mothdust, When I bought the Halina 35X I did not know what light meters were, or that they existed. I relied on the instructions on the film carton, ie sunny, f16; cloudy bright f8; dull, f4, etc. I cannot recall any slides or negative shots being over/underexposed in daylight. I might have been lucky, but I learned the hard way, I suppose. My next one was a Zenit E, before eventually getting into the field of the 'big lads cameras.' Proper slrs and the like. Got myself a Nikon FM recently at cheap price, because the meter was not responding. Used a light meter and 100% success. However, I have been told to rotate the speed dial, and also the ISO dial frequently, and now there is 'life' appearing in the meter. Some well informed and talented people here have suggested repair solutions, but when I was a kid I could not even change the tyres on my Dinky cars, so I am not going to start dismantling a camera.