Underexposures with MEF

Hello,

I've noticed my MEF will, when used in AE mode, will often underexpose. It seems to happen in most conditions, but never in flash (where exposure is manual).

There is no indication of low batteries, though these are fairly old. Has this ben a problem for anyone else?

Aaron

If the power fails on a ME-F it may decide to shoot at 1/2000 second regardless, so that could be a cause of under-exposure.

If we were used to modern exposure meters then having sky in the shot can also cause under exposure with the ME type centre-weighted meter.

The final thought is that there could always be an electronics fault, not uncommon with these cameras.

Thank you for the repy. I think the batteries may be on the way out. I'm aware of the possibility of skyshots causing trouble, but I don't think that accounts for it.

Are there symptoms of electronic failure besides bad exposures?

Thank you,

Aaron

New batteries are always a good idea when there is any doubt.

For anyone used to modern cameras, it's also a good idea to remind them that the ASA (ISO) setting needs to be set manually - no DX coding on these cameras!

I have had quite a few ME and derivative cameras, and the usual way they die is through electronics problems. The symptoms have been fairly consistently erratic exposure or total failure.

However, they can be repaired, if the cost is reasonable compared to the very low cost of getting another one. The one xception is where you have an exceptional example, perhaps virtually unused or very nice cosmetically, in which case i would pay the price and keep it going.

Thanks once again. I'll test it today.

As a side note-yesterday I took a "new to me" old rangefinder camera with no meter out for a stroll, testing my ability to use "sunny 16", and had that roll developed along with the film from the MEF. Imagine my surprise when the meterless exposures were all perfect-and the auto ones were al bad!

Aaron

Well, I took a bit of advice from the SLR section of this forum, and rotated the compensation and film-speed dial a few times, and shot another roll. Everything worked fine-I just don't know if the problem was dirt in the dial (the camera had sat a while) or an old roll of film.

Aaron

Glad to hear you seem to have resolved the problem.

Hi,
This is a fairly common problem on the ME series and can occur on the LX as well. It is a bit more than dirt but the good news is that it is fairly easily cure with a good service. You will find that as time goes by, you will need to "twiddle" the ASA dial more and more and well as more frequently to keep the meter "on spec".

Regards
Kim