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Dug out my old film camera for some night shots and kind of regret it
I spent about 80 bucks at a local shop in Austin to get a vintage Nikon SLR cleaned and ready for astrophotography last month. Used it to shoot the Pleiades cluster out in the Hill Country and the developed images were all blurry and washed out, just a mess honestly. The shutter speed was way off because the repair guy didn't calibrate it right for long exposures. Has anyone else had luck mixing old film gear with modern night sky photos or is it just a money pit?
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kevin_dixon20d ago
Man, tarag28 is right about testing shutters before heading out but I gotta push back on the phone light meter thing. Those apps are fine for getting a ballpark reading in daylight but they're trash for measuring long exposures at night. The sensors on phones just aren't sensitive enough to grab accurate readings at 10 or 20 seconds, you'll get wild swings in what it tells you. Reciprocity failure is real and you gotta account for it but adding two full stops for anything over a second is a oversimplification that'll mess you up. Different films have different reciprocity curves, some like Tri-X need way more correction the longer you go while others like Portra handle it better. The real trick is to bracket your shots hard, like shoot one at what your meter says, one at +1 stop, one at +2 stops, and see what actually works with your specific film and development.
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tarag2827d ago
The shutter speed issue is a classic problem with old SLR cameras after being serviced. For astro shots you really need to test the shutter at different speeds before you go out. A cheap light meter app on your phone can help you check if the times are matching up. Also keep in mind that film has reciprocity failure which means long exposures need way more time than your meter says. I shoot a lot of night stuff with a Canon AE-1 and I always add an extra stop or two of exposure time for anything over a second. That might save your next roll from being a total washout.
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Respectfully, I've never found phone light meters to be all that reliable for checking shutter speeds - the sensors just aren't calibrated like a proper shutter tester would be. Reciprocity failure is real for sure, but adding two full stops for anything over a second sounds like overkill unless you're shooting something like Slide film. Maybe try bracketing your exposures next time out with a stop of difference between each shot to see what actually works for your specific film stock.
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