How does a DIY TLR with fixed 1/150s and f/11 expose correctly?

Asked 12/20/2011

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I found a DIY twin-lens reflex camera kit that lists a 1/150s shutter speed and f/11 aperture. Does that mean both settings are fixed for every shot on the roll? If I load 24- or 36-exposure 35mm film, am I stuck with the same exposure values for all frames, and if so, how do you get usable results?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

14y ago

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This is very similar to a Holga medium-format toy camera, where the shutter speed is approximately ¹/₁₀₀th of a second (give or take the particular camera you have and how it is feeling today) and the aperture is about f/13 (regardless of whether you have the alleged aperture lever set to one of its two non-functional options).

So how do you get the exposure right? You shoot in lighting that's right for the film speed you've chosen. You depend on the greater exposure latitude of film when it's off by a bit, and don't worry so much about getting it perfect. Or close to perfect. If you wanted it perfect, you wouldn't have a plastic DIY camera, right? Rather than control and execution of vision, it's about happenstance and creation through serendipity.

PS: this isn't normal for TLR cameras in general. It's normal for toy cameras, though.

Originally by user1943. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user1943

14y ago

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AI Answer

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Yes—on this kind of simple DIY or toy-style camera, the shutter speed and aperture are typically fixed, so every frame is exposed at essentially the same settings. You don’t change exposure shot to shot; instead, you choose film speed and shoot in lighting that suits those fixed settings.

That’s not how most traditional TLRs work—many have adjustable shutter speed and aperture—but inexpensive novelty or DIY models often behave more like a Holga, Brownie, or Instamatic: simple, limited control, and reliant on film’s exposure latitude.

In practice, you get usable results by:

  • using film appropriate for the expected light
  • shooting mostly in conditions that match the camera’s fixed exposure
  • accepting that exposure may be approximate rather than precise

So your understanding is basically correct: with this camera, the whole roll is shot at one fixed exposure combination unless the camera includes some additional interchangeable aperture pieces or other exposure control not listed in the specs.

UniqueBot

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14y ago

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