Light meter?

Do people use light meters nowadays? Or is there some phone app that would work? I'm thinking about getting an old camera that doesn't have metering. Or do you guys just eyeball it? :)

Lots of discussions on this topic. Many people use phone apps, many people using older cameras w/o metering use hand-held meters, accessory clip meters, and the sunny-16 (or 11 depending on where you live) rule.

My Lightmeter for phone app, but I have all bases covered :)

Do people use light meters nowadays? Or is there some phone app that would work? I'm thinking about getting an old camera that doesn't have metering. Or do you guys just eyeball it? :)

I do -- I have a Gossen Digisix bought new ten years ago, and a Sekonic L508 spot meter I bought used. The Digisix is very small and light (although it has an appetite for CR2032 cells -- don't know if the current Digisix II is any better in that regard. The spotmeter is considerably more costly, probably overkill for most casual work.

 

I also have a couple of phone apps (on iPhone 6s) that appear to work, though can't say I've tested them extensively. The apps tend to allow a broader range of apertures and shutter speeds which is handy for pinhole work. All that said, you can wing it with Sunny 16 or Sunny 11 and eventually develop a feel for what to use. A meter is more reliable (or should be!). At least one of the apps allows saving a screen shot showing a thumbnail of the scene, the date, time of day, exposure data, *and* the GPS coordinates. For a workflow that has no built-in EXIF data, that can be handy for sorting things out afterward if you're wandering around a large area doing a lot of shooting over multiple days.

I use a Sekonic L308S. I have an app on my phone but it only does reflected light, and I like an incident reading, mostly.

I have a Weston Master V which has stayed with me for many years (even getting rescued from the fire), and gives me the accuracy I want, plus being helpful when I feel motivated to use the Zone system.

Doing film photography with classic cameras, there are loads of unknown quantities. Exposure needn't be one of them. It doesn't make sense to guess about exposure as modern exposure meters are accurate and reliable. I've got a Polaris digital exposure meter which I trust and use with many old cameras.

Eyeballing the light is pretty useless for assessing exposure, but you should get into the habit of looking at the quality of light, just not its quantity.

 

I would strongly recommend a separate meter that has an incident measurement mode, or that takes an incident attachment.

 

Unfortunately there aren't many used meters that I'd be happy to recommend. Cheaper ones use a selenium cell and are almost guaranteed to be non-working or inaccurate. Or they take an obsolete battery, or use a delicate moving-coil meter - or a combination of the above.

 

What's left are generally more modern digital display meters that consequently are more costly.

 

I have only a few recommendations that can be picked up at a reasonable price. (Paying a few ££ or $$ for a camera and several hundred for a light meter seems ridiculously disproportionate to me)

 

Anyhoo, here's my recommended list:

Minolta Autometer iii, iv or F versions - with incident dome attachment.

 

Quantum Calcu-Light X or XP - but check the battery contacts for corrosion.

 

Sekonic L358 'Studio Deluxe' - Selenium powered but generally reliable.

 

Weston Master model iii - No later! And preferably with invercone kit. Models iv, v and Euromaster were fitted with a poorer quality selenium cell that 'dies' readily. The old model iii is the only one calibrated in ASA/ISO speeds and that has a fairly robust selenium cell.

 

Most Gossen meters of any vintage that don't take an obsolete mercury cell. Unfortunately, this rules out a good many otherwise decent models.

 

A quick check for accuracy is to switch a meter to its 'Low' scale and find somewhere to point it that sends the needle or readout to full-scale. Then switch ranges without moving the meter and check that the number indicated stays the same, or very close.

 

Lightmeter phone apps are apparently reliable and accurate. Not sure about using one for incident light though, since there's no diffuser attachment. You can also use a digital camera as a lightmeter, if your sense of irony will let you!

Edited December 30, 2018 by rodeo_joe|1

Lumu offers incident readings with their iPhone app, however their hardware is priced like a brand new lightmeter from Gossen or Sekonic.

 

My first handheld lightmeter was a very old Weston Master II and I had a Minolta Autometer IVF for many years. I do not think you should look for a more expensive lightmeter than say a used Minolta or Sekonic 308. In general, the more expensive options are more for people who know why they need them.

 

If your ambition is just to snap away for fun, a fleamarket find, like an old Weston, might suffice. If you do want to test manual photography more seriously, I would suggest you look for a Minolta Autometer III/f, IVF or a used Sekonic 308 on eBay.

The best hand-held meters are still very useful. The Gossen Luna-Pro SBC is one of the very best.

The gadget next to it is an early "extinction" meter-- they are now definitely extinct.

 

On the other hand, C-41 CN films and most other films have enormous latitude, so the Sunny-16 method (link) is usually just fine. Only slide films really call out for an accurate meter, nowadays.

 

If you stick with only a few films, particularly, it doesn't take long to get a sense for the existing light.

Phone apps seem so so to me. I spotted one working fine on my Medion tablet but unfortunately that device got bricked. - I am not happy with the same app triggering the artificial shutter sound of my elderly low end Samsung for each & every reading. My new Lenovo tablet doesn't seem supported by free light meter apps currently in the Android store.

I wouldn't like to shoot according to an app but I recommend installing them for situations when you might end pondering or dry-swimming a shot and carrying your smart device anyhow.

 

If you are going to buy a real meter ponder getting something capable of flash metering. It is probably cheaper to get such right from the start instead of later, when you need it and already have a continuous light only meter.

I've had good luck with Sekonic meters-- an L 518 and L 718 that are almost 30 and 20 years old, respectively. They are accurate incident, reflected and flash meters and run for a long time on inexpensive AA cells. Some of my students have had decent luck with smart phone apps also. And while JDM is right that negative film has a fair amount of exposure latitude, it is still a lot easier and more satisfying to start out with a well exposed negative than one that is way off.

In general, the more expensive options are more for people who know why they need them.

 

- And for a great many more that don't! :cool:

Get a meter and learn how to use it. There are so many available today at good prices there is no reason not to have one.

How long do the batteries last, and which meters should I avoid because they have odd batteries? I've been reading about quite a few, and many seem to have strange batteries.

I own a couple of Soligor 1deg spot meters, one converted by Zone VI, and they're really accurate. I also own a Pentax 1deg digital spot, also converted by Zone VI, and it's my "go to" for my Hasselblad. BTW, all three meters read within 1/3 EV of each other. I also have a Gossen Luna Pro SBC which is superb, and a Sekonic L508. The batteries last forever, since they're either AA or 9V.

 

I have metered finders on both my Hasselblad and Bronica SQ-A, but those are not nearly as accurate as the hand held meters.

 

I also shoot 4x5, and wouldn't think of venturing out without one of the spot meters; even with C41 film.

Avoid Gossen Lunasix 3 (Mercury cells)

If Gossen: Lunasix F / Profisix / Digisix (all 9V block) And maybe their export versions were named differently for confusion's sake.

I am currently neutral about Gossen; an obvious drawback of utilizing 9V blocks is that you might end having to solder a fresh attachment clip for those on your meter.

Maybe sekonic are the way to go these days?

Gossen Profisix with 1° spot attachment is bulky and OK for a concert shooter just metering on a skin tone but sucks for zone system, since you can't read it while aiming. - In that case I'd prefer Soligor 1° spot meter.

I found a nice Weston Ranger 9 at a reasonable price. I had it calibrated and converted to 1.5 volt battery by Quality Light Metric Company and am very pleased with it. Before the Ranger 9 I used a Weston Master III which also worked very well.

I much prefer a 1 degree spot meter than the other types like the Luna Pro. With a 1 degree spot meter, you can meter a "neutral gray" area and get a proper exposure, unaffected by very bright or very dark portions of the scene.

I much prefer a 1 degree spot meter than the other types like the Luna Pro. With a 1 degree spot meter, you can meter a "neutral gray" area and get a proper exposure, unaffected by very bright or very dark portions of the scene.

 

- Hmmm. So exactly like an incident reading then?

 

And who or what tells you a particular area is 'neutral gray'?

- Hmmm. So exactly like an incident reading then?

 

And who or what tells you a particular area is 'neutral gray'?

 

The best way to approach light meter readings is IMO, to learn the Zone System. That way, you know approximately what a "neutral gray" looks like, even though you are seeing everything in color. Once you isolate a neutral area of the scene, meter it and use the recommended exposure to take the photo.

 

IIRC, rodeo joe doesn't care much for the Zone System, yet somehow it works for me and many others.

Amplifying my earlier post ... both the Digisix and the Sekonic L-508 can incident meter, which is what I mostly do. And in regard to a comment upthread about batteries, my Digisix (acquired circa 2006) uses a lithium coin cell (CR2032) -- and I doubt a common 9 volt battery could even fit inside the case, the meter is quite small. I think the later, big handful, Gossen meters do indeed use a 9 volt. I have an original LunaSix which used two mercury button cells, but the meter movement coil appears to have opened, so it's just a paperweight.

Thanks [uSER=2166925]@dave_thomas|8[/uSER] / sorry I mixed meters up thedigital 9V one, I had in mind, is a late 80s Variosix F

IIRC, rodeo joe doesn't care much for the Zone System, yet somehow it works for me and many others.

 

- Yeah, film latitude will do that for you. And incident metering works for countless photographers equally well or better.

 

Do you really think a newcomer to using a handheld exposure meter needs to be dumbfounded by a system that only works properly if you develop each frame separately?

 

What the zone system fails to acknowledge is the simple fact that you can only give one exposure. No matter how many meter readings you take or how you combine them. It's just an overblown version of the old adage 'Expose for the shadows and develop for the highlights' - except very few people expose and develop separate sheets of film these days.

 

In short, the zone system has almost no relevance to anyone shooting roll or miniature film. Not unless they use interchangeable backs, multiple camera bodies or shoot an entire roll on one subject in the exact same light.

Edited December 31, 2018 by rodeo_joe|1

I have one thought before I take a shot when I don’t have a digital camera with me to use as a light meter, so that I can preview what I am going to get. ‘What do I want to be an average grey in the scene’. I meter for that, and then try to be as consistent with the multitude of other processes in the development/printing process as I can be. I don’t shoot whole roles of film in the same lighting conditions, so I nearly always use the box speed, and develop for the manufacturers recommended time.

Whether that ‘average grey’ might be zone 4, 5 or 6, I can’t tell by eye, so I am winging it to some degree, but for the vast majority of purposes, it is close enough. The rest of my process is also winging it to some extent, so it fits in well.