HD to an external recorder

gaah
Mistress Motion
Pator Tech School
Minmatar Republic
#16 - 2011-12-13 14:17:03 UTC
ThaMa Gebir wrote:
As a side note I have taken the lens apart and the iris (arperture) will close when the lens is open, just not when it is closed and on the camera...


I had one old russian SLR long time ago, and when attaching the lens, you needed to set the lens aperture to a certain setting, otherwise it wouldn't work. It took me a while to figure that I did indeed have working lens.

A long shot, but could work.
Morganta
The Greater Goon
#17 - 2011-12-13 16:13:24 UTC
another longshot

is it the manual or later manual/automatic one?

there's this switch you see... sets manual or auto control of the diaphragm
Astrid Stjerna
Sebiestor Tribe
#18 - 2011-12-13 16:21:08 UTC
Surfin's PlunderBunny wrote:
Lady Spank wrote:


Hope you get it all working, old cameras, best cameras :)


Remember the huge video cameras that you stuck an actual VHS tape into? Those were fun Big smile


I remember spending entire afternoon with junky old VHS camcorders -- we'd peek out from behind the corner, then pull back and stop the camera to switch places.

What? We were ten years old....

I can't get rid of my darn signature!  Oh, wait....
ThaMa Gebir
Penumbra Institute
#19 - 2011-12-13 19:36:53 UTC
Morganta wrote:
another longshot

is it the manual or later manual/automatic one?

there's this switch you see... sets manual or auto control of the diaphragm


Yeah. It is the later model.

And it is just the diaphragm that won't close.
Mistress Motion
Pator Tech School
Minmatar Republic
#20 - 2011-12-13 23:30:24 UTC
Just remembered that some old canon slr also had a thing where you had to set lens to lowest or highest F so that it would work after attaching it. And IIRC in the older russian one it had to be set somewhere in the middle.
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