Low light incident meter, what kind?

[john_van_v]

I am planning to start taking portraits in the street during nighttime, probably with a Yashica Lynx 14, and it occurs to me that incident light is the light to measure, as nighttime street contrast will probably make refective metering mostly guess work.

So I will need a meter that works in low light--1/30th f1.2 to f2 with ASA 400 or 800 film, however that calculates into EV.

Any experiences would be most helpful.

BTW, I may try diafine too, which I think gives 1600 ASA to, say, Tri-X.

 

[sevo]

IIRC the original Gossen Profisix (sold as Lunapro SBC in the US) had the widest range with the lowest end ever - later high-end models all incorporate flash metering, which introduces a cell exposore time dependency at the cost of sensitivity.

Sevo

 

[furcafe]

f/2 @ 1/30th sec. translates to EV 7 (does the Lynx really open up to f/1.2?), which is actually pretty bright & can easily be handled by any modern handheld meter. I like the Gossen Digisix for its small size & lightweight (the old-school Lunapros are almost as big as your camera), but a lot of people don't like its ergonomics & build quality; I'm guessing there's probably an equivalent Sekonic.

So I will need a meter that works in low light--1/30th f1.2 to f2 with ASA 400 or 800 film, however that calculates into EV.

 

[Ronald_H]

Yes, a Digisix/flash can easily handle that. But for really, REALLY low light you can hunt for a Lunasix pro.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Any decent Gossen of the last 30 years.

Cheers,

R.

 

[john_van_v]

(does the Lynx really open up to f/1.2?)

Lynx 14 is f1.4 (duh), I was typing too fast and was thinking about my Nikkor f1.2. Lynx has a leaf shutter (more duh), which should allow for at least an extra f-stop. Plus those cameras are built! No alloys or plastics in the structure, pure steel.

I used it for night photography only once, over exposing by several stops using reflective metering through another camera. So my desire for incident reading.

 

[P. Lynn Miller]

The Sekonic L-448 will meter accurately in light so low you cannot see the shutter speed dial or begin to read the aperture ring or focus even the best rangefinder.

Good luck finding one though....

 

[Gumby]

The Sekonic L-558 will go to something like EV -4 (ISO 100), that's minus four, when incident reading.

 

[maddoc]

I do a lot of street photography at night and found that light is mostly in the range of ~ EV 5 to 7. Given the latitude of BW film (especially Tri-X) either 1/30s + f/1.4 or 1/60s + f/1.0 works quite well most of the time.

 

[P. Lynn Miller]

I will second what Gabor has written above... that light in night shooting usually falls with about a 4 stop range... using Tri-X at 1600... brightly lit sidewalks and interiorw will usually be around 1/60s at f2 with really dark back alleys going down to about 1/15s at f1.2.

If you are shooting B&W film, learning to process your film to provide a wide dynamic range will more than cover an error of plus or minus one stop. Actually the process and developer you use to develop your negatives is probably more important than perfect exposure.

Of course, if you are shooting color slide film then you are better off with a spot meter...

 

[peter_n]

For really low light measurement you want the Calcu-Light XP, EV -7 at 100ISO:

http://www.manuals.qtm.com/p10.htm

 

[philipp.leser]

BTW, I may try diafine too, which I think gives 1600 ASA to, say, Tri-X

Don't be disappointed if that doesn't work out!

I tested Tri-X in Diafine and measured its characteristic curve: It delivers a real speed of EI 400. There are basically no developers that will actually increase the speed of a film by more than say 2/3 of a stop. Everything beyond that is just pushing the film (i.e. losing shadow detail but increasing the contrast to retain normal printing grades).

You might want to try Fuji 1600, it has a real speed of EI 800 in Diafine and looks very nice.

Regards,
Philipp

 

[Trius]

Don't be disappointed if that doesn't work out!

I tested Tri-X in Diafine and measured its characteristic curve: It delivers a real speed of EI 400. There are basically no developers that will actually increase the speed of a film by more than say 2/3 of a stop. Everything beyond that is just pushing the film (i.e. losing shadow detail but increasing the contrast to retain normal printing grades).

You might want to try Fuji 1600, it has a real speed of EI 800 in Diafine and looks very nice.

Regards,
Philipp

I have seen precious few Diafine-developed shots that looked good. Those that look nice are, despite what the shooter says, likely at true ISO 250~400 ... people use metering techniques that are, shall we say, suspect.

My limited experience with Neopan 1600 is that it is a "true" 800-1000 speed film, and the good ole D-76 1:1 is a superb developer for souping it. It has amazingly good grain for being such high speed, and the tonality in low light is very, very good. See Alkis' photos on flickr, AKA Telenous.

 

[philipp.leser]

I have seen precious few Diafine-developed shots that looked good. Those that look nice are, despite what the shooter says, likely at true ISO 250~400 ... people use metering techniques that are, shall we say, suspect.

Exactly! I use Diafine for most of the films I use and like the results, but none of those films (Acros 100, Neo 400, Neo 1600, Tri-X) have a boosted speed. Their real speed in Diafine is their box speed (except for Neo 1600, which is EI 800).

I suspect that people confuse what should be an exposure compensation with a change in speed, and instead of saying "In this contrasty dark indoor situation, my meter will probably tend to overexpose because it wants to place the dominant shadowy parts of the scene into zone 5, so I'll dial in an exposure compensation of -1 or -2" they just say "Tri-X is EI 1250 in Diafine".

Regards,
Philipp

 

[Pherdinand]

Yet another vote for the calculight xp. No it's not windows🙂 I have one for some 4-5 years already, works like a charm and has both incident and reflected mode. Got mine for under 100 $.

 

[Bassism]

I have a Lunasix 3s/Pro which works quite well in low light. Measures down to -4 or so with reflected and incident light.

Its only real drawback is the fact that it's about the same size as my Leica, but I prefer using an analog meter to digital. It can also be had quite cheaply.

 

[ferider]

For really low light measurement you want the Calcu-Light XP, EV -7 at 100ISO:

http://www.manuals.qtm.com/p10.htm

2nd that. Plus it has LED read-out - helps when it's dark.

 

[Brennotdan]

I would skip the meter. Pick your location and shoot a couple rolls, bracketing exposures and taking notes. I've only done color at night and not people, but meters should be interpreted for the desired effect

 

[dof]

Because not all night-time images can be made at f 2.0 or larger, here's a vote for the Gossen UltraPro. All the low light capability and accessory-handling goodness found in the LunaPro SBC, plus a timer for longer than 1 second exposures. Can be had for a song nowadays.