Electro 35 GT, when does the underexp light come on ?

[nthearle]

Hi all,

I inherited a 35 GT about a year ago and quite like the results I've had in daylight with colour negative stock. I'm still suspicious about the accuracy of the meter in low light conditions though. I think it might underexpose. My main cameras are Canon SLRs (A1 & T90) which let me know what aperture and speed the exposure is. Under the same conditions in a room with bright artificial light and 400 ASA film in the SLRs indicate about 1/10th to 1/15th sec at f1.8. The Yashica doesn't indicate underexposure at F1.7 until I move it to aim at a spot where the Canons would pick 1/8th sec. I've been assured that the GT's electronics copes OK with a 6.0V battery and was wondering does the yellow arrow come on when the speed is less than 1/30th or 1/15th?

Al replies would be gratefully received

Nick Thearle

P.S. The Canons are spot on for metering with slide film and agree with my Gossen hand helds to within half a stop

 

[sevo]

IIRC it was 1/30s on all Electros except for the CC, where it is 1/15 - corresponding to the rule of thumb that anything up to 1/focal length can usually be hand-held.

Sevo

 

[Solinar]

By the way - the yellow light signifies a slow shutter speed. IIRC the Electro 35 was capable of keeping the shutter open for as long as 30 seconds.

 

[ErnestoJL]

The factory specs for the Electro 36 tell that any speed lower than 1/30 are indicated as underexposure, but the user doesn´t have any way to check for the selected speed as the camera chooses it automatically. However this maximum time wouldn´t be true because I had an exposure of about 4 minutes stopping down to f16 under moonlight (during moonrise over the Rio de la Plata).
If the camera doesn´t react in a predictible manner upon low lighting conditions, there would be some problem with the electronics inside.
What would most affect exposure is the "memory" capacitor condition. This cap sets the shutter speed and if leaky or it´s capacitance value altered in any way, the set time can be wrong.
The battery voltage doesn´t affect exposure to any measurable way: the original battery is 5.6 V and what can be obtained is 6V. I have a 6 V akaline cell and exposure is OK both indoors in poor light or outdoors under bright sun, at least in my camera.

IMHO the best way to check for inaccuracies or troubles is to shoot an entire roll under the suspicious conditions, and check if the results are OK or not.
As an aditional info, I never had exactly the same exposure metering when using different SLRs, (Miranda Sensomat RE, Fujica ST 801, Praktica MTL50) nor with the Gossen Luna pro under same conditions, however all pictures were OK.
Hope this helps.

Ernesto

 

[sevo]

The shutter/exposure metering system is good for 8-30s going by the manuals of the various models. But that is merely a specified point where the total circuitry tolerance as designed grows significant in proportion to the photo cell resistance. There is no technical time limit to the circuitry - a Electro which is absolutely perfect to theoretical specs could do hours or days.

Sevo