Canon 512XL manual aperture not working

Post by **DeepBlueEditor** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 9:11 pm

I have found a few really old posts about the Canon 512XL with similar problem. The manual exposure isn't working. Anyone had one of these apart or know what to look for to fix it? I live by manual exposure these days. Sure would be nice to be able to set it.

If anyone has a manual or drawing of it, or has had one apart, I would love to hear from them. Please E-mail responses to Sean(at)DeepBlueEdit.com

Thanks,

Sean

Post by **unit22** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 11:16 pm

How is it not working? I assume you can turn the knob and the needle doesn't move.

I have one where the know wouldn't pull it out, it was later pulled out but that didn't help the situation at all.

Post by **DeepBlueEditor** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 5:52 am

Yep, same thing. I think this must have happened to all of these guys. I would much rather have a camera stuck in manual mode than in automatic. I suppose the good news is these guys can handle any cartridge you toss in them.

Needle response in auto worries me a bit too. It will shut down quick but it's slow to reopen. That might have been by design however. I could see where you might want a slower reacting auto iris if you were sweeping past a hot spot.

Sean

Post by **unit22** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 12:12 pm

I wouldn't be surprised if it is not stuck in a particular mode, but a particular aperture. The needle may move, but I'm not sure if the iris will respond. Mine doesn't appear to, but mine is open wide so the camera now serves as a very suitable crash cam for gigs.

Post by **schoft** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 12:58 pm

I have to say that both my super8 cameras did NOT work at arrival. I always had to put the battery's in several times and then hitting the camera ( beat the life in it again ).

Post by **DeepBlueEditor** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 2:31 pm

I suppose if I am going to keep buying cameras, including the batch of regular 8 cameras I now have, I should rig up some sort of small photocell device I can set behind the shutter to watch the light level snd see if it is moving. I could also use that with a counter or scope to measure the frame rates more accurately as well.

I have a great old Sekonic regular 8 that someone did something to as the shutter is flying really really fast in that camera. It's at least double speed. Might make for a super slow-mo camera in regular 8 if I ever need one. I would really rather get that one fixed. Those three lens Sekonics are tanks.

Sean

Post by **unit22** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 10:51 pm

I can't really condone hitting a camera, but I guess if it's no good then it can't hurt much.

If you have lots of super 8 cameras already then that's kinda unfortunate, but a lot of the time it comes to luck when buying them.

It might not be worth the hassle of setting up this photosensitive device, I'd expect it would be rather tricky and time consuming. I'd recommend shooting a test reel that you take from camera to camera (rather than one reel for each camera). Just make sure you keep good notes about which camera is which.

On the other hand keep searching for a camera, you might pick up an entirely good one for just a few dollars.

Post by **yosemitesamiam** » Fri Feb 05, 2016 6:37 am

9 year dead thread...cool!

Just picked up a 512XL in fantastic condition. Well kept. I too though have a manual mode iris that isn't doing anything apparently. The knob pulls out fine and turns. But the needle goes to f/1.2 and stays.

In auto mode the needle tracks light perfectly. But. Does that mean the iris is functioning? How can you tell if the aperture is opening/closing? It's hard to see that deep into the layers of glass to know for sure.

Shooting some tri-X tomorrow to test.

Thanks!

Filmshooting

Canon 512XL manual aperture not working

Canon 512XL manual aperture not working

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