ISO number and shutter speed question Voightlander Vito B

jumpfrog · Jul 22, 2015

Hi all,

I am new to photography. I refurbished my grandfathers old Voightlander Vito B recently and I have been out shooting with it. It is a beautiful old camera!

In my haste to get going, I bought the cheapest film on Amazon Prime - Kodak 400TX B&W film.

The max shutter speed on the camera is 200.

Stuff I have read online says you should match the shutter speed to the film ISO. (Following sunny 16 rule for example).

I processed my first film recently and some photos came out well, but some very bad. I am not sure if it is a film/shutter speed, a shaky hand, wrong aperture, etc.

I am wondering if I can use ISO 400 film when the max shutter speed is 200?

Thank you for some advice

tirediron · Jul 22, 2015

You can, as long as you're not in bright sunlight and you stop down. The 'Sunny 16' rule states that shutter speed and ASA should match, and f16 used in full, bright sun, f11 in indirect sun/slight haze, f8 light overcast, etc... Since your maximum shutter speed is 200 and you're using 400 ASA film, you need to increase aperture by one full stop; so in bright sun you would need to be at f22 (You probably can't do that), indirect sun, f16, and so forth. You could also invest in a one-stop neutral density filter which would have the equivalent effect to using 200 ASA film.

jumpfrog · Jul 22, 2015

Thanks, I will try these new settings

jumpfrog · Jul 22, 2015

Should I always use 200 shutter speed then?

Derrel · Jul 22, 2015

Tri-X can stand a fairly high degree of overexposure, and is a wonderful film! Outdoors in daylight, 1/200 second at f/22 in full sunlight is a good baseline exposure. If light clouds come out, open up to f/16. If the clouds darken, open up another stop to f/11. When distinct shadows appear, open up another stop. On light overcast, add another stop of light by opening to f/8. as the light grows darker, open up one more f/stop, then another. Indoors or late,late in the day/early evening, between 1/50 and 1/25 second with the lens wide-open is about right under many situations. On-line, search for something like Kodak Exposure Guide + Tri-X film.

A smart-phone-based light metering application, like Pocket Light Meter for iPhone, is a very useful thing to have; it functions as a REAL light meter!

Dave442 · Jul 22, 2015

Use an yellow filter or even red, the yellow filter will drop the exposure by about a stop and the red two or three stops. These cameras used the 32mm push on filters, try and find a set. Your grandfather probably had them.

Use a light meter app like Derrel mentioned, or a cheap handheld light meter, like your grandfather probably used, or another camera. These days its too expensive to practice exposure with a film camera.

Keep a notebook and write down the exposure your using for each frame.

limr · Jul 22, 2015

jumpfrog said:
Should I always use 200 shutter speed then?

No, not necessarily. It's just a starting point.

In bright daylight, you match the shutter speed to ISO and set the aperture at f16 as a starting point. As was said, if you only have 1/200 as a shutter speed, then using Tri-X, you'd start at 1/200 and f22, and in bright sun, you're kind of limited to that, especially since the Vito B only goes to f16. But like Derrel said, Tri-X is pretty forgiving so in most cases, that will still be okay.

However, if you are shooting in shadows or it's cloudy or the sun is starting to go down...whatever it is that means you need more light, you have options: open the aperture OR slow down the shutter. It depends on what you need for the shot.

If you want more options in bright conditions, use a slower film. There are several films at ISO 100 in both color and black and white, and Ilford also makes Pan F at ISO 50 (black and white.)

vintagesnaps · Jul 22, 2015

Nice camera, I have a Vitomatic II and a 'newer' Voigtlander.

I think you might be talking about film speed, not shutter speed. Isn't the highest ASA setting 200 on the Vito B? If you look at the manual from Mike Butkus' website on the page titled "Setting the Film Counter" it looks like that's as high as it goes.
http://www.cameramanuals.org/voigtlander_pdf/voigtlander_vito_b_donate.pdf

I usually go with whatever film was made to be used by a camera; many old ones were made before there were faster (more light sensitive) speed films available. With yours I'd probably use 100 or 125, or 200 ISO, especially starting out, and would plan on using it in fairly bright light (people do 'push' and 'pull' film but I haven't done that much and would suggest learning to use the camera before you start experimenting too much.) Use a meter to tell you how much light you're getting to adjust the aperture and shutter speed accordingly. You could get a handheld one or I often use another camera to meter a scene if I'm taking along an old camera that doesn't have a built in meter.

You probably just didn't have the ASA set to the correct setting to match the film you used. I've done that by mistake (didn't reset the ISO when I changed film). Try another roll and double check that you set the ASA to the film speed you use.

jumpfrog · Jul 22, 2015

Some great info here. I am excited to get back out there with this knowledge

wfooshee · Jul 22, 2015

Googling the camera, I see two models, one with four shutter speeds up to 1/200, and one with eight shutter speeds, up to 1/300. The camera had no metering so there's no ASA (ISO) setting to make. So that 200 you see IS the fastest shutter speed on the camera. Looks like it will go down to f:22.

These old cameras are fun, but not what you want to play with if you don't understand exposure yet. With a handheld meter and manual settings, plus the price of film, you want to KNOW that what you're doing will produce a good image!

My own first 35mm camera was a Voigtlander Vitessa, a folding rangefinder. My dad passed it to me when I went into college, he'd bought it new when he was in the navy in 1952. He handed me the camera, a Weston meter, and told me to shoot Kodachrome. Now Go!

I still have it, and it still works. No clue as to the accuracy of the shutter speeds, though.....

jumpfrog · Jul 23, 2015

My camera is the one with the max shutter speed of 1/200 and max aperture is f:16.

It is a bit costly to practice with but when an image comes out well it is really satisfying.

Considering it was built in 1954 or thereabouts, it is very well made!

It would be great to get some feedback on my photos. If anyone is willing please let me know and I will upload. I am not sure what exactly happened with the bad images but it would be very useful to know.

limr · Jul 23, 2015

jumpfrog said:
My camera is the one with the max shutter speed of 1/200 and max aperture is f:16.

It is a bit costly to practice with but when an image comes out well it is really satisfying.

Considering it was built in 1954 or thereabouts, it is very well made!

It would be great to get some feedback on my photos. If anyone is willing please let me know and I will upload. I am not sure what exactly happened with the bad images but it would be very useful to know.

Of course, throw them up! You can put them up in this thread if you want, since it's related to your question about the camera, but in the future, you can also start threads for photo critique in one of the Photo Galleries (Photography Forum) or in the Film Photography section (Photography Forum)

vintagesnaps · Jul 23, 2015

There you go, she beat me to it.

If you put 400 ISO film in the camera and had the ASA set to 200 that's most likely the problem, although there could have been other settings that also affected exposure.

You've gotten me to get out my Vitomatic, which I haven't used in awhile and discovered I left film in! of what I don't know.