Speed Graf 127mm Lens shutter issues...

[bibowj]

Hi everyone! So I recently bought a Speed Graphic off the bay that was in decent condition and came with the 127mm kodak. I tested the lens through all its speeds and it SEEMS pretty dead on. However, when I run polaroid through it, all the shots are signifigantly over exposed... In afternoon light, i have to shoot at 400 f16 or above to not blow out ISO 100 film.. but my meter calls for 100 and 4.7...

So my question is this, #1 is it common for lens this old to be a little slow at some speeds (1 second seems dead on) #2 how do I check that this is indeed a crapped out lens (Im all film now and the only meter I have is the L508 that Im using) #3 is there any way to tell if my meter is working the way its supposed to? (I metered correctly by the way..in fact, did two shots metering for the sky and one for the darks to see if I could get it in )

I was going to shoot a portrait with it this week, but now Im nervous to use real film w/o being able to at least meter it...

Thanks everyone!

 

[brucemuir]

To see if your meter is close,
go outside in miday full sun and see if it matches somewhat on "sunny 16" or (sunny 11).

Those shutters most certainly can run slow. I believe there are 2 separate gear trains (or a least an escapement) so if slows speeds are close does not necessarily mean the faster speeds are.

 

[removed account4]

hi there

you might look at this thread
to second guess your meter

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

you mentioned afternoon light ... asa 100 film, sounds like you over exposed your film by a few stops ...

(you could also use your digi-thing to get a meter reading use the matrix rather than spot if you are using
the lumi-sphere on your sekonic ... )

 

[bibowj]

As suggested, I took my lightmeter out and tested it against what that chart said for a coudy down..and it was perfectly at 1/100 and F8 ish.. and then in more direct sun with clouds (ie not full sunlight) it went to F11... so it seems to be working. Sad to say that my lens must be slow in the fast end Makes me sad, cause I really liked it...

 

[MattKing]

As suggested, I took my lightmeter out and tested it against what that chart said for a coudy down..and it was perfectly at 1/100 and F8 ish.. and then in more direct sun with clouds (ie not full sunlight) it went to F11... so it seems to be working. Sad to say that my lens must be slow in the fast end Makes me sad, cause I really liked it...

Sounds like the shutter just needs some routine maintenance.

 

[vpwphoto]

IF it is consistently slow... just compensate.

 

[PaulC]

How did you "test the lens through all its speeds"? Watching it click open and shut is no good at all, you can't tell the difference between 1/100s and 1/25s by eye. You need a shutter speed tester. There are instructions on making one here http://www.baytan.org/prak/shutter.html or you can buy a ready-made one for $20 or $30 by contacting Attila who runs MFLenses.com, a friend of his makes them.

I've tested loads of old shutters with this sort of kit, a few of them are bang on, some of them are consistently off by a certain amount, some have certain speeds that are wildly off while other speeds are right. I've got 1930s shutters that are perfect and 1970s pro-level shutters that are way off. Unless you know what speeds the shutter actually runs at, light metering is a complete waste of time.

Also, the top speed is almost always a lot slower than stated. A variation of about half a stop would have been considered within factory specs.