... Les Bosher, an ACL egineer for 40years does a super16
conversion that retains the light meter and has a mod that also
retains the original shutter angle.
Sounds like Eric is an expert in this field after 6
months....
>Gerald you wrote "You cannot set ASA or DIN into this meter," but you
>actually can do this by taking a light reading of a bright white wall
>with your meter at, say, 400ASA. Your light meter should tell
you the
>correct F-stop for this film speed at the shutter speed you specify
>(lets say 1/50th). Assume the reading you got from the white
wall was
>F5.6. Then you would point your Eclair ACL at the white wall,
and line
>up the shot the same way you saw it through your personal light meter
>(if you have one like mine it would be a zoom meter, but you
could also
>use the reflected type. However, I like to "see" what I'm getting).
>Then you would set your Eclair ACL's lens to F5.6, and then you would
>adjust the potentiometer on the camera until only the middle diode
>remains illuminated. You have thereby calculated your camera for
ASA400>speed film at 1/50th shutter speed--which corresponds to
24fps. This
>way you can go out and shoot any footage you like at 24fps, and know
>that the meter is calculated correctly for this ASA and film
speed as
>long as you aim for the middle diode. But remember with this method
>that you must only use the light meter when you are not running film
>through the camera. If you want to adjust the light meter while
film is
>being exposed you must calibrate the meter while having the
shutter in
>motion. In other words, you would point the camera at the white
wall,>set the lens to F5.6, set the camera to 24fps, put the
shutter in motion
>and then adjust the potentiometer. As I said before however, I
gathered>from my conversation with Bernie O'Doherty that having
the light meter
>activated when the shutter is in motion can lead to flicker
problems. I
>suggested putting an light meter on/off switch on my camera so
that I
>could turn off the diodes before putting the shutter in motion.
>
>You can also take a light reading with your camera. On location
say you
>wanted to overexpose your subject by one stop. Point the camera
at the
>subject and adjust your iris until the middle diode lights up.
Then, if
>for some strange reason your interested, read what the lens is
set to.
>Let's say it is set to F4.0. If you wanted to overexpose it by
one stop
>you would have the two red diodes above it light up.
>
>Gerald.L.Loessberg-1 wrote:
>>
>> Not to cause any grief here but the ACL meter is not a standard
>> reflectance light meter. What it does is tell you when the
light has
>> changed. Those who have bothered to read the manual on the ACL
know>> that you have to first read the light of the scene and then
set the
>> meter in the ACL to zero set. It then tells you haw many stops the
>> light changes as you pan, zoom, whatever. In my opinion this
isnt worth
>> the price of the leds. You cannot set ASA or DIN into this
meter and
>> you cannot simply turn it on aim it at something and read the
exposure.>> It is not a light meter as we know it. It is more
like a voltage /ohm
>> meter. Whatever that is worth when you are shooting a scene I dont
>> know.
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Michael Welle <mwelle@starband.net>
>> Date: Thursday, July 10, 2003 5:53 pm
>> Subject: RE: Eclair Cameras: Light Meter Issues
>>
>> > There are, nevertheless, situations when having an internal
>> > lightmeter
>> > would prove invaluable. Let's say you were walking down the
>> > street and
>> > you saw a UFO. I can pretty much assure you that you don't want
>> > to be
>> > taking out your lightmeter and calculating F-Stops at this
time--
>> > no
>> > matter how much more accurate it would be.
>> >
>> > One of the great things about the Canon Scoopic and its M and MS
>> > versions were/are the ability for auto iris. Yes, film snobs
>> > around the
>> > world will tell you that you should always be calculating your
>> > readings
>> > with a light meter--but in the real world the built in lightmeter
>> > solves
>> > tons of problems. I remember being able to do long tracking
>> > shots with
>> > the M or MS because it could compensate when you moved from an
>> > area of
>> > lightness to darkness instantaneously. How were the seemingly
>> > endless
>> > tracking shots in "Goodfellas," "The Player," and "Snake Eyes"
>> > accomplished? I can't imagine these being done with the operator
>> > manually adjusting the iris. Why do all of the leading video
>> > camera
>> > manufacturers put auto iris onto their cameras--because it makes
>> > shooting much less dicey, gives you less headaches if in the
>> > opposite
>> > situation you had taken inaccurate readings and it gives the
>> > inexperienced videographer or filmmaker the ability to make
movies>> > without having to worry about the painstaking process
of light
>> > readings.
>> > Yes, in some instances manual light readings may make a slightly
>> > better
>> > exposed picture. But when the pressure is on its often more
>> > reliable to
>> > put your trust into a filmmaking machine rather than (to
quote the
>> > Sex
>> > Pistols) "a human machine." In essence, auto irises and built-in
>> > meters
>> > add to the democratization in filmmaking.
>> >
>> > While the ACL does not have an automatic lightmeter like the
>> > Scoopic,
>> > its built in light meter allows you to determine the light
reading>> > for a
>> > static shot or a shot without much lighting change (although a
>> > safer bet
>> > would be static shots). In a previous post it was inferred that
>> > reaching up and changing apertures with the Eclair ACL was
>> > essentially
>> > futile. In order to change F-Stops while the camera is exposing
>> > film
>> > you have to adjust the iris poteniometer while the camera's
>> > shutter is
>> > running (let's say at 24fps). If you calibrate the meter without
>> > the
>> > camera's shutter moving you will get inaccurate readings (if you
>> > take
>> > your readings while film is being exposed). If, on the other
>> > hand, you
>> > take readings before the shutter is moving then you should
>> > calibrate the
>> > meter by adjusting the potentiometer without the shutter in
motion>> > (this
>> > is how I expose film). According to what I understood from a
>> > conversation with Bernie O'Doherty, having red diodes activated
>> > while
>> > film is running through the camera can lead to flicker problems.
>> > I have
>> > spoken with Bernie about creating an on/off switch for my camera
>> > which
>> > will allow me to de-activate the light meter after I've taken a
>> > reading
>> > and before I am about to run film through the camera. I
wonder if
>> > the
>> > previous post entitled EXP ON/OFF switch is related to this?
>> >
>> > Now that I'm clear on all of this, it leaves me with two
>> > questions: 1)
>> > Does the internal light meter go up to ASA 800 or ASA 400?
>> > 2) Does anyone have any other suggestions on how to make the
>> > internal
>> > light meter work with Super 16?
>> >
>> > Since the Eclair ACL is such a light weight compact camera it
only>> > makes
>> > sense that it should have a built-in light meter. The techs at
>> > Eclair
>> > were smart enough to realize this for Regular 16. Even if you
>> > dislike
>> > the built-in metering, it would be nice to have others understand
>> > that I
>> > am one voice in this community (who may be among others) who does
>> > believe in the built in light meter for the reasons mentioned
>> > above.
>> > For people like me, who believes in automation at a fair
price, It
>> > would
>> > be great to keep the simplicity and democratization of built-in
>> > light
>> > metering as an option for Super 16 with the ACL.
>> >
>> > Gerald.L.Loessberg-1 wrote:
>> > >
>> > > This is only my opinion and there are quite a few here on
>> > topica, but
>> > > having a light meter that informs the operator that the
lighting>> > > conditions have changed is not very helpful. While
shooting,>> > what are
>> > > you going to do, reach up there and change apertures, good
luck.>> > Most
>> > > experienced dp´s check their external meter between shots.
>> > Modern
>> > > telecine will let you compensate for minor or for that matter
>> > even major
>> > > exposure changes inside a take. There is no replacement for
>> > > understanding exposure and taking a moment to analyze your
scene>> > and
>> > > what your gaffer has done to it. Take the meter out . If you
>> > want an
>> > > ARRI SR S16 then buy one and quite trying to make your ACL into
>> > one. The
>> > > ACL when healthy is quieter, lighter and more flexible than the
>> > SR will
>> > > ever be. Eclair has achieved the sublime in this camera and
>> > remember
>> > > that the Arri SR was in fact designed after the Eclair NPR,
>> > neither of
>> > > which is as quite as a healthy ACL. The ACL with the 200´ mag
>> > is the
>> > > smallest professional camera on the market and if it has been
>> > modified
>> > > properly with Mark´s Gold kit, ( he still has some
available) it
>> > is the
>> > > coolest. Whatever cool is worth. Have your camera
serviced by
>> > a good
>> > > tech, converted and start shooting. That is what the
camera was
>> > > designed for, shooting.
>> > >
>> > > ----- Original Message -----
>> > > From: Mark <super16acl@aol.com>
>> > > Date: Wednesday, July 9, 2003 8:00 pm
>> > > Subject: Re: Eclair Cameras: Light Meter Issues
>> > >
>> > > > It would certainly be a pain to try to retain the light meter
>> > with
>> > > > a Super-16
>> > > > conversion, and frankly I've never done it. But I can
>> > visualize
>> > > > how it would
>> > > > be accomplished.
>> > > >
>> > > > It could involve replacing the convex lens on the prism
with a
>> > > > longer one,
>> > > > using a wide angle diopter on the viewfinder to see both the
>> > light
>> > > > meter and the
>> > > > full super-16 frame, and ultimately the circle in the finder
>> > that
>> > > > represents
>> > > > where the reading is taken would be off-center of the
image. I
>> > > > gave
>> > > > suggestions in the HD-144 manual for those who wanted to try,
>> > but
>> > > > I think it may fall
>> > > > into the category of either "Life is too short" or "the cost
>> > is
>> > > > more than the
>> > > > camera is worth." But check with Bernie O'Doherty. Also,
>> > August
>> > > > Loessberg has
>> > > > been playing with enlarging the field of view through the
>> > finder,
>> > > > which would
>> > > > be a major help. Mark.
>> > > >
>> > > >
>> > > >
>> > >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Michael Welle
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>
>
>
>Michael Welle
>
>
>
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