light meter repair?

[Jeremybm]

The light meter on my Bolex SoundMacrozoom 5120 is a damaged (F-stop needle is slow and sticky, slow motion transitions go dark, low light filming is very bad). Does anyone know if that's a repairable part and, if so, where should I look? Thanks

P.S. Don't snowboard while filming with a 10 pound camera

[David M. Leugers]

I hate to say it, but if you can find someone who can repair this (I doubt if replacement parts are available) it will wind up costing far more than the camera is worth. If your camera can do manual exposure settings, then by all means get a decent exposure meter and set your exposure manually. Once you get the hang of it, you will be very pleased and I think you'll find you can get much better images this way than relying on the mediocre auto exposure systems common to S-8mm cameras. If you just gotta have auto exposure because it fits your shooting needs, then I'd recommend looking for a replacement camera with a good working auto exposure. There are many for sale everyday on eBay. Good luck.

P.S. If you shoot 18fps, I'd recommend getting an ultra inexpensive,
but good and very reliable and easy to find for sale on eBay,
Kodak Instamatic M26 for outdoor shooting or a Kodak XL33 for low
light filming. They have pretty reliable auto exposure and take
surprisingly good images due to the Ektar lenses. Absolutely no frills
or even a zoom lens, but they are incredibly light weight and small.
perfect for taping to a helmet for POV shots, etc.

[Guest]

Thanks for your advice, David. I'm thinking I'll get a meter for the Bolex and start shopping those kodaks. Thanks again