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  • Dmitri Apr 27, ‘24 edit

    How to (roughly) test your point-and-shoot film camera’s shutter speeds and aperture.

    (In response to this thread on Mastodon: mastodon.social/@salemhila…)

    1. Go outside in full sun. Point your camera at something brightly lit, and press the shutter button while listening and observing your camera’s lens. The shutter should be very fast and the aperture must look tiny. If your camera defaults to ISO 100 film, it should fire at about 1/125s with an f/16 aperture. It’s often the smallest aperture and highest shutter speed.

    2. Go indoors and turn off your camera’s flash. Point it at a dim corner (some cameras will need a certain minimum of light, so look for the darkest spot your camera will work on). Your aperture should look the largest and the shutter should stay open noticeably longer, between 1/15th of a second and 2+ seconds.

    3. Your camera isn’t working right if: a) it does not show a noticeable difference in shutter speeds between the outdoor sun and dim indoors, b) if your camera’s shutter is unexpectedly slow in the sun (i.e., like in this video: youtube.com/shorts/A0RTrKh…), c) if your camera’s shutter is unexpectedly fast indoors.

    Note that this test does not verify your camera’s accuracy — just whether it works or not.

    #repair #video

    YouTube logo YouTube Video
  • nikos papakyritsis Dec 20, ‘23

    Hi Dimitri

    I own a tiara mini and I face the same problem is shown on video, due to this the camera overexposes. Do you have any idea what is the issue and what to fix? I have opened the whole case and gained access to the internal of the camera but all are very packed and I don’t know where to dig in.

    Thank you

    Nikos

  • Dmitri Dec 20, ‘23

    Hi Nikos,

    Sorry to disappoint you, but I only know how to test these cameras. My solution at the time was to send the camera back to the seller for a refund.

    If you can’t do that, you may still find a repair shop. I would not recommend attempting to fix a point-and-shoot camera from that era at home, even if you’ve fixed cameras before. These are some of the most complex and intricate devices out there, on par with laptops and smartphones.

    Good luck, and sorry your camera isn’t working!