In-between Lens Apertures & Lens Shutter Speeds

[Brandon D.]

Funny question: I have a Hasseblad 500 series camera with a 80mm CF lens, and when you twist the aperture ring on the lens, the apertures click on the "whole apertures (f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, and etc.)" as well as the "halfway apertures" in-between the whole apertures. I'd imagine that these halfway apertures are usable. But the shutter speeds don't seem to have any in-between points because the shutter speeds only click on the "whole stops (1/60th, 1/125th, 1/250th, and etc.)."

So are there really no in-between shutter speeds? And I take it that there's no way to set 1/3rd stops? Thanks in advance for clearing up my uncertainty!

 

[ic-racer]

The Rollei Zeiss lenses I have are clicked at 1/3 stops, so you can't set the 1/2 stop. In general, most mechanical shutters don't have in between speeds.

 

[JBrunner]

The halfway apertures are usable, as is any place you can make the aperture stay, even if it's not on a "click". I can't remember if Zeiss will stop only on the clicks. If you are shooting neg the difference between 1/3 and 1/2 isn't worth sweating anyhoo.

Only my oldest shutters have in-between speeds, and those were not designed to have them, rather they became that way on their own, and I gave up the proper speeds to have the in-between ones.

 

[Brandon D.]

Thanks!

Thanks, guys!

It's something that I've always wondered about, especially in those rare cases where I want to convert from, let's say, an ISO 80 film to an ISO 100 film.

My Zeiss lens will actually stop in-between the clicks, and it will hold still enough for me to shoot without worry about it slipping. However, there's not very much space in-between the clicks. But at least I now know that the 1/3rd stops exist in the space between the clicks. At first, the idea of doing it seemed a little unconventional. But I will definitely give it a try, especially since my light meter evaluates light down to the 1/10th of a stop.

And yeah, it looks like I'll have no luck with the in-between shutter speeds. As long as the aperture will let me use the 1/3rd stops, I won't even need to worry about flexibility with the shutter speeds.

 

[Q.G.]

There are no in-between shutter speeds, no. (You could use a focal plane shutter Hasselblad if you want to have a choice of in between shutter speeds as well.)
What the shutter does when you leave it set in between stops is either one or the other of the adjacent speeds. Or perhaps even nothing you would like it to do, depending on how "in between" you set the thing?

You do not get much more control with aperture clicks in third stops, compared to half stops. The difference between the two never is more than 1/6 stop, and that's not something you'll see in the final result.
So would it be worth the extra effort of trying to set the ring between the click stops?