When is a Sekonic Light Meter a Camera?

[ornate_wrasse]

i must report on my experience today at the local courthouse while going through security prior to entering the building. I had gone to the courthouse to get a document. Since they subject both you and your belongings to the type of security check that one goes through at airports, I both walked through a metal detector and gave my belongings to the security personnel to be checked for weapons, etc.

It actually was a camera bag I had just bought at B&H in New York and, although my cameras were not in the bag, my Sekonic L-308S Flashmate light meter was.

The security person pulled out my light meter, held it up for everyone to see, and announced that cameras were not allowed in the building. I then stated that it was a light meter, not a camera and I used it to measure the light since one of my Leicas did not have a meter. She acted like she did not believe what I was saying. Another security person stated, as she was still holding it for all to see, that no recording equipment was allowed in the building. I then stated it did not record anything and I used it to measure the light when taking a picture with a camera that did not have a meter. They seemed incredulous and acted like I was pulling their leg. Finally, another security person stated "it measures light". I think they then finally believed me and let me go through security.

So today, for me at least, a Sekonic light meter was a camera 🙂

 

[Richard G]

One out of three knew you were not lying. That's pretty good. The enlightened one (sorry) might be a cricket fan. That is the only time most people see a light meter now, held by an umpire in the fading light at a test match. Now if Putin, with his shirt off, was showing off his TLR skills with an old Rolleiflex…..

 

[ornate_wrasse]

The enlightened one (sorry) might be a cricket fan. That is the only time most people see a light meter now, held by an umpire in the fading light at a test match.

Hmmm not sure about whether he was a cricket fan, but I will say that he was definitely much older than the other less enlightened individuals. I don't think the less enlightened individuals were much over the age of 30, if that.
Of course, I couldn't have possibly expected a 25 year old security person to have ever seen a light meter in her short life. LOL.

 

[icebear]

You have a 2/3 chance that it is a camera :bang:.
Good luck statistics don't always win 😀

 

[ornate_wrasse]

You have a 2/3 chance that it is a camera :bang:.
Good luck statistics don't always win 😀

Ha Ha!

Too funny!

 

[froyd]

I have had very good experiences at airports. Lightmeters are not so arcane, but I was pleasantly surprised not to be subjected to a full cavity search when a mechanical self-timer rolled out of a camera bag I was carrying through security... those things sure look like some steam punk detonation devices!

 

[Richard G]

I don't dare take my Leitz table top tripod as carry on anymore. I once had the mad idea of carrying it dismantled. That would have been even worse.

 

[nikon_sam]

The last time I entered our local courthouse I was allowed to take my cell phone inside...
Every time I strap on my Quantum Plus 1 battery pack I gotta look around...

 

[pagpow]

Very interesting, Richard. That is all I carry as a support and I have been stopped twice, once in Germany, when I simply told them what it was and they packed it back whence it came. Perhaps because it was Germany, home of Leica, and another time, when a security person asked all within earshot whether anyone was carrying something that might look like a gun. I thought about it, said, "I am, and it is a tripod." "Tripod?" they asked. So I pulled out a camera and sat it on the screw. End of story. I considered myself lucky both times. Still carry it everywhere.

 

[someonenameddavid]

I was returning from a trip to East Africa and one set of purchases were four Maasai clubs for my boys: sort of long spindly things with a lump on the end. They are effective herding and fighting tools about 18 inches in length. At Newark airport I forgot to repack them into my checked luggage. So the TSA inspector pulls them out.... "What are these then?"... "Oh" says I, "They are traditional carvings by East African tribeswomen who give them as good luck emblems to their men. They are originals from the Maasai and I thought it might be good for my kids to appreciate African art"... "cool" said the inspector, thank you for explaining. Have a nice day".

David

 

[Scrambler]

It got me thinking. If you had a lot of time, I suppose you could "take" a digital photo with a spot meter by recording the readings over the entire scene. Might be a bit slow though. And low definition.

 

[finguanzo]

Reminds me of when I was going to jury duty, security would not let me into the court house because he said my electronic cigarette could be used as a weapon. Dont remember exactly, but I said something along the lines of, I can probably do more damage with this ballpoint pen than with that rounded off edge on the cigarette..
I didnt make jury duty that day, was escorted out..

 

[ornate_wrasse]

So the TSA inspector pulls them out.... "What are these then?"... "Oh" says I, "They are traditional carvings by East African tribeswomen who give them as good luck emblems to their men. They are originals from the Maasai and I thought it might be good for my kids to appreciate African art"... "cool" said the inspector, thank you for explaining. Have a nice day".

I must admit I am shocked that the TSA inspector reacted like that and did not immediately confiscate them!

 

[Scrambler]

Reminds me of when I was going to jury duty, security would not let me into the court house because he said my electronic cigarette could be used as a weapon. Dont remember exactly, but I said something along the lines of, I can probably do more damage with this ballpoint pen than with that rounded off edge on the cigarette..
I didnt make jury duty that day, was escorted out..

Well, electronic cigarettes DO have a lethal dose of a recognized poison in them ...

 

[Particular]

I used to live near the Brick Lane market in London, and pick up all kinds of ancient photo related junk. A couple of times a year I would take the Harwich-Rotterdam ferry and schlepp as much stuff as I could carry back to my parents house. One time I had a neat little leitz enlarger, dismantled, a large wooden tripod and some miscellaneous other stuff in a huge army duffel bag.
I was pulled aside by the British customs and told that they were testing a new X-ray machine. Would I mind running my bag through the machine and listing the contents so the operator could identify them on the screen.
I could hardly contain my laugh as they were trying to figure out what they were looking at.

 

[finguanzo]

Well, electronic cigarettes DO have a lethal dose of a recognized poison in them ...

He had made a stabbing motion to me while holding it, thats what made it extra funny to me..
Im pretty sure regular cigarettes have the same if not higher doses of poison in them too, but they are allowed..

 

[Rayt]

We live in an age when people only know digital cameras and most only snap with their smart phones. I live in Asia and the developing economies around here have gone direct to digital like they all have mobile phones but no landlines, and people in their 20's and even 30's wouldn't know what you are talking about. I only shoot film and there had been times when I needed to explain to airport security why my camera does not have a screen on the back. This is why I just let my film go through the carry on scanner instead of drawing attention to it. Imagine I am shooting 4x5 and some inspector asks me to open the box of film?

 

[Ko.Fe.]

It is good then security is naive and uneducated, it is bad then they are university graduates.

 

[bean_counter]

My wife and I visited London 20 years ago, before the Troubles died down. We visited the Tower of London; they had some kind of hand held "sniffer" unit at the security checkpoint, they had everybody open purses, fanny packs, etc and stuck the nose of the device inside. Presumably to detect nitrates.

Just before it was our turn, I was horrified - realized my wife had left her fanny pack at home, and brought mine on the trip. I used it hunting a couple of months before, and had dropped empty shotgun shells in it for reloading. There had to be unburned power residue all over the inside of that thing.

I had all kinds of visions of being given over to the tender mercies of British anti-terror officers... with a Celtic surname, no less.

But, no "hit" - it didn't work - or the "sniffer" was a fake, a ruse all along. We toured the Tower, and I threw away the fanny pack as soon as we got back to the hotel.

I almost called the conulate when we returned to the states, but though better of it, I was afraid they would think I was some kind of nut. Or worse.

 

[wolves3012]

Some meters, especially spot-meters with a viewing system, do look to non-photographers like a p&s camera. I can see where the confusion comes from but if they are "security" they ought to be trained to know these things. The continued absurdity nowadays in the paranoia-world is that it's hard to find someone not carrying a mobile (cell) phone and equally hard to find such a phone without a camera built-in. Are phones confiscated?

Camera-phone photos can usually be on the internet within seconds too, beyond the "delete" function for an illicit shot, whilst cameras proper with the equivalent function are not (yet) commonplace.