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     Jackson Rating: N/A |
Thanks, Will! I checked the metering circuit yesterday. Ironically, it's a little off with a mercury cell installed, but with an alkaline, it agrees exactly with my Gossen meter and a known good Nikon. I checked medium and low light conditions indoors during these tests, thinking those are usually the most critical and prone to mistracking. In any event, the accuracy is really just an accident; during my work I had to separate all the rings (i.e. carbon tracks), and it's simply luck that I set the adjustment to a good position during reassembly. Also, none of this means exposure will be correct. It only means that the metering circuit "thinks" it is. The shutter times could be off and/or aperture markings might be inaccurate. Luckily, I almost never shoot slides, so I can afford a wider window for error. Today was a bright, sunny day, so I decided to shoot a test roll of ASA 400 color neg film. I shot several frames indoors using apertures ranging from about f/4 to wide open, then moved outdoors. Once I was outside, I removed the camera from its case and took advantage of the bright day to expose all sides to sun and check for leaks. I also checked the metering (with the alkaline cell) and discovered that it agrees with Sunny 16 rules - 1/500 secs and f/16. I shot a few frames outside to check exposure and stopped-down sharpness, then went inside for a couple followup shots to check focus accuracy. I picked up the prints this afternoon, and they're remarkable. There's not one "failed" shot. They're accurately focussed and well exposed. Color rendition is also very good, so much so that it makes me wonder why we're all using MC lenses. I'm not exaggerating when I say the color is as good as any camera/lens I've ever used, and much better than many. Another thing I didn't expect is that the negs are all extremely sharp. In fact, I suspect this rivals my now-sold Koni-Omega and my best Nikon 50mm prime in terms of resolution. It's really very good, and I'm much more impressed by the results than by anything else I've shot recently. The only imperfection I can see is a very slight falloff at the extreme corners in frames I shot wide open. I consider this absolutely unimportant. So, it's a success! Many thanks again to everyone who contributes here! |