Nizo 481

[scooterbutt]

Hi i have a nizo 481 and was wondering what the red switch at the bottom with a 0 1/2 and a B did. also what autom. B did as well

THANK YOU

[Alessandro Machi]

Hi i have a nizo 481 and was wondering what the red switch at the bottom with a 0 1/2 and a B did. also what autom. B did as well

THANK YOU

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Hi Russell.

 

The three digit Nizos that end with the number one offer some really cool time-exposure functions.

 

Your 481 has such features, congratulations!

 

The automatic B means you can reverse the shutter so that the shutter remains open when in time-lapse mode, aka time-exposure mode. The Automatic B mode will allow you to set time-exposures per frame between a rate of 1/5 of a second all the way up to one or two minutes per frame by simply adjusting the time lapse knob, which while in the automatic B mode can be thought of as the time-exposure knob. This ingenious design is probably the fastest and one of the most clever time-exposure systems ever developed for any film camera ever made, including 16mm and 35mm.

 

Open the film door on your super-8 camera while in the automatic B mode and point the lens at a light source, look at the film gate and you should see light coming through, as you slide that red lever you will see that the shutter angle is affected. 1/2 normal means 1/2 the shutter angle compared to the normal shutter angle, and total black occurs if you move the red lever all the way to the right. When you move the red lever all the way to the right it now can be used either to create pure black, or to do those really cool time-exposure effects by selecting the automatic B setting.

 

Digital only "film" students don't know what they are missing by not having access to these features on an experimental basis.

[scooterbutt]

So when i have the switch moved all the way to the right and adjust the timelapse knob the shutter remains open in between each frame? or half open, this is what i am seeing

thank you

[scooterbutt]

Also in low light should I leave the exposure all the way up when using the timed exposure feature? or should i make it lower since the shutter is exposing the film for so long?

[Alessandro Machi]

Also in low light should I leave the exposure all the way up when using the timed exposure feature? or should i make it lower since the shutter is exposing the film for so long?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

You would want the shutter completely open if you are doing time-exposure. I'm a big fan of stopping down the iris a bit. Somewhere between f2.4-5.6, depending on how long your exposures are and the type of shot you are getting.

 

While I like Kodachrome 40 for these applications (with the filter out), Etkachrome works well and the vision 200 stock is a really interesting stock to try out.

 

If you shoot with the f-stop totally open usually the result is too much bleeding from the lights in the scene and an overall fuzzier shot. If you have no glaring lights in the shot than you might be able to get away with a wide open time-exposure effect.