Light Meter problems Lunasix

Hi,

 

I have just bought my first medium format outfit and purchased a

Gossen LunaSix light meter.

 

All my images are coming back overexposed. I just ran a test using

my SLR meter vs. the LunaSix. Sometimes there is only 1/3 of a stop

difference on the reading. Other times it is more pronouned.

So the first my camera said 1/125 at F8, the meter said 1/125 at F9

(or F8 + 1 mark). The second test the SLR read 1/45 at F22 but the

meter read 1/15 at F22.

 

I am puzzled by the readings.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

Don,

 

Perhaps a weak battery. Try a few tests inside the house perhaps from a wall without shadows to confirm. Increase the room brightness by adding lights (lamps or overhead lighting) to check various readings. Make sure to not add your shadow to the reading and also to hold the LunaSix level when doing this(not pointed upwards or downwards). You will need to be rather close to the wall as the LunaSix has quite a wide field of view and you wish to ensure that you are only reading the wall and not averaging the whole room area. Also ensure to check against another camera just to be 100% sure it is the LunaSix and not the camera meter that is improperly working.

 

Good luck

Just curious, what target were you using for the test? The above advice to make sure you're metering a monotone surface (such as a gray card) with no shadows is good, and pretty much what I'd do too. But just clarify, if you're taking a reading of a scene with varying brightnes levels, two meters can interpret the scene _very_ differantly. That is prticularly the case if you're talking about an slr using an averaging/matrix metering and a reflected handheld meter.

 

Peter

Thanks guys,

 

I used a Kodak grey card for the first test and a landscape scene for the second. I metered the same point with the SLR and Lunasix.

SLR was set to centre weight on the same point as the LunaSix in spot mode.

 

I guess my problem is when I take my kit out the LunaSix is always causing me to overexpose. I tried this weekend metering with the SLR and LunaSix. I have taken a shot on the SLR, plus two shots with my Bronica. The first Bronica shot using the LunaSix reading and the second using the SLR reading. I used the equivalent focal length on the Bronica as the SLR.

 

Trouble is I have to wait 2 weeks to get my Medium Format shots back to do the comparision :o) And I don't want to have to carry the SLR and grey card round, the Bronica is heavy enough LOL

 

Thanks for the responses. Any more feedback is greatly appreciated.

Are you reading the lunasix at the right point? The yellow one is for straight ahead and red and green are for spot. There should be a battery check lever downside and battery is O.K. if hand reaches red field on scale as far as I know.

Not sure I cannot see and coloured marks. The battery is fine. I havn't selected flash mode :o)

Differences in meter readings like you mention are common, especially when the two meters have very different "angles of acceptance" and the scene has both bright and dark areas. I'd look at the shutter speed accuracy (Bronicas have electronic shutters though) and whether the diaphragm on the lens is stopping down properly.