Monday, November 21, 2011

Exposure Calculator slide rule

I'm a special kind of guy. I like old things that still work. Old manual cameras are a new thing for me but way before that I collected slide rules. Well, I still do.

Some cameras like the Pentax pictured here have an integrated light meter. Some, like this one, have a battery that is hard to find and some just don't exist anymore.


Comes this nice little piece of free cardboard slide rule technology to save the day. You can download here for free thanks to the hard work of Andrew R Lawn who took the time to make it. Print it on card stock, cut it and assemble it.

Even for a camera with an automatic speed shutter set-up like my Olympus OM10, the results are not always perfect. Case in point both shots below. The first one was taken with the camera taking control of the shutter speed (1/500) and second one taken manually by referring to the chart on the calculator (1/1000). Both shots were taken in the same lighting conditions with 400 ISO Fuji film.

This shot is overexposed

This is a lot better

The calculator is easy to use. Line up your film's ISO setting with the lighting conditions on the scale and you'll get the proper shutter speed for the aperture setting you choose. On the back you even have a guide with more specific situations. A great piece of kit that no one should be without.

Thanks for watching.

Gerry :)

No comments:

Post a Comment