I bought a light meter

[panerai]

Problem is. I really don't need a light meter

I bought a film camera, but never really used it. Had it serviced and light meter adjusted for modern batteries

I saw the Voitlander VC meter, but didn't want to pay the price. Not that it mattered as once I put film in the camera. I placed it in a bag and stuck on my shelf (took the battery out).

I take it every so often to look at it.

Checking Ebay for some reason. Checked on the Voit model and a similar Chinese model popped up. Looks just like the Voit model at currently 1/4th the price

I bought it. Will stick it on the camera and both will sit

When your retired. Sometimes you do things

TTArtisan ll meter

DON

 

[wlewisiii]

Been there, done that, wearing the t-shirt.

More seriously, I use a handheld meter personally, it fits my style best but I had a VC meter in the past.

 

[gb hill]

I have one of those old ge light meters. It still works. I have a Russian Lenogrand meter. Don’t use it very much but it’s a cool meter, all plastic outside.
On my old Apple 5c I downloaded a free meter I used a lot. But some reason when I went to move everything from my 5c to my 6s (which now I have to get a new phone) it never transferred to my newer phone. Now they want money for the app. When I get my new phone I probably will buy the meter. It’s really nice having one with your phone.

 

[lynnb]

When your retired. Sometimes you do things

Been there, done that, wearing the t-shirt.

LOL. I can relate to this. I must remember not to go into op shops.

 

[Godfrey]

LOL. I can relate to this. I must remember not to go into op shops.

hmm...? what's an "op shop"?

G

 

[lynnb]

hmm...? what's an "op shop"?

G

It's an Opportunity Shop, aka a charity store eg Vinnies (St Vincent de Paul), Salvos (Salvation Army), Goodwill.

 

[stephen_lumsden]

I know the feeling. I have a sekonic L-28 incident meter for MF and 2 Leningrad 4 for 35mm and still thinking about getting another L-28 as a backup, just GAS I suppose.

 

[maddoc]

Been there, accumulated a couple of Sekonic light meters over the years. Sold all of them this year but kept my oldest and most simple one, the Twinmate L208.

 

[CMur12]

I'm retired and sometimes I do things ... 😎

I recently bought a Sekonic L-408 on eBay. It looks great and it allows calibration.

I already had three Minolta light meters: Spotmeter F, Flash Meter IV, and Autometer III. The Flash Meter IV has been calibrated, so I will calibrate the other meters to agree with it.

I use handheld meters with most of my TLRs.
(Exception: My Minolta Autocord CdS-III has an onboard CdS zone/partial meter that is very accurate. I have always gotten perfectly exposed slides with this camera and its meter.)

- Murray

 

[Godfrey]

It's an Opportunity Shop, aka a charity store eg Vinnies (St Vincent de Paul), Salvos (Salvation Army), Goodwill.

ah, thanks. I always avoid those places. 🙂
I do have six or seven light meters so I think I'm all set on that score... LOL!

G

 

[Richard G]

I recently bought a Luna Pro SBC I didn’t need, with two good meters in rotation as it is, one Gossen, the other Sekonic 308.

But what I’ve learned with some purchases is that there’s more to them than meets the eye, on the screen. This new meter is a brutalist device in a leather case designed to be dragged over rocks up the Jungfrau. It uses a unique zero needle exposure determination, allowing then accessory readings to assess whether the subject‘s reflectivity fits the dynamic range of the film. I love this meter. Used it in the garden at the weekend.

I really liked your original post. Very philosophical.

 

[Richard G]

And I love light meter threads: they’re never short, no matter how minimalist and Zen they start.

 

[ChrisLivsey]

You're not serious about light meters until you have a dedicated spot meter, mine's a Minolta Spotmeter F, it's another massive complication to deal with that usually ends up with my sunny sixteen best guess 😎

 

[Coldkennels]

I grabbed one of those TTArtisan meters during the Black Friday sales.

The upgraded version fits nicely on a IIIf or IIIg. Looks neat enough, although the finish doesn't quite match the colour of the chrome of a Leica.

I thought it'd be good to replace my Weston II for low-light work. Sadly not: it gets very weird in low light and totally caps out at f/2 and 1/15 at 400ISO. It's accurate enough other than that, but like all reflected meters, you do have to be careful where you point it. For casual walk-arounds with a 50mm, it's good enough. I need a spacer to make it clear the rewind knob when it's in the second accessory shoe alongside an external VF on my Leica Ic, though.

I also have a spotmeter - a Sekonic one. Again, doesn't work in low light or with particularly dark subjects. I would test what its last useable reading is, but it decided to self-destruct; one of the glass elements in the viewfinder has come loose and it's been on the Project Shelf ever since.

I tried phone meter apps. Unreliable as hell. The one on my iPhone is right about 90% of the time. The one on my partner's Samsung makes absolutely zero sense and has never once produced an accurate reading.

Nothing beats a Weston. Nothing.

 

[DownUnder]

As a fellow retiree, I often use a Weston Master V I bought in the 1980s. It looks good with my Leica iig and the 50/3.5 Elmar. And me in my old walkabout clothes. I'm the oldest vintage item in this set, BTW...

Like many of us, I've picked up meters as I go along, often from garage sales, none of them expensive. My oldest is a circa 1950 Weston Master II still gives me entirely adequate readings in bright daylight. Two Gossen Lunasix(es) and several other Gossen meters stay mostly at home, but still go on working. I think there may also be a Gossen Luna Pro somewhere in my boxes - it's the one that takes a standard store battery. If I can find it, I want to put it to use and check its accuracy.

A few years ago I sold off six elderly meters I had lying around the house, two dating from about 1950 (they were Agfas, I think), on Ebay for about $70. Amazingly, they all worked and they all read much the same, give or take a third of a stop off. Now I wish I had kept them for the fun of using them.

Panerai's TTArtisan clip-on meter (#1) looks like a nifty small unit. If I ever find one, I'll buy it. Like many others here, I've found the similar (but likely much better) meter by Voigtlander to be a little too expensive for my light beer budget, but again one may come my way in an op shop or a deceased estate sale some day, and if/when it does I'll grab it.

After all we old-timers at the photography game can never have enough hand meters to play with...

 

[Reinvention]

Again?

 

[Coldkennels]

Again?

Never enough light meters... or light meter threads.

 

[Godfrey]

You're not serious about light meters until you have a dedicated spot meter, mine's a Minolta Spotmeter F, it's another massive complication to deal with that usually ends up with my sunny sixteen best guess 😎

Had one, found it too much work, sold it. Too expensive a piece of kit to leave sitting in the closet, at that time.
I prefer working with an incident meter with a large integrating dome.

G

 

[Retro-Grouch]

It's an Opportunity Shop, aka a charity store eg Vinnies (St Vincent de Paul), Salvos (Salvation Army), Goodwill.

Can we refer to it as a "GAS station"?

 

[Richard G]

There’s a picture of a smiling Elliott Erwitt in one of my books, where he’s holding a Gossen meter. In the text he says he uses it but It doesnt override his own determination of the exposure.

The iPhone is a great camera, not as quick on the draw as a Barnack. But it’s a lousy light meter. Too slow. I even decry the on-off button’s delay to a reading with the Sekonic 308.