Bronica prism finder manual

Having gone the other way- from relying on a metered prism to using a handheld meter about a year after buying my first Bronica I think I ought to try and persuade you not to make this change. First because the meter is unsophisticated- a straightforward average meter so there's nothing there thats going to help you get to grips with variations in brightness within the scene.

Second because whilst the newer version has spotmetering I don't myself like the idea of having to disturb my framing to take meter readings from various places within the frame. I always compose first and I want to use a metering workflow that enables that not one that requires me to change it.

In fact I still use a metered prism and I do use it, though only as a sense check for my mental arithmetic with several spotmeter readings. Fact is though that the exposure I actually go with is infrequently exactly the same as my AE prism indicates. And as I'm generally pretty happy with my exposures I can only assume that if I followed the advice of my metered prism, then I may well be less happy than I am now.

Its not that the meter is inaccurate-more that a simple average reading isn't particularly useful particularly when like me you tend to use slide film. One factor you might want to take into account is that the newer prism might well be quite a lot newer and certainly when it was first introduced in the late 's carried a very large premium.

I don't know when the AE -S was introduced but it may well pre-date the introduction of the SQ-Ai and an individual example could be over twenty years old. Aug 14, 7. Aug 15, 8. They did have an impressive amount of parts for other items though. Perhaps the AE-I finder, being newer, has more parts available for it? Aug 15, 9. Apr 11, I have really no use the aperture priority feature.

To me the more you have to work at to get the picture the more fun and satisfaction you will have. So I just use my light meters. One meter you could carry and not even notice it is a GE PR2. It clips on you belt with a cable and into your pocket. Also no batteries. The prism finder along with a speed grip does make for a very fast working camera. But it really adds to the weight.

It weighs 1 pound heavier than my Mamiya But the Mamiya with a prism finder the weights are identical. You could check out the PR2 on EBay and get it cheap. It was made in but still kicking. Also have a GE meter from and also still very accurate. I agree with many of the posts above. I have an SQ-ai and SQ am. Using either with the AE finder makes them very heavy. I thought I needed one when I bought the ai a few years ago but have rarely used it.

I Iike the waist finder with the magnifier flipped up to bring it up almost to eye level my eyes aren't too good without reading glasses anyway. I still use the speed grip so it handles more like an SLR but that adds little weight. I use an old weston master V which I love and gives me consistent exposures whereas the AE prism is 1 stop off easily compensated on the back- but annoying.

Also with my eyes not being so great I find it hard to see the readout in the finder even with the right correction lens fitted. All in all I'd say stick with a separate handheld meter - and yes - get a WLF with the flip up magnifier.

Last edited: Apr 11, Apr 12, But I use two other cameras with them. Hope this helps. You don't need a manual. Here's how to use it: To install, remove the existing finder if one is mounted. To do this locate a small black button on top of the camera body. It's on the right side of the finder mount towards the back.

Hold the button down and pull the existing finder towards the back of the camera, then lift the finder off. Release the button. To install the finder, set it on top of the mount, but slightly back, and then slide it forward to lock it in place. To use, make sure your battery is good. The battery check button is a small black button on the left side of the camera body towards the top. When you push this a red LED lights up on the side of the viewfinder screen.

If light comes on, battery good. If light does not come on battery bad. On the finder are three controls. An activation button on the front, a dial for setting film speed and exposure compensation on one side, and a dial to set the meter to Automatic, Manual, or off. To set exposure compensation, hold in the silver button sticking out of the dial and turn to the setting you want.

To turn the meter on, push in the center of the dial with the A and M on it. For aperture priority metering, hold the center in and turn the dial to A. For manual metering, hold the center in and turn the dial to M. To turn the meter off, hold the center in and turn the dial to the red dot.

To activate the meter you either press the shutter release in half-way or press the button on the front of the meter. In manual metering mode the finder will display the recommended shutter speed for the aperture that the lens is set to by a flashing light.