Favorite <compact> Light Meter

[BillP]

RE: Bill P raises something I've been wondering about

Can anyone tell me why I shouldn't use my smallish digital camera as a light meter? I have a Weston Master II and a Master IV, both working.

But I find my Lumix LX1 with its choices of spot, matrix, center weighted to work pretty well, too. It's main liability is its inability to use a shutter speed longer than 60 secs or an f stop above f8, so I end up calculating long night exposures in my head sometimes. I end up using the LX1 quite a bit to meter or proof for a film shot in situations where I have time to set up.

Hoorah! Another who has seen the light!!

Regards,

Bill

 

[Papa Smurf]

Resurrected Gossen pilot

Resurrected Gossen pilot

The Gossen Pilot is just the handiest thing since sliced bread. Small, light unobtrusive and for most situations, accurate. It was a recent purcase from e-bay, a grey cased version. It arrived DOA. After much debate, I disassembled, cleaned all of the light path surfaces with eye glass cleaner, and reassembled it. Amazingly, it works and in average light reads in between my two Gossen Luna Pros. Maybe the selenium celled light meters that are no longer accurate just have a film of grundge built up on the interior surfaces. Maybe even the dead ones could be revivied as mine was?

I have a thing for exposure meters so I have three hand helds at this time and none agree!. They all read close, within one stop total spread. For you guys with multiple meters, how much variance between meters is typical?

 

[lawrence]

For you guys with multiple meters, how much variance between meters is typical?

I recently tested five meters (mostly in-camera) and, like you, got a variation of about a stop:

Nikon FM2 <EI 800>
Bessa T <EI 800>
M6TTL <EI 640>
Gossen Profisix <EI 560>
M5 <EI 400>

 

[crawdiddy]

The Gossen Pilot is just the handest thing since sliced bread. Small, light unobtrusive and for most situations, accurate....

I have a thing for exposure meters so I have three hand helds at this time and none agree!. They all read close, within one stop total spread. For you guys with multiple meters, how much variance between meters is typical?

I purchased a Gossen Luna-Pro F when I started shooting rangefinders. I bought it from ebay, and had no idea it was so large before it arrived. I've been very pleased with the operation of the Luna-Pro, and the accuracy. My version has the 9v battery-- that was important, because I didn't want to futz around with Wein cells, or alterations. I think it uses a Silicon Blue Cell. But the size? It's huge. Just about as big as my Leica IIIf.

That's when I posted this thread. I needed a compact meter. I ended up with a Gossen Pilot. It's the one with a grey case. Blue felt lining, selenium cell, probably the same version you just got. It seems pretty accurate. Sometimes it reads about 1 stop below the Luna-Pro. I've also compared the 2 handhelds to one of my Canon F-1s (old F-1), because I've learned to trust them. The Luna-Pro is always very close to the F-1. I have wondered if the discrepancy between the Pilot and Luna-Pro is due to difference in angle. The Pilot, with it's bumpy glass lens is probably gathering light from a fairly wide angle, and averaging it. At least, that was my assumption. Anyway, I would tend to agree with your findings. Generally both are within plus/minus 1 stop, although I have seen 2 stops difference. And of course, the Luna-Pro is more sensitive, so I can't fault the Pilot there. You can only do so much with Selenium.

 

[Papa Smurf]

Thank you Lawrence and crawdiddy

Thank you Lawrence and crawdiddy

And of course, the Luna-Pro is more sensitive, so I can't fault the Pilot there. You can only do so much with Selenium.

That was my assessment as well. Selenium does have its limitations, that might be why it is hardly used these days. On my Pilot, it was the lens assembly that seemed to be the culprit with a light film on the backside of the lenes. Darned time consuming to clean each and every one through the mask!

Thank you Lawrence for your test results, I too have checked my cameras against my handhelds and it is gratifying to know that someone else had similar results, about one stop plus or minus. One never knows if bad luck and fate has left one with bad examples of whatever they are testing.

 

[MikeL]

My wife just surprised me with my Christmas present early, a Sekonic Twinnmate L-208! My Gossen was all beat up and she noticed. So naturally I have to vote for what I have. The meter is tiny.

 

[Paul K]

Weston Master V

Weston Master V

This is what's in my bag most of the time. I have the incident dome and after sending it to Quality Light Metric it works like new. I like seeing all of the shutter and aperture options at a glance on the dial. I also have a Sekonic 308s for flash and studio work.

 

[crawdiddy]

Interesting experience, Papa Smurf. I've heard others say that old Selenium meters can be repaired simply by "cleaning the crud" off the translucent surfaces. I may give that a try with mine.

I also have a couple of Canon 7's with Selenium meters. The meters work, and they're pretty accurate in low to medium light. However in bright light, they register on the dim side, resulting in overexposure. I'm tempted to try refurbishing them, but I've been chicken so far.

 

[Zathras]

I like the Sekonic L-398. I just seem to get a better percentage of good exposures with an incident meter. It is a small meter, and I like way that the swivelling head makes it easier to take a reading while keeping the calculator dial visible.

Mike

 

[Papa Smurf]

Rewarding endeavor

Rewarding endeavor

Interesting experience, Papa Smurf. I've heard others say that old Selenium meters can be repaired simply by "cleaning the crud" off the translucent surfaces. I may give that a try with mine.

I also have a couple of Canon 7's with Selenium meters. The meters work, and they're pretty accurate in low to medium light. However in bright light, they register on the dim side, resulting in overexposure. I'm tempted to try refurbishing them, but I've been chicken so far.

Somewhere I read that if the selenium cell IS dead, that it can be replaced with an appropriate sized solar cell from a pocket calculator. Opaque paint can be used to tone down the cell's out put until it is in balance with the meter. Probably swapping out the resistor and capacitor for ones with the proper load charateristics would be a more professional way to do it. I have long ago parted with that kind of testing equipment so if cleaning did not work, I was prepared to cannablize an old calculator and just paint away untill it was callibrated.

Best of luck with your Canon 7. I have read that they are a nice user camera and I have wanted one for some time.

Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first.:bang:

 

[Rjackson]

Sekonic L-508 - not small but fits in my back pocket - has zoom spot, flash, and dual ASA modes. There are times I would like something smaller but this works so well that I have stuck with it.

 

[erikhaugsby]

Is there no love for the Sekonic L-208?

 

[maddoc]

Sekonic L-508

Sekonic L-508

Sekonic L-508 - not small but fits in my back pocket - has zoom spot, flash, and dual ASA modes. There are times I would like something smaller but this works so well that I have stuck with it.

I just bought that one (used), too. The zoom spot together with the memory- and average function is awsome ! It is not small, but I want to use it with my Hasselblad and tripod so not big problem. For everyday use the Gossen Digisix really does the job.

Happy New Year to everybody !!

Cheers,

maddoc

 

[le vrai rdu]

Is there no love for the Sekonic L-208?

I will have one by the end of the week

 

[Quercus]

Favourite may be a different thing to best/accurate - For me you just cant beat a Lenningrad especially if you can get one with that beautiful leather case.

They work (within limits) are dead easy to use and for most shots unless i have the time to spend taking multiple spot readings with a pentax then for rangefinder use and especially manual RF use they are very fast to use - check it every now and again as i move about and just make sure that shutter speed and aperture are then always set to a "useable" for my first shot

 

[photorat]

I too am in the market for a reliable compact hand-held or shoe-mount meter since mine died recently. I have a Gossens Bisix 2 in the cupboard whose needle seems to
move over the whole range. However I seriously question the accuracy or even usability of these old selenium meters in low light. At ISO 400, the slowest shutter speed it seems to meter at f/2 is 1/125s. Slower than that and you're quickly off the scale. But almost any dimly lit indoor setting will require greater exposure than that.

Given this, I'm wondering whether the analogue Sekonic L-208 is any different. Any experiences in low light, good or bad? Aesthetically and pricewise, this looks to me like the pick of the offering but it would have to work indoors otherwise it's useless to me.


Jeremy

 

[wolves3012]

Weston Master IV here, with a III for backup should I need it. They give the same readings and agree within maybe 1/2 a stop with other meters I have (in-built in a FED 4, FED 5, Minolta X-700 and my digital). The III doesn't agree at very high levels (unrealistically high ones, like direct sun). If I adjust any meters I tend to take the X-700 as the "reference".

 

[wolves3012]

Somewhere I read that if the selenium cell IS dead, that it can be replaced with an appropriate sized solar cell from a pocket calculator. Opaque paint can be used to tone down the cell's out put until it is in balance with the meter. Probably swapping out the resistor and capacitor for ones with the proper load charateristics would be a more professional way to do it. I have long ago parted with that kind of testing equipment so if cleaning did not work, I was prepared to cannablize an old calculator and just paint away untill it was callibrated.

There is a downside to using a calculator cell. They're designed to produce maximum output, regardless of lighting conditions. This means they're blue-sensitive, a characteristic of the silicon cell. Selenium meters are good because the cell "sees" light in a very similar way to film. Putting a calculator cell in might render it over-sensitive to blue and under-sensitive to red.

Commercial silicon photo sensors have a blue-filter (often built in to to the actual sensor to tailor the light-response - hence the silicon "blue" diodes in cameras).

 

[Anglekat]

Another Weston Master V

Another Weston Master V

Got it dirt cheap & near mint (less than a tenner) with a case & cone.

Compared with my other meters (2 in camera) it`s probably no more than half a stop out either way.

It`s made of shiney metal & a beautiful object, i get a lot of pleasure from using it.

 

[Nokton48]

Minolta Autometer II. It's an incident type meter, that I used twenty years ago with fantastic success, with my old Leica M2. I recently bought four of these (cheaply) on ebay last year. Took them to my local repair guy, and none of them work correctly, or can be fixed. Just bought a -perfect- one from the RFF Classifieds (for $50).

The perfect compliment to my -perfect- new button wind Rapidwinder-equipped Leica M2. WHIR-WHIR....