Bessa R2M not metering at 1/4, 1/2 second

[james brickwood]

Hello All, last week i bought a new Bessa R2M [1st RF], so far i've put a few rolls through it and love it. A lot lighter and smaller than my F100.

Whilst tesing the meter, at 1/15 it was the 'correct exposure'. At 1/8; +1. But when i dialled down to 1/4, even 1/2 and 1sec, the meter jumped straight down to -2! and not +2.

I'm not new to using a manual camera and reading exposures. I know there is something wrong with my meter. Has anyone else shared a similar problem?

I've only had it for 4 days.

 

[blacklight]

the set values were probably out of the range of the meter

 

[james brickwood]

BL, mate you could be right, but it seems odd that the meter doesn't just flash at +2 instead of making the jump down to -2. odd. thanks for your input!

 

[Spyderman]

The metering range is dependant on ISO setting. With ISO 100 you can meter from 1s to 1/2000. With ISO 400 only from 1/4 to 1/2000 and so on...

 

[Spyderman]

Hey

I don't think that is quite right. The meter works only between certain EV values. Normally these are quoted at 100asa, so the asa will effect things - but it is combinations of aperture/shutter speed which are improtant, not just the shutter speed.

ManGo

You can try it. It works just like I wrote. And it's the same with Cosina made SLRs like Nikon FM10 and Oly OM2000 and RFs like Bessa R and R2. I'm not 100% sure about R2M, but I believe it's the same. Basically the ISO setting is built into the shutter speed knob, and so in certain settings of ISO and shutter speed it simply doesn't work regardless of light level and lens mounted.

 

[james brickwood]

The metering range is dependant on ISO setting. With ISO 100 you can meter from 1s to 1/2000. With ISO 400 only from 1/4 to 1/2000 and so on...

I quickly tested it

at ISO 400 it meters down to 1/2
at ISO 800 1/4
at ISO 1600 1/8 etc

with the relevant f stops

That kinda sucks since alot of what i shoot is at ISO1600 i regularly shoot around 1/8-1/4. I've never had such a problem with Canon 1d's, my nikon F100 or FM3a [another fully mechanical camera]?

I spoke to a mate of mine who shoots with his Leica M6 who hasn't discovered such limitations.

This kinda goes against one of the main reasons i bought the thing, to shoot in lower light, and still meter.

still, a nice camera, just a little disappointed in this regard.

 

[james brickwood]

Thanks spyderman. i guess i cant the M6 [when i get the $$$]

 

[james brickwood]

Bessa should steal Nikon's FM3a shutter dial

 

[MRohlfing]

My Bessa R3A does not work like that - even at ISO 3200 it seems to meter down to 1 second (and beyond in automatic mode).

I did not test the reliability of the meter under these circumstances, though. According to the instructions the camera meters down to EV 1 at ISO 100.

Michael

 

[kully]

Ach... this is annoying me now that I am using the R2m all the time.

At ISO 50 the shutter speed only goes to 1/1000 before metering b0rks.

Ah well, at least you get the +/- to 2 EV at 1/1000 so it's only an annoyance.

Still, a bit of a regression from the L which handled this fine. 🙂