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stratos
16th July 2015, 05:33 PM
Hello again!

As i mentioned on other posts, i recently got a used Bronica ETRSi from ebay.
Except the optical checking on the lens glass, shutter blades etc i wanted to check if it's working properly.
To do this, i took a film and i shot all the frames using different speeds.
(to be honest, i didn't checked the exposure speeds in whole seconds)

Fortunately, the exposure was correct on every frame i took.
What other checks do i have to do, to confirm that the camera is in 100% working condition?

Thank you very much in advance!

Regards
Stratos

John King
16th July 2015, 08:07 PM
I would check the film wind on by exposing a roll of fiilm, develop it and check the frame spacing.

stratos
16th July 2015, 08:16 PM
I would check the film wind on by exposing a roll of fiilm, develop it and check the frame spacing.

Thank you for your answer!
I already developed a film.
You mean to check the negatives, if the spacing between the frames is equal?

Mike O'Pray
16th July 2015, 08:39 PM
Stratos, do you mean that you set the camera on aperture priority so it was always the same aperture, say f8 and found that all the frames needed different shutter speeds which would be the case if the light conditions were different each time.

If the light conditions were different on each frame then it indicates that the meter is working and is changing the shutter speed to give the correct exposure.

If so then the shutter speeds all work as they should. You might try to set the same shutter speed by using shutter priority and then take another film or at least several frames to see if the aperture changes as it should to give the same exposure in different light conditions. Then you know that the shutter priority works as well

I do not have a Bronica but can't you check both shutter and aperture priority without loading a film? You can do this with the Pentax 645N

If the exposure was correct then there may be no point in checking the meter but a simple check for this is to set the film speed to the speed given on the box such as 400 for HP5+ and then meter a large area of grass in full sunlight. This should be zone V( the meter always thinks it is reading zone V and grass in sunlight is zone V) and at f16 the meter should show a speed that is the reciprocal of the film speed. That is to say it should be about 1/400th

If the first film was properly exposed and the frame spacing between the frames is correct and you got the right number of frames from the film then it sounds as if the camera is working correctly.

Obviously there are no light leaks or the film would show these and the film back into which the film is loaded is also working correctly

You might want to check the film speed dial You can do this by checking the exposure on the same piece of grass in sunlight at 400 film speed and then 200 then 100. Each time the shutter speed should be half what it was so 1/200th at film speed 200 and 1/100th at film speed 100 etc

However if the film was properly exposed then I think the camera is working properly

Mike

John King
16th July 2015, 09:20 PM
Thank you for your answer!
I already developed a film.
You mean to check the negatives, if the spacing between the frames is equal?

Yes thats the idea. If the spacing is uneven, especiallyif they overlap which means the wind on is possibly speaking. Having said that ETRS models are pretty good in that respect.

stratos
17th July 2015, 07:25 AM
Stratos, do you mean that you set the camera on aperture priority so it was always the same aperture, say f8 and found that all the frames needed different shutter speeds which would be the case if the light conditions were different each time.

If the light conditions were different on each frame then it indicates that the meter is working and is changing the shutter speed to give the correct exposure.

If so then the shutter speeds all work as they should. You might try to set the same shutter speed by using shutter priority and then take another film or at least several frames to see if the aperture changes as it should to give the same exposure in different light conditions. Then you know that the shutter priority works as well

I do not have a Bronica but can't you check both shutter and aperture priority without loading a film? You can do this with the Pentax 645N

If the exposure was correct then there may be no point in checking the meter but a simple check for this is to set the film speed to the speed given on the box such as 400 for HP5+ and then meter a large area of grass in full sunlight. This should be zone V( the meter always thinks it is reading zone V and grass in sunlight is zone V) and at f16 the meter should show a speed that is the reciprocal of the film speed. That is to say it should be about 1/400th

If the first film was properly exposed and the frame spacing between the frames is correct and you got the right number of frames from the film then it sounds as if the camera is working correctly.

Obviously there are no light leaks or the film would show these and the film back into which the film is loaded is also working correctly

You might want to check the film speed dial You can do this by checking the exposure on the same piece of grass in sunlight at 400 film speed and then 200 then 100. Each time the shutter speed should be half what it was so 1/200th at film speed 200 and 1/100th at film speed 100 etc

However if the film was properly exposed then I think the camera is working properly

Mike

Hello Mike
ETRSi is fully manual, except if you have the AEII Prism finder, which i don't.
I used an external light meter and everytime i took a metering the lightmeter gave to me 2-3 options with different speed and aperture combinations, so i used a different one every time with the speed i wanted to check.


Yes thats the idea. If the spacing is uneven, especiallyif they overlap which means the wind on is possibly speaking. Having said that ETRS models are pretty good in that respect.

Thank you very much John!. I will check the negatives when i get home, but i don't think that they overlap in any case because the prints were OK.

Alan Clark
17th July 2015, 08:17 AM
Hello Stratos. The ETRSi has mirror lock-up. Very useful. You could check that this is working. If you are not sure how, you could search for the camera manual on-line.

Alan

stratos
17th July 2015, 09:32 AM
Mirror lockup is working fine!
I also must check the flash sync port, the cable release socket and the timer...
(And i think that there wouldn't be any problem, since the camera is taking correct photos!)


Hello Stratos. The ETRSi has mirror lock-up. Very useful. You could check that this is working. If you are not sure how, you could search for the camera manual on-line.

Alan

marty
17th July 2015, 06:04 PM
The double exposure lever is also useful to check the shutter without loading a film. Just remember to reset the lever after you're done.
You are probably aware of this but you have to check the camera with every lens you own, just to remind.

Cheers,M.-