medium format beginner seeks advice

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i just bought a cheapo lubitel 166 universal 120mm camera. it does not have a light meter and a handheld meter is way beyond this novice's budget...any advice on how to best guesstimate exposure settings? i've been using a reading from my 35mm lightmeter, but for some reason the image has been coming out gray (a problem i don't usually have). any advice or recommendations on good books?

thanks!

-- rae (musty66@hotmail.com), November 13, 1999

Answers

We need more information. Do you do your own processing? By gray do you mean fogged or low contrast? You could have lens flare, or a minor light leak. If you mean underexposed, the shutter or diaphram could be off. If you do your own processing you could have possibly fogged the film or used exhausted developer. A little more info would be helpful.

-- Wayne DeWitt (wdewitt@snip.net), December 24, 1999.

Check the ASA setting of both cameras (135 and 120) Make sure they are the same.

-- James (blackwhite@mailcity.com), February 07, 2000.

The "Sunny 16 Rule" usually works great in a pinch. On a bright sunny day, take your ASA and make a fraction and set your lens at f16 i.e. 1/60 or 1/125 @ f16 for 100asa (it is better to over expose with neg. so 1/60 is usually prefered. Slightly over cast, just open up a stop to f11. Scott

-- Scott Walton (scotlynn@shore.net), May 18, 2000.

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