Sankyo EM 60XL 8mm camera with bad viewfinder

[Sean S. Chang]

Hi Everyone! My first post here. Just got myself a Sankyo EM60XL camera at a swap meet for $5. The viewfinder is bad, I can't see nothing out of it nor the light meter. I think the split mirror behind the shutter is out of position, but I can still see light through the shutter from the film compartment when running. What I want to know is, if anyone who are familiar with this brand of camera, will the faulty viewfinder causes issue with the auto exposure? I don't see any opening for the AE sensor so it must be in camera. I can manually focus the camera using distances, but with AE out of wrack also it will make getting a good picture much harder. Also, how does the manual exposure dial works? I don't see any settings on the dial. Thanks.

[Maurice Leakey]

Sean

Here are some details on the camera. It is obviously very old and the film stocks which were available when it was new may not now be still available.

As you probably know the film cartridges have notches which are read by a pin in the camera. All this was for auto use. It may not read current film stocks.
sankyo (filmkorn.org)

If you want printed manuals you can get them here.
Sankyo EM 60 Printed Manual (camera-manual.com)

[Sean S. Chang]

Thanks Maurice, but I have read that the new 50D film is compatible with the Sankyo EM 60XL so I can run a test roll on it.

[Shane C. Collins]

You can also use the current Ektachrome 100D (7294) color reversal. To expose this stock successfully you can use the backlight function. This will effectively open the exposure/f-stop by one full stop. 7294 benefits from a bit more light, so the extra stop will expose it perfectly. I use this film a few times a year and it produces beautiful colors projected!
Also to use this camera in the manual setting just turn the dial to manual. As you turn the dial you will see the f-stops moving in the viewfinder. There is a auto/manual dial on the side of the camera.

[Sean S. Chang]

Thanks, Shane for your advice. Although I can't see the f-stops moving in the viewfinder as the viewfinder itself on this camera is faulty. Therefore, I will have to do in the blind.