Kodak Vision 2

Pavan Deep · February 20, 2008

Hi

I need some advice on using Kodak Vision 2 200asa tungsten film in a nizo compact camera I believe this camera will read the film as 160 when set to the bulb setting (filter out). Can I shoot this film outside and would I just swing in the built in filter in place would this give the right exposure? Any help would be ideal on what stocks I can use which cameras that only read 40 asa and 160.

Pav

jon lawrence · February 20, 2008

Hi
I need some advice on using Kodak Vision 2 200asa tungsten film in a nizo compact camera I believe this camera will read the film as 160 when set to the bulb setting (filter out). Can I shoot this film outside and would I just swing in the built in filter in place would this give the right exposure? Any help would be ideal on what stocks I can use which cameras that only read 40 asa and 160.

Pav

If the camera reads the film at 160 then it'll be over exposed by 1/3 of a stop which is usually considered a good thing for negative stocks. My canon 814 reads 500t at 400 which gives great results. Assuming the filter in your camera is working properly (alot of them stop working over time) it should turn out fine.

If you're looking to shoot a wider variety of stocks then investing in a light meter may be a good idea. I picked up a decent sekonic meter on ebay for £100.

-Jon

Jim Carlile · February 21, 2008

The VISION 200T cartridge will automatically disable the internal filter so that you need to use an external one if you want one. This is by Kodak design.

The camera will also most likely set the meter to ASA 100 which is by Kodak design as well. You may be able to toggle the filter switch to 'B' which will then re-set the meter to ASA 160-- this is a design plus on many Nizo silent cameras only, which was intended so that they could use the high speed 'daylight' cartridged films. The silent Nizos will only rate to a maximum of ASA 160 and conflicts can develop with notchless daylight cartridges and film speeds above ASA 160. But the internal filter will still be disabled no matter what.

A solution is to cut a filter notch in the VISION 200 cartridge, which will allow use of the internal filter and rate the film at an ASA of 160.

Pavan Deep · February 21, 2008

Thanks for that, I thought that without the filter in place the film in a compact Nizo the film will be read as 160, because without the filter being there more light is passed through to the picture. I wasn't sure what the 200asa film will read as with the filter in place. If I don't cut out a filter notch can I use use an external 85 filter for when filming in daylight?

I do have a sekonic lightmeter but I am not very confident for using it with super 8 as I am not sure what to set it on to mach my camera which is a Nizo 156 macro. Any advice on using an external light reading?

Thanks

Pav

Kevin Olmsted · February 21, 2008

I don't know if any of this advice is helpful or accurate (I welcome corrections) but here is my experience.

I have a little analog Sekonic meter as well. When I shoot with a camera that doesn't auto-meter (especially my Quarz) and I need to use the external I use this formula:

360 divided by (X) times (Y).

(X) is your shutter angle and (Y) is your frame rate. So If your 514 has shutter angle of 220 and you shoot 18fps, your result is 29.45, or 1/30 on your light meter. You should be able to set your light meter from there.

I've always had good results with this formula so I think I'm doing it right...! I hope this is helpful or useful.

jon lawrence · February 21, 2008

You also need to take into account your cameras viewing system. If your camera has a split prism view finder (which a lot of super 8 cameras do) then you'll need to compensate for that as they can eat up any where between 1/2 - 1 1/2 a stop.

-Jon

Anthony Schilling · February 21, 2008

This has been a hot topic as the Nizo works a little different. The 200T cart will disable the filter no matter what. The cart will be read as 160T/100D... so if you leave the filter switch on tungsten (the filter switch sets ASA) you will read 160ASA, set on daylight you will read 100ASA. You can not use the internal filter unless you cut a notch in the cart, or you will have to use an external filter in daylight (in which you would still use bulb setting because the external filter will be compensated by TTL meter)

Jim Carlile · February 22, 2008

Thanks for that, I thought that without the filter in place the film in a compact Nizo the film will be read as 160, because without the filter being there more light is passed through to the picture. I wasn't sure what the 200asa film will read as with the filter in place. If I don't cut out a filter notch can I use use an external 85 filter for when filming in daylight?

Yes, if you leave the cartridge as-is and do not cut a filter notch, then you just pop an 85 filter over the lens. The meter will automatically see the filter and will open up the aperture the required amount to compensate for it.

On the Nizo only, you can toggle the filter switch to 'bulb' to set the meter to the original ASA 160 rating. If you slide it to 'daylight,' it will be set to ASA 100. In both cases the internal filter will be disabled. So you get to choose. This only works with a notchless cartridge that pushes-in the filter pin.

Only the silent Nizo cameras will allow you to choose ASA ratings this way. All other cameras that set the meter to ASA 100 when the filter pin is pushed-in will not let you change it back to the higher rating. The reason why the Nizos have this facility is because they only read up to ASA 160 to begin with. Kodak developed two daylight film stocks that were also about ASA 160-- Tri-X and Ektachrome 'G' film. They were (are) both speed-notched for ASA 250, but because the Nizos cannot read this high, they will set the meter to the same inaccurate ASA 100.

Cameras that can read the ASA 250 speed notch will be set to ASA 160 by these daylight notchless cartridges. Kodak insisted that they be notchless to disable the filter, so this was the only way that they could set meters to 160.

So, Nizo built in the ability to bypass this Super 8 daylight notch system, to run these high speed stocks accurately.

This is different than what happens when you run tungsten films with a filter in place. In that case, the meter is set to the speed-notch of, say 160. It is not a daylight cartridge, so there is a filter notch in the cartridge, which keeps the filter pin out. But when a filter is in the path, either internally or externally, it has a filter factor that cuts down the exposure rating about 2/3 of a stop. This then effectively reduces the film down to an approximate ASA 100. The film is still ASA 160, but in terms of sensitivity, it acts as an ASA 100 film.

The terminology is the same, but what happens is different. With a daylight-cartridged film lacking a filter notch, the meter is automatically set to ASA 100, without a filter in place. With a notched tungsten cartridge, the film's effective rating goes down to ASA 100 only with an 85 filter in place.