Canon LTM Canon P - ISO Setting?

Canon M39 M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
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garrethpb

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Aug 21, 2019
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Hi,

I'm new to this forum and fairly new to shooting with Rangefinders. I've had a Canon VT-Deluxe that I've been shooting with for a few months but just recently acquired a Canon P that appears to be in excellent condition. I am a bit confused, however, by the lack of ISO setting. Am I missing something? How does one account for film ISO when using this camera?

Thank you!

Garreth
 
The camera has no built-in meter. You need to add a meter to the hotshoe, or use a handheld meter, and set the ISO (ASA) of your film there. The dial on the back of the camera is just a reminder for the speed of the film you have loaded.
 
The Canon P and VT have no built in light meter, so it's not necessary to be able to set film speed on the camera. The ISO "setting" on the VT is only to help you remember what film is loaded.
 
Jim, thanks for your quick answer. I understand that there's no light meter. I quite like this actually and have had pretty good results using the "Sunny 16" rule, which as I understand as follows: Shooting in full sun, if you set your F-Stop to 16, you'll have good exposure if your shutter speed matches your film's ISO. You can use the "exposure triangle" to make adjustments accordingly. Certainly I can still follow the same guidelines with this camera. The only difference is that with the VT-Deluxe I've been shooting with, you actually have a means to tell the camera what is the ISO of the film you're using. The P does not have this - there's nowhere to set the ISO on the camera. So... Do I just kinda load my film and continue to follow Sunny 16 and not worry about the fact that there's no where to set the ISO setting on the camera itself?
 
Swift, thanks! Got it! So the ISO "setting" on the VT doesn't actually do anything! Joke's on me... This will be fun. Thank you for your help!
 
Yes, the camera itself has no use for the ISO setting - it relies on you setting the speed, aperture and focus on the camera to whatever you choose as suitable.
 
I had exactly the same questions a few years back when I got the Olympus Pen FV.
No shame in it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
My P has a reminder dial on the back door. It's of course labeled "ASA" because that and DIN were how film speeds were standardized at the time of the P's production.
 
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