hi all,
i just wanted to try my first long time exposure with my p45+
switched to bulb, iso 50 etc. and fire away.....the but the led didnt flash....after i stopped the exposure the LCD showed me a message telling me that the bulb mode is not supported on the contax 645..................
WHAT THE....?....
the king of long time exposure isnt able to talk to the contax 645?
anybody knows a workaround?
best regards
mirko
Hi Mirko,
Don't worry, there is a work around.
But first, a bit of background. You say "the king of long time exposure isnt able to talk to the contax 645?" - in fact it is the other way around. The Contax puts out a digital signal for timed exposures (e.g. 1/125th, 4" etc). But if you go to bulb mode beyond 32 seconds then the body does not produce these signals. Therefore the P45+ cannot know that it's still exposing. More modern bodies like the Phase One DF body provide a digital signal for any arbitrary length exposure including metered times up to an hour and bulb/time modes.
Working with a knowledgable dealer should ensure you don't unexpectedly run into such issues. I advise all our Contax clients on this issue and the workaround options (which I have outlined below).
The workaround is simple. Tape over the electrical contacts on the body (or on the back) so that the back and body are not communicating at all. Then start/stop the exposure on the back independently of the body. You can do this with a wakeup cable (to the multiport on the digital back) or with a dedicated device made by Kapture Group and carried by Kapture Group dealers (e.g. us - DT, CI, etc). The device from the KG makes the process slick/straight-forward. The process with a wakeup cable is just as effective, but is a bit more hokey.
With that device attached to the multiport of the back you would tap the device's wakeup button once, then toggle the "capture" switch to "start", then trigger the body bulb mode for the desired length, allowing the body shutter to close before then turning the device switch to "stop".