Stupid things Camera Companies leave out...

[flatulent1]

Eyepiece shutter - little plastic/rubber widget... I've got 'em, I've never used 'em. If I'm going to take the time and trouble to set my camera up on a tripod and attach a remote cable, I'm also going to set it to Manual and use an external light meter.

I almost died laughing when I first saw the hot shoe cover/eyepiece blind/battery door lever that came with a friend's A-1. He broke one of the two tiny tabs that hold it onto the eyepiece, rendering it unusable, so he threw it away. A few years later he was wondering why they made the battery door so hard to get open.

[StoneNYC]

Eyepiece shutter - little plastic/rubber widget... I've got 'em, I've never used 'em. If I'm going to take the time and trouble to set my camera up on a tripod and attach a remote cable, I'm also going to set it to Manual and use an external light meter.

I almost died laughing when I first saw the hot shoe cover/eyepiece blind/battery door lever that came with a friend's A-1. He broke one of the two tiny tabs that hold it onto the eyepiece, rendering it unusable, so he threw it away. A few years later he was wondering why they made the battery door so hard to get open.

The eyepiece cover has nothing to do with metering, it's that with long exposures, you sometimes have light leak THROUGH THE VIEWFINDER so you need to cover it so that when the mirror is up and shutter is open, the film doesn't get unwanted stray light from the viewfinder.


~Stone

The Noteworthy Ones - Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1 / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic

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[E. von Hoegh]

The eyepiece cover has nothing to do with metering, it's that with long exposures, you sometimes have light leak THROUGH THE VIEWFINDER so you need to cover it so that when the mirror is up and shutter is open, the film doesn't get unwanted stray light from the viewfinder.


~Stone

The Noteworthy Ones - Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1 / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Then why do my meters give different readings, depending upon whether or not light is getting in through the viewfinder?

I've checked this myself and assure you that it is indeed, at least for some cameras, particularly automatic everything models, a metering issue.

[Peltigera]

Canon say that the eye piece cover they provide with their SLR cameras is to do with metering - I have just checked the manual. I would have thought they would know.

[E. von Hoegh]

Not to mention that lighleaks through the viewfinder (if they exist, I'm sure it's possible in some cameras) will be the same problem no matter what the length of exposure is.

[darinwc]

A mechanical self-timer is actually one of those things that tends to break down often. It adds extra complexity and expense and is never used without a tripod. I can see how early manufactures left it out. When they started using electronic shutters, I think electronic self-timers became standard.

[darinwc]

Then why do my meters give different readings, depending upon whether or not light is getting in through the viewfinder?

I've checked this myself and assure you that it is indeed, at least for some cameras, particularly automatic everything models, a metering issue.

Most cameras use the meter reading from just before the shutter is tripped. Or if you are using TTL manual metering. Light travels through the lens and out the eyepeice, but it also does the reverse. Metering systems that measure the light on the ground-glass tend to be more prone to this than ones that use a partial silvered mirror. Some systems use live metering during the exposure (olympus OM, Pentax LX) and some meter after the mirror is raised (minolta MD11, x700).
Especially if you are using manual TTL metering, make sure you meter with your eye over the viewfinder.

[Diapositivo]

Yeah, I've seen those. They're such utterly losable little things, with what seems to me minimal utility, that I always wondered why they bothered. But Fabrizio considers them important, and of course there's no disagreement with what someone else finds useful. Just goes to show about tastes and styles.

I normally meter manually but there are circumstances when you do auto work without your eye on the eyepiece. Imagine taking pictures above your head as an example, or tripod work when for some reason you want the camera to meter for you.

What I mean is that the small mechanical shutter inside the pentaprism is an expensive piece of precision mechanics, and it's wasted money. An ocular shutter as a piece of plastic in your camera strap costs very near to nothing and is always there when needed. Many professional cameras have the expensive contraction unnecessarily raising the cost. More economical cameras never have it. I like when something is very simple and economical yet very effective.

[Bill Burk]

Not to mention that lighleaks through the viewfinder (if they exist, I'm sure it's possible in some cameras) will be the same problem no matter what the length of exposure is.

Of course it depends on the camera model. The exposure time on a camera like OM-4 would not be affected by light coming through the viewfinder because the sensor is inside the mirror chamber and once the mirror is up, the cell is looking at the film and updating shutter depending on light off the film. But the ESII meter cells look at ground glass from up in the prism area... These cells would see light through the viewfinder when the mirror is up - so that camera needs the viewfinder blind feature to keep viewfinder light from altering exposure.

[lxdude]

The eyepiece cover has nothing to do with metering, it's that with long exposures, you sometimes have light leak THROUGH THE VIEWFINDER so you need to cover it so that when the mirror is up and shutter is open, the film doesn't get unwanted stray light from the viewfinder.

As said here, the cover definitely has everything to do with metering. Except on a camera like the LX, which has no blind and does not need the eyepiece covered, because stray light through the eyepiece does not reach the photocell. I had to point a flashlight directly into the eyepiece to affect the meter reading on mine, and even then it went up only one stop. As for viewfinder stray light reaching the film with the mirror up and shutter open, it will never happen unless the light seals are bad. Otherwise, no one could ever use a waist level finder or sports finder.