shooting 200T on Beaulieu 2008s

[John Woosley]

So about to do some tests with this camera. The ASA dial has a red dot and a white dot, I assume one is outdoor and one is indoor? The manual talks about setting the opposite ASA if you wanted to use a tungsten film outdoors, what would that be?

 

In terms of the internal filter, if I put the key in the base, that disables it correct?

 

Just trying to see if I was going to do an tungsten test what settings I need to have to be most successful.

 

Thanks!

[Michael Lehnert]

Quick answer:

Q1: Yes

Q2: Yes, see Q1

Q3: Yes

P.S.: Addendum on the CdS only measuring up to ISO 100, last page here.

 

 

Long answer, given that this question is often asked by others new to Super 8 and early Beaulieu cameras:

 

The exposure index setting control on the Beaulieu 2008-series is a pretty straightforward ASA or ISO dial with a range from ISO 10 to 400. For many, it's still one of the killer features of Beaulieu as their cameras simply ignore the (occasionally inconsistent) Super 8 cartridge notch codes by Kodak, and all the problems this may cause today.

 

Unlike with later Beaulieu camera generations, the 2008-series' operational logic is built around Kodak's original default for Super 8 that one could only buy Tungsten film stock but would shoot it mostly outdoors in Daylight setting.

So: one would set a Tungsten EI, and shoot with a Wratten 85, thus requiring a ⅔ f-stop correction to gain aperture.

 

The operator manually chooses the correct EI for the used film stock by aligning it with the red dot marking, the camera's baseline setting. The white dot marking is placed at a ⅔ f-stop correction to overexpose the film, and would be chosen as marker for the film stock's EI when shooting Tungsten film stock in Daylight settings.

 

Why? Because the camera's built-in Wratten 85 gelatine filter is automatically engaged by default, necessitating that ⅔ f-stop compensation. In order to retract the filter from the film path, you insert that filter key on the side (a common method for cameras of that period, see also Nikon R10) in order to shoot Tungsten indoors or Daylight outdoors with EI on the red dot.

 

Today, you wouldn't really use the built-in gelatine filter at all without having it checked or replaced (although they age much better than thought), so have the filter key inserted all the time, and use a filter on the front lens. Because the lightmeter would then measure TTL, you would use the red dot setting and not need to compensate. But given the latitude of 7213 today, you wouldn't have to, anyway.

 

 

For the Beaulieu 4008-series:

The correct EI is aligned with the green dot marking, out of a range from ISO 10 to 400. As doubling or halving the ISO numbers is equivalent to one f-stop more or less, the ZM II accordingly provides dot markings above the dial for half- and full f-stops gained or lost. To overexpose or gain aperture, turn right towards the white dots, to underexpose or close aperture, turn left towards the red dots. On the dial itself, the markers in-between the ISO numbers refer to the equivalent of third f-stops, allowing even more accurate exposure adjustments. In that respect, the 4008-series is a uniquely didactic camera, teaching newcomers and oldtimers about the correlatives of physics in cinematography.