16 December, 2005

The Aperture Ring

There is a lot of confusion amongst new users of the Trip as to the function of the aperture ring. It's quite simple really. You set the aperture ring to "A" for automatic unless you are using the camera with a flashgun.

With the aperture set on "A", light entering the selinium cells around the lens creates sufficient electrical current to operate a coupled light meter that adjusts the shutter speed and aperture. In low light situations, it doesn't operate. In this situation, the shutter speed is set at the slow setting of 1/40 second and the aperture is fully open.

If you are using a flashgun it is necessary to override this and set the correct aperture manually. The required aperture setting will vary depending upon the amount of light the flashgun is able to project on to the subject. Flashguns are supplied with a chart, normally fixed to the unit, that give the correct aperture setting for various distances between the flashgun and the subject - the further away the subject is the wider the aperture. (The widest aperture on the Trip is F2.8).

If anyone is still confused, please feel free to submit question via the Comments link below.