Lucky me but needs help

Post by **Chinese Belle** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 4:09 pm

Hi guys

I just got 10 rolls of Vision 500T and 10 rolls of 64 Ekta as wedding presents from a director/dp friend of mine.

I just wanted to know if my Minolta D10 will be able to read the ASA/DIN properly for these new stock. The D10 is rated up to 640 for color stock but I never want to assume. I am gonna bring it to Grenada for our honeymoon and transfer it to HDCAM or DVC Pro HD (or 2K) when I come back.

Thanks in a advance.

Post by **mattias** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 4:33 pm

insert a cart, take a reading or something, insert a cart that you know works, like a k40 if you got one, then compare and see if it's the right number of stops between them. or use a grey card and an external meter for a more exact test but not as simple.

(hey, check you pm's. i have a question)

/matt

Post by **Chinese Belle** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 4:52 pm

Hi Matt

Thanks for the tip. I should be able to use my old meter and a digital still camera for this ( I think... I'm an editor/post supervisor and not a dp).

Thanks again!

If any one else tips or experiences they want to share... TIA

Tue Sep 25, 2007 5:37 pm

Great wedding present!!!
I take it that it was you that got married(if not please correct me) and I wish you all the best with your marriage. (I know I sound corny :lol: )

Post by **Patrick** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 11:52 am

Good to see you again, Chinese Belle. I haven't been around much lately. With regards to using a digital still camera for this test, Ive heard that some people have reported seeing exposure differences of the same subject when setting their film and digital cameras to the same shutter speed, f stop and asa settings. So this may not be an entirely 'safe' way of going about it.

Post by **Chinese Belle** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 4:40 am

So I brought 5 500T and 5 64.

So far I am overexposing the 500T by 1/2 to 1 f-stop. And 1/2 stop for the 64.

Once I get back I will transfer it to HDCAM and will post stills when it is possible.

Thanks for the tips btw - I decided to use a classic meter to test. My camera was off by -1/4 fstop. So I assume that is the within range considering the mechanics of S8 cams not being ground glass and all (correct me if I am wrong).

Since I decide to overexpose I should be ok.

BTW - should i pull develop or keep it normal? I heard you can get good results with certain stocks if you overexpose and pull develop.

correct me if I am wrong

Post by **Patrick** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 2:14 pm

With the 500T neg film, I would overexpose and develop normally. This will lead to deeper blacks and snappier contrast. Overexposing and pull processing will lead to reduced contrast.

Ummm...you sure about overexposing the 64T? As you know, reversal films don't usually handle overexposure all that well. Though I have heard of a few people getting acceptable results (and sometimes even liking the results) when their 64T is a fraction overexposed. Still, I would play it safe and expose 64T correctly. Then again, everyone's different. Have a great honeymoon!

Post by **Chinese Belle** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 6:20 pm

Well my camera (Autopak D10) does EV and not F-stop for over/under.
.5/1/1.5/2 EV steps.

I wanted to do a slight over for 64, and 1 full stop over for 500.

I end up using 10 rolls (5 for each). I am going to get it developed and either transferred in HDCAM/DVC Pro HD or scanned to image sequence.

Hopefully, they look decent. I will develop normally as you suggested.

Post by **Patrick** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 8:25 pm

That Minolta of yours sounds quite versatile with regards to the exposure compensation. More than a step above some models that only have backlighting and thats it.

I'm sure you've got some beautiful footage of Grenada scenery ready to be edited on your NLE.

Post by **MusicConductor** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 5:40 am

Chinese Belle, congrats on your wedding and a most unusual present. I've been loaned a D10 -- lovely to use, great looking design -- and it has a dead meter. Well, not dead, but reads about 3 full stops dark. Having to measure and set manually on that camera is pretty inconvenient. So I'm just curious about yours, which seems to be in great working order, or if anyone else has knowledge of this camera. It seems like lots of different cameras develop meter problems, yet others are always fine.

Post by **Chinese Belle** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 5:59 am

I have 2 D10.
Both works well. The only flaw in one of them is the contact for the extra battery pack (in order to do high speed/slo-mo) is a bit loose. So using it for 36/52 fps is a bit tricky at best. Actually, other than that, it works flawlessly. The zoom motor is actually the smoothest I have seen - and I had a lot of top grade S8 cams (Leicina Special, 1014XL-S, Nizo Pro and 6080,etc).

You cant set the fstop manually. To be more accurate, it is never *fully* manual. You can 'lock' the meter and tweak (via EV dial). But there is not dial to go up or down fully.

Also, make sure you have the shutter set to Automatic.

In my experience, meters in S8 cameras tends go bad the most compared to other features (motor, zoom, lens, etc).

Post by **MusicConductor** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 5:34 pm

What you've described is consistent with what I've been dealing with -- having to target an F-stop number by cupping my hand near the lens, then using the exposure lock. Leaving compensation set to +2 helps a little, but when the meter "moves," it moves slow and wide and takes time to settle. Not fun. But the footage looks gorgeous when shot right.

Haven't actually shot with the zoom motor because they always move too fast for my taste even on the slowest setting. The other camera I've been trying, an Elmo 612R, also is very smooth, but is even faster!