DX Re-coding, and fooling "simple" P&S cameras.

[John Bragg]

I have long wondered how to fool so called simple cameras into accepting a 400 iso film cassette as a 200. With no facility for DX override, this can be problematic. I know that there were at one time, metallic labels printed with DX information just for this purpose, but they seem to have vanished off the face of the earth..... Then it happened. I spotted a "BARGAIN", in the shape of a Canon Sureshot Supreme for £3 in a charity shop. Good deal to be sure, but how to overcome the DX problem ???? (I like my Tri-X and Neopan shot at 200 Ei and this is to be its staple diet). Nothing on APUG or Rangefinder Forum about the labels, so it had to be DIY or nothing !!! A few minutes spent on Googling DX coding produced the means to de-cypher the codes, and a few moments work with a sharp knife and some electrical insulating tape produced the means to re-write the code. Simply scrape away the unwanted black paint to leave clean metal showing in the desired area, and apply tape in order to cover the nescessary bit. In this case, removal of bars 2 and 3 on the top row, (seen with the spool to the left), and the addition of a new bar 4 does the trick.
The link below tells all about the meaning of the coding and I hope this little trick helps some others out there.

Regards, John.


http://www.answers.com/topic/dx-encoding

 

[Akki14]

Yeah that's just the wikipedia page on DX coding. You can also buy DX coded labels if you bulkload your film and don't want the hassle of scratching away paint for ages.

 

[John Bragg]

Yeah that's just the wikipedia page on DX coding. You can also buy DX coded labels if you bulkload your film and don't want the hassle of scratching away paint for ages.

Where??????? Jessops charge £2.49 for 5 labels plus postage.. That buys more film in my book..

Regards, John.

 

[Helen B]

It may be worth checking how many contacts your camera has. A lot of P&S cameras only read the first four bars of the top row. This doesn't matter when changing 400 to 200 of course, but it does mean that trying 250 would be pointless, for example.

Best,
Helen

 

[John Bragg]

Thanks Helen. I noticed the little Canon has less than the full range of contacts. Just souped the first film from it today and it looks good to me.

Regards, John.

 

[AgX]

You could also use thin doublesided adhesive tape (that thin paper soaked with glue) and some aluminium foil out of the kitchen. You might even come across metalized adhesive tape (though I'm not sure whether the metal is always on the top side).

 

[Mike Kennedy]

Respool?

I wonder if you could respool onto used 200iso cartridges? Your local camera shop would have old cassettes and if you squared the end of the tri-x and taped it to the stub of the 200 you could roll (in a chang bag or dark closet) the 400 onto the 200 . Just a thought.

Mike

 

[John Bragg]

All of the above methods had crossed my mind, but the simple "Scrape n, Tape" is easiest and fastest.

Regards, John.

 

[Tim Gray]

I'd go with scrape and tape. I've also read that a sharpie works in place of the tape.

Yes, you could get copper tape for cassettes that don't have coding to begin with.