I´ve been using a 6008 for over 13 years without any problems and alway had perfect exposuring results, even in dificult light situations.
When I started filming wiht the 9008 model, I noted, that in some cases, without any reason, the exposure became MUCH too dark. And I had been shure, to exclude direct sunlight or too much sky from the viewfinder´s frame.
So I measured the viewfinders angle, focussing a small halogen bulb in the dark room with several areas of the viewfinder. I found out, that specially the area OVER the upper viewfinder limit was as sensitive as the rest of the frame. That means, if one trys to exclude the sun or other lights from the frame in order to make the measurement, there is no effect at all! Beaulieu told me, that this is a specific problem that occured after discontinuing the older light sensor used in the 6008 models and that there is no solution.
BUT I FOUND A SIMPLE SOLUTION.
I took a small stripe of adhesive black paper (as used for inkjet CD lables) and placed it step by step to the LOWER part of the ground glass, until it started to appear in the upper area of the viewfinder. This way, I masked the viewfinder´s sensitive area and limited it exactly to the visible area. And the effect is perfect: after correcting the overall exposure by 1/3 stop, all results came out as perfect as with the 6008.
Pedro
Exposuring problems with 7008/9008 models
Moderator: Andreas Wideroe
Its odd that they had such a major fault in the design and that they couldnt suggest a solution. Its good that you found one though. One quick semi unrelated question, I know that the 4008's are rather loud cameras, I was wondering if you knew how the 6008 and 9008 compares in this regard. Which of them do you prefer and why?
~Jess
~Jess
Masking the groundglass
How did you put it in the groundglass? I've heard that the groundglass is very fragile and easily displaceable? I have a 4008 ZM II and would like to mask the top and the bottom to frame for widescreen.
Nasq: The 9008 ground glass is easy accessable thru the lens bracket and firmly fixed into a cubic metal frame. It´s quite easy to apply an adhesive paper stripe with a pair of tweezers.
The meter problem could only be fixed by individual masking of the ground glass (lasts about 2...3 hours of try and error, not possible for comercial production)
A general fixing, possible with a better pair of photo diodes for this small gauge is not possible, as the very good photo diodes used for the 6008 models had been discontinued by the supplyer in the beginning of the 1980ies. Why the hell this Beaulieu company must built tiny S8 cameras up to now, as the only one world wide? Some special parts are a problem when discontinued and would be for any other brand, too.
6008, 7008 and 9008 have the very same body construction and produce the same amount of noise. However, noise may differ from one particular model to another. It also differs due to some diferences in the construction of the claw spring and it´s state.
Now, after fixing the meter behavior, I prefer to work with the 9008. This particular model is more quiet that the 6008 I have. I like the 16:9 viefinder mask, that helps a lot when it comes to shoot horizontal horizon lines. The ground glass focussing of the 9008 seems to be easyer and quicker that the focussing with the 6008, even modifyed to ground glass. The 9008 allows backwinding of silent film, what I frequently use for overlapping fades. I also love those overlapping fades, that only last some few frames, substituting a hard cut. But best of all, for the 9008 I have the Angenieux 6-80 lens, that is far better than the Schneider lens of the 6008.
Pedro
The meter problem could only be fixed by individual masking of the ground glass (lasts about 2...3 hours of try and error, not possible for comercial production)
A general fixing, possible with a better pair of photo diodes for this small gauge is not possible, as the very good photo diodes used for the 6008 models had been discontinued by the supplyer in the beginning of the 1980ies. Why the hell this Beaulieu company must built tiny S8 cameras up to now, as the only one world wide? Some special parts are a problem when discontinued and would be for any other brand, too.
6008, 7008 and 9008 have the very same body construction and produce the same amount of noise. However, noise may differ from one particular model to another. It also differs due to some diferences in the construction of the claw spring and it´s state.
Now, after fixing the meter behavior, I prefer to work with the 9008. This particular model is more quiet that the 6008 I have. I like the 16:9 viefinder mask, that helps a lot when it comes to shoot horizontal horizon lines. The ground glass focussing of the 9008 seems to be easyer and quicker that the focussing with the 6008, even modifyed to ground glass. The 9008 allows backwinding of silent film, what I frequently use for overlapping fades. I also love those overlapping fades, that only last some few frames, substituting a hard cut. But best of all, for the 9008 I have the Angenieux 6-80 lens, that is far better than the Schneider lens of the 6008.
Pedro