Mamiya 7 meter no reliable - alternative..Handheld or Digital Camera?

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BOD

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Hi,
First off, I apologize if this has been covered in other posts already, please feel free to scold me and send me in the right direction if that is the case! 🙂
I use both a Rolleiflex 3.5F and Mamiya 7 when I want to shoot film, and I do pretty well with exposures, but not always correct.
I absolutely love my Rollei, but bought the Mamiya 7 as I wanted something that I could use with reliable metering in-camera for much quicker use for street photography etc.
I have found that first few rolls I shot on my Mamiya were underexposed by about 2 stops, and since did testing on the meter, and found it to be just that, 2 stop off compared to my Sekonic meter.
This is frustrating, as I wanted this camera for it's metering capability (as well as sheer picture quality).
I have since had to dial 2 stop compensation in when shooting, and it works for the most part, but the amount by which it is off is by no means linear as I move up through different speed films. Again, this is hugely frustrating not being able to rely on what is supposed to be a very accurate spot meter.
So, on to my question. I do use a Sekonic L428 for incident light readings, but I would like a good spot meter for determining max/min exposures for landscapes etc.
I was looking at the Sekonic L-508 which seems more than capable in this regard, but I am asking the age old question - will my 5D Mark II's spot meter do the same job?
I dont really want to always have to lug around my digital camera to shoot film, it defeats the purpose, but I dont want to shell out $300+ on a digital handheld meter if my 5D MKII is good enough!
What do I need to take into account when using a digital camera for spot metering for film, such as lens focal length etc?
I want to shoot 120 slide film on both my Rollei and Mamiya, but I dont want to be second guessing my metering from the Mamiya 7 and wondering if the shot is going to be ruined or not. Yes, I know I can bracket, but I am just looking for a reasonably consistent solution.
I am perfectly willing to invest in a good handheld spot meter if that's the advice I get, I just dont want to if I can use my 5D MKII or 1DIII
Thanks in advance for the help!
Bren
 
Not had a similar problem and put a good bit of positive color film through both Mamiya 7 and 7II. Service.. if reading off of a gray card doesn't get you close to incident.
 
It's certainly one option, and I will eventually get that done I imagine.
However, I would probably still prefer to meter with something I can absolutely rely upon.
Will a 1deg handheld spotmeter be more accurate for film than a digital SLR (which probably has a much wider angle for spot metering)?
I did a little exposure test with my Mamiya vs Sekonic 428 vs 5D MKii the other day, and the results were only matched in a handfull of scenarios, sometimes the 5D measured up to 4 stops different than the handheld incident meter, but when the shot was taken, it was properly exposed.
This worries me!! Is my meter off, or is it metering correctly for film? (Should it be any different!?)
 
Aside from my still valid question above regarding handheld vs digital camera spot metering (which I'd still love to get some feedback on), can someone recommend where I should be sending my Mamiya 7 for servicing?
Thanks
 
I found the Mamiya 7 meter excellent for slides, especially with the shutter being essentially stepless in ae mode.

If you really want to look into external spot meters and mainly shoot slides, try the Minolta Spotmeter M. It has a setup for highlights/shadow metering that is calibrated for slides. Meter the shadows where you want detail and it gives the exposure. Likewise with highlights. Should cost < $150 on the bay.
I don't trust the ISO ratings in my digital, seems worse at the low end. Better to calibrate your workflow on a spotmeter that will last/ be around for a long time.
 
arpinum said:
I found the Mamiya 7 meter excellent for slides, especially with the shutter being essentially stepless in ae mode.

If you really want to look into external spot meters and mainly shoot slides, try the Minolta Spotmeter M. It has a setup for highlights/shadow metering that is calibrated for slides. Meter the shadows where you want detail and it gives the exposure. Likewise with highlights. Should cost < $150 on the bay.
I don't trust the ISO ratings in my digital, seems worse at the low end. Better to calibrate your workflow on a spotmeter that will last/ be around for a long time.
Click to expand...

I disagree. I shot 4x5 velvia for about 5 years and used my nikon D70 and later D200 as a meter. Once you figure out how accurate the digicam is (and yes you need to "waste" a few sheets/rolls to figure this out) it becomes surprisingly good. The instant "Polaroid" aka LCD screen makes it almost foolproof. In the 5 years that I shot 4x5 (a embarrassing amount of film) I didn't have a single shot spoiled by bad exposure because I used a digicam as a meter. It worked so well I got rid of my pentax spotmeter!!

If you already have a digital camera try it. It won't hurt, and you'll save yourself unnecessary expense.
 
stompyq said:
I disagree. I shot 4x5 velvia for about 5 years and used my nikon D70 and later D200 as a meter. Once you figure out how accurate the digicam is (and yes you need to "waste" a few sheets/rolls to figure this out) it becomes surprisingly good. The instant "Polaroid" aka LCD screen makes it almost foolproof. In the 5 years that I shot 4x5 (a embarrassing amount of film) I didn't have a single shot spoiled by bad exposure because I used a digicam as a meter. It worked so well I got rid of my pentax spotmeter!!

If you already have a digital camera try it. It won't hurt, and you'll save yourself unnecessary expense.
Click to expand...

You're right that you should be able to calibrate your dslr to the m7, but I never got good at it. Never terrible, but up to 1/2 stop off. Spotmeter turned out to be much more foolproof for me (no maths needed). Easier on the back as well.
 
BOD said:
Interesting...
I'm curious however, would this work with varying ISO values on the DSLR?
Click to expand...

Well I just stuck with the base ISO. 100 for the D70 and 200 for the D200. Didn't really try different ISO's. The important thing here is to also carefully adjust the LCD brightness so that you won't be fooled. When i "reviewed" the meter reading I always did this underneath the dark cloth to stop glare from influencing my judgement. I guess the newer digicams would not suffer from this issue since the LCD's are now that much better.

I did use ISO1600 to meter scenes where the actual exposure went for quite long. However any error on my part was covered since these were scenes that needed exposures running in to minutes. Otherwise it was a simple bit of mental math to get the right exposure. If your sticking with ISO 100-200 film then no mental math is required. It's just that I liked velvia 50 and none of the digital cams go down to 50 base ISO.
 
Sekonic Twinmate is cheap and good, but I prefer the VC METER II, so simple, but pricey for what it is. If you can find one at the right price, I think it's a great little device.
 
Thanks for all the replies.
I might see how the 5DMKII is calibrated to my light meter at ISO 100.
How do you think my little Canon S100 might fair as a spot meter, it's so compact that it would be fantastic if it was able to give me accurate readings too!?
 
Replace Mamiya 7 with Mamiya 6 Meter?

Replace Mamiya 7 with Mamiya 6 Meter?

Hi All

I own the 7ii and have found it tricky to routinely get the correct metering using the camera because the 'spot' is not marked in the viewfinder. I use a Minolta Spotmeter because it is more accurate to 'aim'. Has anyone tried to replace the Mamiya 7ii spotmeter for a Mamiya 6 average meter? Could make it easier to shoot quickly, and I can still use the Minolta Spotmeter for slower more considered work.

Hope someone can advise! Thanks in advance.

Best, John
 
Last edited:
BOD said:
Interesting...
I'm curious however, would this work with varying ISO values on the DSLR?
Click to expand...

Yes, provided that you manage to figure out what ISO the camera chose to use, and recalculate your data for each exposure. That is, none of my DSLRs display the actual ISO value on the primary information superimposes on displayed images, you always have to browse through the menu - and when you have found the ISO, you still have to calculate your film exposure from ISO, speed and aperture. There is no good reason to do so, given that you can also set a fixed ISO value that is identical to or at least at a constant ratio to your film speed.
 
BOD said:
Aside from my still valid question above regarding handheld vs digital camera spot metering (which I'd still love to get some feedback on), can someone recommend where I should be sending my Mamiya 7 for servicing?
Thanks
Click to expand...

These guys are the best:
http://www.precisioncameraworks.com/

You may want to consider doing a full c.l.a. at the same time. They will most likely ask you to send your lenses along as well. It's worth it as Bob and his crew do top notch work.
 
I am surprised that nobody has asked which lenses you use on the Mamiya. Fact is, that the area being metered in comparison to the frame-size being shot will differ depending on the lens you use. In other words, the meter always meters the same spot, and with a wide-angle lens this becomes almost a spot-meter, while with the 150mm it would be more of a center-weighted meter.

Here is for example just one post that mentions this:
http://www.apug.org/forums/forum51/50748-mamiya-6-7-metering.html

I have both the Mamiya 7II and the Plaubel Makina 670. I had the Plaubel much longer, and metering was always very good. On a recent trip I took the Mamiya with the 50mm and 80mm lenses, and thought I would get at least similar results in terms of the metering. But that was not the case. Most slides were underexposed. The lens shield curtain also caused some light leaks--overall I was quite disappointed.

I had my Mamiya's rangefinder fixed a few month ago at precision camera, and I can also recommend their service. I did not have a problem with the focusing at all after the repair (which was the only thing they serviced).

Nevertheless, I suggest you check out how the Mamiya meters by checking it more like a spot meter... you will hopefully get better results.
 
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