Polarising filter help

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I was looking on eBay the other day for a Cosmic/Smena Symbol to add to my collection of Cosmic cameras and one advert said the camera had a 35.5mm filter fitted, as it has the same lens fitted to my Cosmic 35m I looked at mine and discovered that it has a filter thread ( I had never noticed this before). As this camera has a max shutter speed of 1/250th which in reality I think is slower and the max film speed is 320 ASA it tends to over expose in bright light if 400ASA film is used, at the other end if I use 100 speed film I then run into problems in lower light of too slow a shutter speed. I have a plan ! (suggested by Peter B) to use filters to lower light levels which will allow me to use 400 speed film in bright light and I can then remove them if light levels are lower giving a better range to the camera. The camera also has a problem with lens flare when light is side on to the camera (I normally use my hand to shield it) would using a polarizing filter help with this flare ? This would be used for colour film but what affect if any would this have if I used it for black and white ? I was intending to get a 35.5 to 37mm convertor to make use of the higher availability of filters at better prices and allow me to use the same assembly for other Cosmic cameras loaded with Black and white film.

Thanks for your help
 
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The camera also has a problem with lens flare when light is side on to the camera (I normally use my hand to shield it) would using a polarizing filter help with this flare ?
No... A good lens hood or gobo is what you need.
To control your exposure then a small set of ND filters will be ideal.
 
To reduce the amount of light reaching the film then as Peter says, an ND will prpbably be your better option.

They come in varying degrees of darkness.
 
The camera also has a problem with lens flare when light is side on to the camera (I normally use my hand to shield it) would using a polarizing filter help with this flare ?
I think you may be missing the the quirky joy of the Smena, I've had couple and the flare (and to some extent the over/underexposing) is part of its charm.
 
As this camera has a max shutter speed of 1/250th which in reality I think is slower and the max film speed is 320 ASA it tends to over expose in bright light if 400ASA film is used
Unless it's a lot slower than 1/250 I'm surprised. You can stop down to f/16 in Sunny 16 conditions, so a true 1/250 would give you less than a stop of overexposure at ISO 400, which should be easily tolerable with print film:

https://petapixel.com/2016/03/29/exposure-affects-film-photos/
 
I have seen polarizing filters that twist but hadn't realized that they all do Peter ( I've never used filters before), as pointed out the camera's shutter speed must be really slow as it will also over expose even if 200 speed film is used at 1-250th and f16 in really bright light although it is a little more acceptable than 400 speed . I'm knocking the camera some what but must admit I really enjoy using the Cosmics I have much more than my SLRS and quite often I'm really impressed with the results. I think in away that's why I like it so much. With the SLR's I almost expect the results to be good and am disappointed when they aren't where as the Cosmic's provides more of a challenge so I feel great when the results are good ( If that makes sense)
 
It may well be that the shutter is even less accurate than it was when it first built.
 
The 35M was my moms camera which I think she used a little in the mid to late 1970's but most likely it was not used after the early 1980's my sisters had the same camera and I had an older Cosmic 35. About 2 years ago after going to Whitby Goth festival and having my photo taken hundreds of times I decided to dig out my late fathers camera collection with the intention of running a few films through them to see if I liked this photography lark then sell it all and buy one of those nasty nasty digital things yuk yuk spit spit. I did try a DSLR but it wasn't for me, this means the Cosmic was hardly ever used and then was left for a good 35+ years before I put a film through it. As you say Nick the shutter speeds were probably never that accurate in the first place and then I'm guessing the springs have weakened and slowed it even further. I only tend to use it down to 1-125th any further and it is really difficult to use. It was kept in a box in it's own case and appears very clean inside so I'm guessing it's not dirt slowing the shutter. I have always used it set at infinity but this summer intend to do some testing to work out how accurate the focusing is at it's marked distances and try using different shutter speeds in slightly lower light or slower film whilst the camera is on a tripod. At least it will keep me busy.May be the apertures are not that accurate as well !
 
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