Fooling the DX code.

[clogz]

That's OK, Mike 8-)

[John Cook]

Perhaps I'm getting old. (Correction: I am getting old.)

But does it seem odd to anyone besides me that one of the best features of the most expensive Canon EOS is the switch panel which allows me to shut off all that foolish automation I just paid for?

On the cheap models, you are stuck with it.

Kind of like paying the Mafia for protection?

[Andy K]

Perhaps I'm getting old. (Correction: I am getting old.)

But does it seem odd to anyone besides me that one of the best features of the most expensive Canon EOS is the switch panel which allows me to shut off all that foolish automation I just paid for?

On the cheap models, you are stuck with it.

Kind of like paying the Mafia for protection?

I'll stick to my fully manual, no bells and whistles, Olympus OM-1. Manual ISO setting, manual focus, manual speed setting, manual aperture and mirror lock up. What more does a camera need?

[gnashings]

I'll stick to my fully manual, no bells and whistles, Olympus OM-1. Manual ISO setting, manual focus, manual speed setting, manual aperture and mirror lock up. What more does a camera need?

Needs to be MINE!!!! All MINE!!!

[Donald Qualls]

I've fooled the DX sensor in another way. I have a cheap zoom P&S (well, not that cheap, it was close to $150 new about 5-6 years ago) that has no overrides, and nothing in the booklet says what it assumes if there's no DX code (nor does it display any exposure information). I wanted to shoot some Tri-X, bulk loaded in plastic cassettes.

Simple solution: I used a piece of aluminum foil to cover all four DX sensor pins and the common contact (at the edge of the cassette), to fool the camera into setting EI 1600 -- the film will be processed in Diafine, and all will be well. And meantime, I can lock out the flash and still get hand-holdable exposures with the zoom extended (which makes it about f/14 wide open).

[RichSBV]

This has all been very interesting as I also use a not-so-cheap P&S on occassion...

Does anyone know of or have a diagram or description of which pins get connected to achieve what speed for the DX pins?

Seems it would be fairly easy to cut aluminum foil, glued to the canister to get any speed we'd want... Might be fun to play with?

[Helen B]

Rich asked "Does anyone know of or have a diagram or description of which pins get connected to achieve what speed for the DX pins?"

Here's a table:
http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/2131/dx-code.html
That table suggests that all four contacts made means EI 3200.

Four contacts give resolution of film speed to one stop (usually biased towards overexposure by the camera), six are needed for resolution to a third of a stop.

[RichSBV]

Gees, that was quick! You must have all your pins shorted ;-)

Thanks!! I might have to do some playing now...

[srs5694]

I've thought of creating a program that would print out the patterns for ISO speeds you specify, the idea being to print them to peel-off stickers, cut out the white areas with an x-acto knife, and sandwich some aluminum foil between the sticker and the film canister. I've not gotten around to trying this, though, probably because most of my cameras don't read DX codes and I'd only need it for Ilford Pan F+. If anybody else wants to experiment with my idea, though, please feel free.

[Donald Qualls]

Here's a table:
http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/2131/dx-code.html
That table suggests that all four contacts made means EI 3200.

That's probably correct, Helen -- but according to the manual, the camera in which I did this only goes to 1600, so telling it the film is 3200 should result in the same effect as leaving off the one pin that should be open. I'll know for sure when I develop...