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Sorlando
Tinkerer
Username: Sorlando
Post Number: 1
Registered: 09-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 21, 2007 - 10:07 am: | 
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i'm new to cameras & found a praktica ltl in my house. i'm just experimenting with it & after putting the speed setting on B & pressing the shutter button, the viewfinder went completely blank and i can't see through it now. it was like this when i found it & i can't remember what i did to make it work, apart from taking the lens off & having a look inside.
any help? thanks.
p.s. also, does taking the lens off affect the film? |
L_n_h
Tinkerer
Username: L_n_h
Post Number: 10
Registered: 09-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 21, 2007 - 10:24 am: |
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You may be having the problem I sometimes get with Praktica MTLs. The shutter can stick if the camera gets a bump in certain positions (eg if its upside down). The solution is often to click the shutter as if you are taking a picture. If yours is like mine, typically it will fire and when you wind on, it will be back to normal. As youve already clicked, try winding on.
However do note that the B setting means the shutter is suposed to stay open as long as you keep your finger on the fire button. So if I were you I would change the speed control dial back to something else first, say 125 (ie 125th of a second). |
L_n_h
Tinkerer
Username: L_n_h
Post Number: 11
Registered: 09-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 21, 2007 - 10:26 am: |
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Ps- taking the lens off shouldnt affect the film. |
Sorlando
Tinkerer
Username: Sorlando
Post Number: 2
Registered: 09-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 21, 2007 - 12:40 pm: |
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i've put the speed to 125 & tried rotating the wind thing clockwise but it spins back.
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(edit) ok i held the shutter button down whilst winding on & it worked. thank you!
but i have a couple more queries...
will winding on affect my film??!
and i don't even know the speed of the film i'm using, i've put it on 400 but i don't even know if that's allowed?! |
L_n_h
Tinkerer
Username: L_n_h
Post Number: 12
Registered: 09-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 21, 2007 - 01:24 pm: |
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When you turn the wind arm to the end of its rotation it should spring back itself -thats normal.
You would also normally wind on the film after each photograph taken, before the camera will let you take another pic (prevents double exposures). However, if the shutter has stuck and you had to click and/or wind on the camera just to unstick it, I usually find that that whatever I was pointing the camera at when the picture was taken doesnt come out -ie you get a totally blank print. So you will lose that one print (You may find differently but thats been my experience). Luckily these jams dont happen very often if you avoid jolting the camera too much, but I think Prakticas are rather prone to it. Ive upset mine on more than one occasion by running with it loose in my bag!
Regarding film speed; personally Ive not found it to be that crucial for everyday photos. Most films seem to be between 100 and 400, and I tend to keep my setting on 200. I dont think it will matter much if youve got the wrong speed on for your film, so dont worry too much about that. Whats probably more important is the shutter speed. Anything you take which is moving fast will come out blurred on your pic if your shutter speed is less than, say, 1/500th second. And since that quick speed doesnt allow much time for light to get in your camera, you need reasonably good lighting to pull it off. (I dont know what form of light metering an LTL has).
Hope this helps! |
Sorlando
Tinkerer
Username: Sorlando
Post Number: 3
Registered: 09-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, September 22, 2007 - 02:59 am: |
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that has been an enormous help! thank you |
L_n_h
Tinkerer
Username: L_n_h
Post Number: 13
Registered: 09-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, September 22, 2007 - 06:26 am: |
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No problem. Ive just checked up on the LTL and found it uses a through the lens metering needle like mine. Dont know how much you know about them, or if you have a users manual for it, but if not, theyre easy enough to operate.
The light meter needle is operated by a battery in the screw-open compartment underneath, and if a battery is installed (and not low or flat!) your needle should move up or down in the viewfinder when you press the black key above the shutter release button. A downward movement means underexposure and upwards is overexposure. Its then a simple task of moving the 'f' ring on the lens round, which alters the shutter aperture size and allows just the right amount of light in. Ideally you want the needle to sit inside the little circle (though I think the manual may say something like 'if in doubt, its better to slightly overexpose than underexpose' (Ie have the needle slightly high rather than low). However only trial and error and personal taste will decide that one. If meanwhile you decide to change the shutterspeed dial at the top, youll see the needle tell you that you need to readjust the f ring to compensate.
Once youve got the needle correctly positioned dont forget to make a last quick check the lens is focussed (Ive slipped up a couple of time here too, getting so absorbed with the needle that I nudged the focussing ring by accident and didnt notice!). Those little microdots near the centre of the lens when seen through the viewfinder look hazy when almost-focussed, but should vanish completely when your focussed spot-on: this is just one good guide to clear results.
Finally, if youve never used up a film on this camera before, remember that before you can rewind the film, you have to push in the small button underneath -otherwise it wont rewind because the mechanism has to be disengaged. The button comes out again when you put in a new film.
Good luck! |
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