Old eyes and a tiny camera

[Donald Qualls]

My new-to-me Minox B arrived in the mail yesterday, along with four fresh cassettes of film and a UPS box containing the daylight loading developing tank. I went over the functions -- shutter speeds look good and even 1/2 second seems accurate enough. I found a video on how to open it for loading (which included how to set the ASA speed on the light meter -- which seems to read about 3 stops HIGH!?). I loaded one cassette of 100 speed "Spy Film" (slit down Delta 100, seemingly).

Unfortunately, the light at my desk and my old eyes combined to make me think the red line at 36 exposures was the red start mark on the counter, and advancing to 0 had me actually advancing to 40.

Now, based on the even-seeming frame spacing I've seen in photos of Minox film strips, I've presumed that there's a cam mechanism similar to (well, the prototype of) the ones I've seen in Minolta 16 II and Kiev 30 cameras -- and if there is, I wonder if I'm going to get overlapped frames, with the film advance compensating for 40 exposures of film that isn't on the take up spool -- and whether that will switch to extra-wide spacing once I run past the 50 on the counter and back to 0? I've only exposed three or four frames so far, so it wouldn't be impossible to put the camera in my changing bag, transfer the film back to its coffin box, and reset the counter to 4 or 5 before reloading the film -- but is it worth bothering? Film is thinner now than it was in the late 1950s when this camera (with the honeycomb meter cell cover) was made, yet film advance compensators seem to cope well enough...

And relative to the light meter -- the compensation for the ND filter appears to work, but the meter indicated 1/1000 with ASA 100 in Sunny 16 conditions (for this camera, I'd call it Sunny 1000) -- but it indicated that with the ND filter deployed; it read about three stops higher (1/8000?) without the filter. I'm used to 1950s vintage selenium meters reading low, i.e. overexposing -- is this adjustable in any way, or should I just put a couple strips of black tape over the corners of the meter aperture?

 

[loccdor]

@xkaes

 

[Donald Qualls]

Ah, I finally found a page that clarified that I had set the film speed incorrectly when loading the camera. I knew I needed to turn the shutter speed dial to set the ISO; I didn't know I needed to at least partially open the film compartment to disengage the gears and set the shutter dial back to 100 once the film speed is set, then close the compartment all the way to reengage the gears. Fortunately, as with the Minolta 16 format cameras I've used for decades, the bridge of the film cartridge protects the loaded film from subdued light when opening the film compartment, so I was able to correct that error.

I think my meter is working correctly, or at least close to accurately (it's hard to test a selenium meter's sensitivity indoors at night). And now I know what I'm looking for in the frame counter window.

I can also see that it may be possible to set the film speed beyond the 25-400 ASA range marked on the dial by setting the shutter speed dial to higher or lower values -- for instance, to use ISO 800 for XP2 Super intended for bleach bypass, I would set the film speed to 400, then with the film compartment open, set the shutter to 200 rather than 100, causing me to select one stop faster shutter until I reset things (I should still just be able to shoot in bright sun with the ND filter in). Setting the shutter speed to 50 as that last step would let me shoot ISO 12 with the speed dial set to 25 (though I don't think ORWO DN21 would work in the Minox because of its thick, stiff base, I have a couple bulk rolls of 16 mm microfilm that works well at EI 12-25, and ought to be easy enough to slit for Minox).

 

[Donald Qualls]

Following up, after correctly setting the film speed on the meter, my B is offering sensible-looking exposures (by comparison to "Sunny 1000" rule) in daylight conditions, so apparently the meter is good, I just had it set incorrectly. I'm close to halfway through the first roll, so I should be able to develop that film next weekend (possibly even tomorrow).

And another question: since I started the counter at 40 instead of 0, my presumption is that the 36 exposure roll will be finished when it reaches 25 or so -- is there any way to tell aside from the frame counter when the roll runs out? Obviously, I don't want to pull the tail all the way into the takeup chamber, as I'd then have to disassemble the cassette in the dark and hand load the film onto the spiral in the Minox tank -- defeating the whole daylight loading ability.

 

[xkaes]

I'm not a Minox tank user, but if the film ends up in the take-up spool, in the darkroom you take the to top off, take the roll of film out. put it between your fingers, pull the end to tighten it up -- and reinsert it in the cassette. Then turn the lights back on.

 

[Donald Qualls]

I'm not a Minox tank user, but if the film ends up in the take-up spool, in the darkroom you take the to top off, take the roll of film out. put it between your fingers, pull the end to tighten it up -- and reinsert it in the cassette. Then turn the lights back on.

That ought to work to get the film back in the cassette for the daylight loading tank, but it does rather defeat the "no darkroom needed" process. I'd rather know a way to avoid having to retrieve the film tail in a darkroom or changing bag, if there is one.

 

[xkaes]

I've been rescued a few times with a closet -- or just about any room with the lights out at night.

 

[loccdor]

The only darkroom I ever owned was a 1 meter squared windowless closet with some black felt taped to the door edges.

 

[Donald Qualls]

Having had a chance to examine the cartridge after finishing the roll, I don't see myself managing to open the cartridge in the dark without destroying it -- at the least breaking the bridge (which doesn't totally disable the cartridge) or more likely mangling the fairly soft plastic of the removable cap on the takeup chamber. Those catches (one *between* the two cartridge chambers on each chamber) are pretty small; I'm not at all sure I could even find the outer one by feel in a dark bag or darkroom.

Fortunately, by stopping when 36 frames had gone through the counter, advancing twice to protect the last image, and unloading, I found about an inch of film tail still showing, also verifying that Blue Moon Camera punches a (fairly ragged) keyhole in the film tail. I did not manage to find time to develop the roll over this past weekend (too much honey-do stuff, my things never seem to catch up until/unless they become honey-do items themselves).

 

[xkaes]

You can always try to load and unload the cassettes with a scrap piece of film -- with the lights on. If that works out, try it with your eyes closed. The plastic is a little tougher than it seems, and getting the caps off is harder than getting them ON. Getting them ON is easier because they can only fit one way. The worst part is taking the cap off in the dark and having it fall to the floor when film is still in the cassette.

 

[Donald Qualls]

getting the caps off is harder than getting them ON. Getting them ON is easier because they can only fit one way. The worst part is taking the cap off in the dark and having it fall to the floor when film is still in the cassette.

Yep, I've done lots of stuff in the dark, many times I didn't even bother rehearsing in the light because it was so obvious. This, on the other hand, looks like I'd need a tool to unlatch the chamber covers. For loading the cartridge, uncapping can be done in the light and, as noted (as with Minolta 16 format cartridges) it can't be assembled wrong. I'm just concerned about possible damage to the cartridge as well as being completely impossible in the dark if I lose the film tail.

I think it *might* be possible to retrieve the film tail by turning the takeup cup backward and just pushing the film tail out (there doesn't seem to be an inside lip in this tiny cartridge), but I'll need to test it (perhaps with a developed strip of negatives before cutting) before I ASSume.

This seems likely to actually be easier (should it come up) with the metal 50-frame cartridges, as they're held closed with narrow strips of what looks like electrical tape. Peel off the tape (which can be done in the light) and the caps should slip off.