A Frustrating Day

deirdre

Top Veteran
Hubby and I went out to the tidepools, where I got my Nikonos out for the first time. I should have tried to open the battery compartment before I got to the site. I may need the door replaced. It's watertight at least. Tooooooo tight.

So: no battery.

That means no meter. Uh oh.

I have no idea if any of it'll turn out. I set the shutter to 1/60, ASA's 100, and I'm using slide film. It was ASA 200 weather, pushing 400, and I had my iPhone as a spot meter, but not for underwater.

If I get any good shots, I'll call it success.
 
Hey, at least your film advanced right? ;)

So your battery fell out into the tide pool? I think we can all relate to these forced and unforced errors when it comes to cameras. Do keep us posted on how your shots worked out. You sound as though you were quite aware of the lighting, so fingers crossed!
 
Well, the film advance is manual -- so that's a good reason to have the shutter/film advance be manual.

On the battery, never could get the battery door open, so I just had to do without. At least I know it's water tight. :)

Worst case, I can fuss with photos in Photoshop, but now I need to make sure I have a battery before Hawaii. That's why we field test!
 
Oh, and: I have a bunch of silicone grease in my jacket pocket. :(

Rick (hubby) says I didn't need silicone, I was just fine without it....
 
Fascinating. Went to a camera show this morning and talked to a guy who'd toasted two of them and was selling a third in better condition than mine. I bought the nikonos handbook off of him.
 
Took camera to local camera store and the repair guy got the battery door open, but said it needed to be re-threaded. Sigh. I suspected as much, actually.

On the other hand, it did seem to be watertight. I turned in the roll of film, so should know on Wednesday.
 
1963, stopped production around 1997, but still pretty plentiful.

The Nikonos V in particular is really distinctive with the orange and black body. I was out yesterday and it was pouring rain, and people said, "well, at least you have the right camera for today!"

Yes, but my light meter (iPhone) wasn't designed for it, so I was taking pictures from under the eaves because that's where I'd metered from.
 
Wrote a long reply, then quit my browser by mistake. Doh!

Anyhow, I took it underwater last weekend, and was frustrated by the battery door, told by the repair person it wasn't watertight -- so I really didn't know what to expect. I was hoping it would be okay.

Turns out: it was, mostly.

At first, I didn't realize that the shutter also needed a battery, apparently, and that there was a manual shutter mode. So everything before that moment was mis-exposed. That said, I see some light in some of the underwater shots, so I'm going to scan and push in Photoshop to see what I come up with.

I'll try another roll (possibly something that isn't slide film) just to fool around, then I'll buy the Velvia for my trip on the 20th.

I realized I wanted a cross-body underwater camera strap, but I've never seen one. I currently have an orange Olympus float wrist strap.
 
Wrote a long reply, then quit my browser by mistake. Doh!

Anyhow, I took it underwater last weekend, and was frustrated by the battery door, told by the repair person it wasn't watertight -- so I really didn't know what to expect. I was hoping it would be okay.

Turns out: it was, mostly.

At first, I didn't realize that the shutter also needed a battery, apparently, and that there was a manual shutter mode. So everything before that moment was mis-exposed. That said, I see some light in some of the underwater shots, so I'm going to scan and push in Photoshop to see what I come up with.

I'll try another roll (possibly something that isn't slide film) just to fool around, then I'll buy the Velvia for my trip on the 20th.

I realized I wanted a cross-body underwater camera strap, but I've never seen one. I currently have an orange Olympus float wrist strap.
 
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