[Snapper_UK]

Hello. I am new and have two question, one of which I will ask in this thread.

I am a new member from England and will get round to introdcucing myself properly in the next day or so but in the meantime I wonder whether anyone can help me with a problem I am having.

I am fairly new to photography and slrs too for that matter although I a developing my own film and am hooked!

My question is this and, I think it is born of inexperience perhaps, as opopsed to a faulty camera which I recently had serviced.

I took some night shots on the auto mode which have come out blank. Other film on the camera was fine but was shot in the day.

I suspect that the shots were taken needing more than the 4seconds maximum the me super allows in auto and unlike my Pentax LX the ME Super could ot cope with this,

Does that sound like it is the problem and why I got blanks for those shots? I am sure that it wasn't a developing issue as the other shots came out.

Sorry if this is a bit basic and perhaps naive but I am hoping it is my above error which is the problem and not the meter etc as I have paid recently for a service. Any guidance would be very welcome.

John

[Tom S.]

Welcome to the forum!

Nearly all the night shots I made with me ME Supers were timed, some for as long as 30 seconds. You can either try longer timed exposures (which will get costly with film) or invest in a light meter. You can pick up an old Luna Pro pretty cheap, and they are an excellent meter.

[Snapper_UK]

Welcome to the forum!

Nearly all the night shots I made with me ME Supers were timed, some for as long as 30 seconds. You can either try longer timed exposures (which will get costly with film) or invest in a light meter. You can pick up an old Luna Pro pretty cheap, and they are an excellent meter.

Thanks Tom. My problem is I have gaps in my knowledge and am on a steep learning curve. I am wondering if I take shots on auto as opposed to perhaps bulb if thats what you are saying, whether that is the cause of blank negaives where the shots were at night and there was perhaps just not enough light to take them in auto.... ie they needed more than 4 seconds and the camera just couldnt cope in auto?

John

[Tom S.]

Thanks Tom. My problem is I have gaps in my knowledge and am on a steep learning curve. I am wondering if I take shots on auto as opposed to perhaps bulb if thats what you are saying, whether that is the cause of blank negaives where the shots were at night and there was perhaps just not enough light to take them in auto.... ie they needed more than 4 seconds and the camera just couldnt cope in auto?

John

As you noted, the longest auto is good for is 4 seconds and if you are shooting where there's not enough light, 4 seconds just isn't long enough to expose the film, especially if you are shooting ASA 100 or 200. That's why I recomend using bulb and timing the shutter manually. A light meter will tell you how long to leave the shutter open at a given f-stop.

[Snapper_UK]

Thanks Tom. I asked as I thought the shots, ie the negatives would come out dark not washed out or blank as they have... Is it the case then that if there isnt enough light that the negatives will be blank as they are?

regards

John

[ihasa]

A 'white' negative means a totally black print. And vice versa! Think of looking at someone's face on a negative - black hair is white, and a pale face becomes dark. The dark parts of the negative stop the light from the enlarger from reaching the light-sensitive photographic paper. Therefore those parts remain white or light when the print is developed. The white (or transparent) parts allow the light through, which reacts with the photographic paper, coming out dark when developed.

[Snapper_UK]

Of Course. So Perhaps this opeator error as I hope as opposed to anything more sinister. I am hoping that by there not being enough light as described above that I would end up with blank negatives as I have. I hope someone can confirm that really is the case. Many thanks

John

[Vendee]

The light coming through the lens burns a dark image onto the negative. Lots of light=dark negs. No light=clear negs. This gets reversed during enlarging or scanning.

If you ever suffer light leaks on your body, this shows up as dark marks on you negs. If you leave the lens cap on you would get clear negs.

On the ME Super you should have seen the red LED illuminated at the bottom left of your viewfinder to indicate an underexposure. Might be worth checking the LED's are working as advertised and the camera has not defaulted to its mechanical 1/125 shutter speed.

[Snapper_UK]

Thanks I will look into that

John

[Colbyt]

The ME does allow for bulb mode. 4 seconds is way under for a true night shot. I seem to recall 45 seconds to shoot the old ballpark from across the river in Cincy at night. They was a lot of light over there but it was fully dark.

[Snapper_UK]

Thanks