Zorki 1 Shutter speeds

[Stephen23]

I have just got my Zorki 1D back from Oleg after a CLA and it is running so sweetly I cannot believe.

It is now the constant companion.

When I am shooting at a metered reading of 125th sec or 60th sec I tweak the aperture to close it down slightly to adjust for the 100th sec and 50th sec settings on the Zorki.

Is this normal routine or does everyone just shoot without the tweak?

Stephen

 

[Xmas]

Stephen

It depends on the film you are using, chromogenic, multi layer, ..., chrome, in that order.

For critical B&W one needs some detail in the shadow (that you want ot see detail in) and a Weston Master is (was) designed to allow you to pick a 'zone', it has a zone scale, google Ansel Adams.

For critical chrome film you need to have an optium reading and then bracket +-1/2 or 1/3 of a stop.

Some of the Westons have all the 1/3 stop stops and speeds on the dial to save any mental arithmetic, all have the 1/3 stop calibration slots.

If you are HCB (Henri Bresson) then you load Tri-x, set the camera at 250 f11 prefocus and wait for the decisive moment.

It all depends.

Noel

 

[Stephen23]

Thanks for that Noel. I am using Kodak BW400CN at the moment and the tweak seems to work.

Stephen

 

[Xmas]

Stephen

The 400cn is chromogenic and has a wide exposure latitude, a chrome filem almost none, depending on the contrast of the scene and the particular chrome film.

You may be the only one 'tweaking' with chromogenic.

Dont miss a shot tweaking, HCB and others spent ages agonising about not missing a shot. But if you are picturing the mountains of Kerry or native liquid pouring then it cannot be a real problem?

Noel

 

[ZorkiKat]

1/50 or 1/100 is not much different from 1/60 or 1/125 respectively. Its not likely that the film will ever 'notice' the difference.

Jay

 

[reagan]

If you are HCB (Henri Bresson) then you load Tri-x, set the camera at 250 f11 prefocus and wait for the decisive moment.

I like it. I also read somewhere, "Don't think. Shoot!"

But yeah, Stephen, I think initially I [for a split-second] thought about the difference when metering and gave it that little extra hair-sized adjustment. 75% of the time now, I'm Sunny16-guesstimatin'-by-the-seat-of-my-pants (and I've got the blown shots to prove it!) so I don't think about the difference in 100 & 125, etc.

 

[physiognomy]

...When I am shooting at a metered reading of 125th sec or 60th sec I tweak the aperture to close it down slightly to adjust for the 100th sec and 50th sec settings on the Zorki...Is this normal routine or does everyone just shoot without the tweak? Stephen

Congrat's on the zorki... Your question was one of my biggest problems when I first started shooting with my manual rf's... I was constantly worried about getting the exposure 'right' that I took forever to take any pictures. My old selenium meters had different scales & none of them really seemed to ever coincide with what was possible on my camera. It's taken longer than it should, but I've finally just gone with rounding to the nearest shutter speed. It makes life easier & doesnt seem to matter at all with C41 film.

Cheers!

Peter

 

[wolves3012]

I use a Weston which has these speeds marked but I agree that rounding to the nearest speed isn't usually going to matter. I usually "tweak" the aperture only for slide film if needs be.

The Zorki 1 is a lovely camera, tends to be my most-used.

 

[Stephen23]

Thanks to one and all for your thoughts on this one

Stephen