Nizo 481 Exposure Needle Not Working?

[Gillian Waldo]

I recently purchased a Nizo 481 Super 8 camera and the motor runs fine, but the needle that indicates exposure does not appear. The batteries for the camera itself and the light meter are both new.

 

I did run a battery test by moving the master switch from the black '0' forward to the black dot, and the needle will only appear then.

 

I'm probably doing something basic wrong, but would really appreciate any guidance. Thank you!

[David T. Nethery]

I recently purchased a Nizo 481 Super 8 camera and the motor runs fine, but the needle that indicates exposure does not appear. The batteries for the camera itself and the light meter are both new.

 

I did run a battery test by moving the master switch from the black '0' forward to the black dot, and the needle will only appear then.

 

I'm probably doing something basic wrong, but would really appreciate any guidance. Thank you!

 

If you switch the Exposure Control dial from Autom. to Manual are you able to make the needle appear along the f/stop scale when you turn the dial ? If you can set it manually then that's good, it means the needle is not stuck.

 

Here's a quirky thing about the Nizo 481 , from the user manual , page 11 :

 

"Note that the automatic exposure control system only operates accurately when the camera is loaded with a film cassette."

 

 

You can download the user manual here:

 

https://tinyurl.com/Nizo481-561-801-Manual

[Gillian Waldo]

The needle doesn't appear when I switch the Exposure Control to Manual. I guess I will try loading film and see if anything changes. Other than the needle being stuck, could there be any other diagnosis?

[David T. Nethery]

The needle doesn't appear when I switch the Exposure Control to Manual. I guess I will try loading film and see if anything changes. Other than the needle being stuck, could there be any other diagnosis?

 

When you are looking through the viewfinder , can you see the f/stop scale from f/1.8 to f/22 ? With some models of the Nizo cameras (such as Nizo 560 which I have) the f/stop scale is on a different plane in the viewfinder window, so you have to sort of shift your eye to see it ... this is difficult to describe, but once you've done it , you'll see how ...) So , if it's the same on the Nizo 481, you won't see the f/stop scale with the needle unless you shift your view down so you can see the f/stop scale.

 

Here is the other possibility: are you trying to test the lightmeter in low light ? If the light is too dim, and there is no film cartridge in the camera to tell it how to meter, the needle may not move beyond the red "underexposure" zone or beyond f/1.8 at the lower end of the scale. Try putting a film cartridge in the camera and then point the camera lens at a BRIGHT light source , then move it to a dimmer light ... if it's working you should see the needle move along the scale from f/22 to f/1.8 , depending on how dim the light is ...