Question on Fuji instant films...

[seanmophoto]

Hi all,
I recently purchased a Polaroid 195 full manual camera...first impressions...very cool

I'm new to instant films and having some issues with the camera

it appears everything is about 1 stop overexposed with the fuji instant films. I've used all three. 100c seemed to overexpose the most

I'm shooting using incident readings from a sekonic 358

pictures have been pretty consistently overexposed if use the straight meter reading, but look much better underexpose 1-2 stops(1 seems to work the best)

so I'm wondering if this is something others have seen with fuji films?
am I metering sloppily?
Ive been shooting hp5 and tri-x in TLRs for a few months now and have gotten good results just taking incident readings, but those films seem to have much more exposure latitude.

do I need to account for highlights more when shooting instant?

and could it be a camera issue if everthing is 1 stop over? it shows up at all the shutter speeds I have tried.

also, I've checked the bellows and they look fine.

any and all help appreciated
thanks

 

[seanmophoto]

links to examples


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2774/4267845176_6681a14966.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4046/4267098569_b8ea566531_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4030/4267098525_bd09f0d479_b.jpg

 

[matt S]

My guess would be the shutter- not the film. I have not had any problems with overexposure with the Fuji films, black and white or color.

As shutters get older they usually get slower- not faster, so this might explain your issue. You can try timing the shutter to see how accurate it is running.

The 195 is a great camera, hope you are enjoying it!

Matt

 

[seanmophoto]

yeah starting to think its a slow shutter...will shutter get progressively slower?
and is it possible to work around it if it stays consistent?
I'd like to be able to use it with confidence

 

[nickandre]

I shoot mine with a polaroid 600 SE and it's always been spot on. Check your meter and your shutter. The film shoots about the same as most slide films. It's a reversal film so you will lose highlights more readily than in a negative.

 

[vdonovan]

Same. I shoot with a Mamiya Universal and I get good exposures with standard meter readings.

 

[SoonerBJJ]

I've also had good results with the Fujifilm instants. I've used both color and B&W 100 and 3000 in my Polaroid 600SE. I'm currently metering the scene with my Canon 50D.