Does Canon 1218 have a manual apeture control?

Post by **richard p. t.** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 4:39 am

I have a customer who has shot a short film (15 rolls of 100d) with a canon 1218. His roll are comming out dark ... but with some variation. He doesn't believe the `1218 has a manual apeture control and says he shot the rolls 'point and shoot' without regard for exposure. Is there a manual apeture control (as the super 8 wiki says, and as you would expect from a high end canon camera of this vintage) and did he accidently have the camera on a fixed apeture? The first two rolls came out dark. The next two rolls were push processed 1 stop (with the clients approval) and came out darker, except for the last shot which came out correct. This makes me suspect that ther is a manual setting and the camera was on a random apeture setting. If anyone knows about the 1218, please help.
cheers,
Richard

Post by **marc** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 5:55 am

Yes, there is a manual aperture controll. The camera also requires separate light meter batteries. He might be using the wrong voltage for these batteries.

Post by **Jim Carlile** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 7:35 am

Yes, those bigger Canons back then had manual exposure option. It sounds like the auto meter is on the blink.

What were the good shots vs. bad shots?

Post by **S8 Booster** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:18 am

verify cart film speed notching. my PRO8 Fuji F100D carts were notched 160D so to speak = formidable underexposure.

cam compensated in 2 attempt.

C1014 XLS which has a +/1 exposure compensation dial in 1/3 increments,

shoot.....

Post by **richard p. t.** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 2:34 am

Yes, it takes 1.3v light meter batteries, which he had (wein, zinc-air type). The stock was notched 64d ... as I believe all companies that load 100d do ... except Kahl film I believe. (he didn't buy the stock from us, as we always make sure the material is notched to 100d). Theoretically it should have been slightly over and I would have needed to pull process.
The thing is the fellow steadfastly believes the 1218 has no manual control. If it does and he ignored it it may well have been in manual mode and there is no processing adjustment I can make.
So, can anyone tell me where the manual control on a 1218 is and how it is operated? The super 8 wiki pictures don't show this.
cheers
richard

Post by **S8 Booster** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 11:02 am

full spec:
http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/came ... 6-1970&p=2

Manual Aperture Setting Shooting at any manual aperture setting is possible. Fading out/in is possible using a ND filter and manual aperture setting together

More and more families were enjoying TV around this time. This required lenses for TV cameras to have higher zooming ratios for more powerful zooming and close-up effects. Canon also developed high-zoom TV lenses and started development of a 12x zoom lens to introduce the attractiveness of high magnification zooming to the home movie world. Automatic design using a computer reached the level for actual design work around this time, and Canon used it for the first time for development of this lens. This new technology could achieve a compact and comparatively affordable 12x f/1.8 zoom lens with 19 elements in 13 groups for 8mm movie cameras. A Ã¢â‚¬Å“multi-layer coatingÃ¢â‚¬Â was applied for the first time on an 8mm movie lens, and it could supply high-contrast images.

The body was based on the Zoom 518, but two AA batteries and a mercury cell compartment were added at the side of the die-cast exterior. A detachable grip was also available.

shoot.......

Post by **reedsturtevant** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 5:39 pm

The manual exposure control is a dial on the left side of the camera. I'm looking at one now and when it is turned all the way to one end you will see the word Auto. The camera has 5 notch sensing pins so should read most any SMPTE values, assuming the 40 year old meter is accurate

Let me know if you want a copy of the manual, I can scan one for you.

- Reed S.

Post by **richard p. t.** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 1:09 am

BINGO! Thanks for that Reed. If he didn't know about that thumb wheel then I am afraid he has no doubt exposed all 15 rolls on some random setting and there is nothing I can do to save his film. bugger.
Thanks everyone who assisted in this enquiery.
cheers,
Richard

Post by **ScottWillis** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 8:07 pm

reedsturtevant wrote:Let me know if you want a copy of the manual, I can scan one for you.

- Reed S.

I'm also having some issues getting the exposure controls to function properly on a canon 1218. Could you scan the manual for me? It'd be much appreciated!!

Post by **reedsturtevant** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 11:17 pm

ScottWillis wrote:I'm also having some issues getting the exposure controls to function properly on a canon 1218. Could you scan the manual for me? It'd be much appreciated!!

I just scanned the English manual and posted a ZIP file, there is a link from this page:

http://www.mondofoto.com/manuals/canon1218.html

Enjoy!

Post by **ScottWillis** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 6:47 am

thank you!!