just got a luna pro meter

[back alley]

i dropped by my local photo shop after work today and found a near new looking (even the case) gossen luna pro complete with the tele attachment. (7.5/15 degree)

the small white tag read $89. (cdn)
i asked for their best price and got it for 50. i was happy.

it looks straight forward enough but for the life of me, i can't remember what the 3 symbols on it stand for.
blue and red circles and yellow triangle.

any help? and does anyone know a site for a manual? i have not been able to find one yet.

and the good thing about buying local (besides a hands on purchase), it comes with a 90 day warranty.

joe

 

[JoeFriday]

very good price.. I paid $80 for mine

 

[back alley]

exactly what i need!
many thanks g'man.

the meter seems to work, i even think there are new mercury batteries in it.
(varta 625 made in germany)

joe

 

[back alley]

very good price.. I paid $80 for mine

i thought it was pretty good.

and that's canadian 50 bucks which is about 3.88 american 🙂😉

joe

 

[Todd.Hanz]

Joe, I've looked at these alot, let us know how the spot attachment works, I've always wondered if it was accurate enough.

Todd

 

[back alley]

it honestly looks like a pita to use.

i doubt that it would be of much use on the street.

but, for you, i'll play with it and report back.

joe

 

[JoeFriday]

actually, mine is a Luna Pro SBC, which might account for the higher price.. plus it runs on a 9v battery.. I'm not sure how much of a difference there is, but mine is extremely easy to use and is dead-on

 

[back alley]

sbc is completely different metering cell, mine is cds.

they both have great reps.

i just wanted another meter so i wouldn't have to keep transferring from one bag to another. i have the metrastar and the baby pilot too.

i like the feel of the luna pro so far.

anyone know what years this was made?

joe

 

[FrankS]

I had a similar meter, a Lunasix-F. I was putting stuff back into my car after a walk through the woods. My hands were full so I put the meter on the roof while I unlocked the door. I drove away, heard some thumping on the roof, and looked out through the rear0-view mirror to see something bouncing on the road behind me. I really liked that meter.

 

[kiev4a]

actually, mine is a Luna Pro SBC, which might account for the higher price.. plus it runs on a 9v battery.. I'm not sure how much of a difference there is, but mine is extremely easy to use and is dead-on

I've got the SBC, too and I like the fact that it uses the 9-volt battery. Only trouble is, it's darn near bigger than my FED 1!

 

[RJBender]

Joe, I've looked at these alot, let us know how the spot attachment works, I've always wondered if it was accurate enough.

Todd

Joe & Todd,

I bought a Gossen Variable Angle Attachment (15° /7.5 °) several years ago for $35 and returned it because it didn't work with my SBC. Try metering off a grey card and see if you get the same readings at different settings. I eventually got a good deal on a 1°/5° Multibeam attachment for my SBC and rarely use it. I usually measure incident light with the diffuser on the meter.

We can't buy mercury batteries anymore in the US. Do they still sell them in Canada?

R.J.

 

[back alley]

rj,

no mercury in canada.
i think these are mercs made in germany.

size is 625 and i have some 675 mercs still. they are smaller but can fit with some help.

joe

 

[r-brian]

I had a Luna Pro with vari-angle attachment once. I thought the attachment was fairly easy to use, kinda like a waist level viewer. I probably still have the instruction book in my drawer. Still have another Luna Pro which I need to open up and try to fix after I dropped it.

Brian

 

[RJBender]

rj,

no mercury in canada.
i think these are mercs made in germany.

size is 625 and i have some 675 mercs still. they are smaller but can fit with some help.

joe

Joe,

You can always get 625 Zinc Air Wein cells on Ebay for $3.95 each. For some reason I thought the mercs were still available in Canada.

R.J.

 

[Doug]

I bought an SBC Super Pilot in 1981, so if thu Luna Pro SBC was made by that time too, that pushes the CdS version before then...

 

[back alley]

what a frustrating morning!!

went out to meet the boys for breakfast and then veered off alone for some shooting.

i took only the 'new' luna pro and was looking forward to playing with it.
but the damn thing was reading way off the flippin' scale.

in sunlight i expected to see 250@16 but it was reading @45 and past, actually the scale would not even turn far enough to get a reading.

i was, how shall i say?, upset😉
i took a few shots (using the sunny 16) but was getting more & more pissed off.

drove home to compare with my other meters and get prepared to return the damn thing.

then i realized that i was looking at the wrong triangle, i should have read that manual a bit slower last night, g'man.

i was looking at the reading for cameras that use the ev scale instead of the yellow triangle for the plain old 30 degree reading.

don't i feel stupid...🙂

joe

 

[back alley]

i'm so embarrased...

 

[back alley]

yes!

it matches up with my tiny pilot and is very close to the metrastar.

for b&w film the two seem to work ok, so i'm guessing this one will now be ok also.

joe

 

[back alley]

there is peace in the valley

 

[JoeFriday]

in the past 3 months I've learned how 4 different meters work solely by taking them outside and using Sunny 16 and 'backward engineering' the meter systems.. the hardest was a Sekonic that, like your Luna Pro, had different indicators for reflective and incident, but it wasn't actually stated anywhere.. nor was there a manual I could refer to.. eventually I figured it out, and figured out that it was only reliable in bright sunlight where Sunny 16 was just as accurate