OK, now I've got questions...Canon 7

[martyr]

Hey all,

Got the manual for my Canon 7 in the mail yesterday and it cleared up some questions I had about the light meter...like, what's up with the white and orange numbers? Also, what the hell is the little round window beneath the shutter release? Oh, it's just goes round-n-round when I advance the film. Cute.

So, now I'm hip to the light sensitivity switch next to the VF window (could they maybe have made it a little easier to distinguish between the red and black settings?) but I've got a question about the row of black and white bands between the f stop numbers and the meter needle? The manul addresses this thing but doesn't really get into how it relates to the numbers and the needle. From what I understand...say the needle falls in the black area of the guide lines and on the other side f2 and f2.8 also fall in that area. Does this mean the proper exposure will fall somewhere in that aperture range?

Much thanks,
Marty

[taffer]

Well Marty, the meter on my 7 is dead, so I'm passing to the other question...

The cute fun red round-n-round ball (the eyeball), apart from reminding me of the cookie monster's eyes when he was eating cookies or talking about them (+o- always), it will tell you that film is advancing, but the rewind knob also tells you the same, ok, BUT it also tells you when the film has left the take up spool during the rewind process, useful if you like to leave the film leader out of the canister (mid roll change, ie).

[Brian Sweeney]

I will have to check when i get home. Either indicates range, or the older F-stop scale that was used before WW-II. You got me curious!

and if Canon had wanted to make it look like Cookie Monster, they should have used two spinny thingies! That would have been funny!

[martyr]

Aha! That's right, it stops spinning when the leader leaves the sprocket while rewinding.

Two spinning thingies would have been hypnotic.

[jlw]

About those black-and-white stripes on the meter dial -- they're just to make it easier to follow from the meter needle to the correct f/number.

The meter readout isn't perfectly linear, so if you just looked at the f/number to which the needle points, you'd get the wrong value.

Instead, look at the stripe in which the needle falls, then follow that stripe to the correct value. For in-between readings, use the stripe as a guide -- if the needle is in the middle of the stripe, look at the middle of the other end of the stripe for the correct f/number; if it's at the edge, look at the edge; etc.

I know, it sounds goofy, but LOTS of meters work this way. Not tough once you get used to it.

[martyr]

Great. That's kind of what I was thinking the manual was trying to tell me. I'm interested to see what the first ten shots I've taken are going to look like now. I was just going straight across from the needle to the f stop number. Probably going to be very over-exposed, assuming this camera's meter and shutter are even accurate anymore.

[stet]

well. this is good to know ...

Makes me feel a whole lot better too!