antonio_carusone Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 Im thinking about picking up a Kiev prism when I get a 500 and I was wonder if the internal meter is accurate. I shoot mostly with slide film so Im curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul utkin Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 Hi, You can try to fix it as it is described over here: http://kievaholic.com/meters.html But I highly recommend to buy a good spotmeter instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antonio_carusone Posted May 7, 2004 Author Share Posted May 7, 2004 Do you mean a hand held? I will buy one soon but I want a prism as well. 2 reasons. 1. The reversed image drives me bananas. 2. I do a lot of street shooting and a hand held meter wont work so well in that situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnmarkpainter Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 Antonio, Research the prism thing a lot...or maybe just buy two prisms. The Kiev can be had for about $100 right? Wouldn't be the most expensive mistake ever. I wouldn't give up ANY Finder brightness to gain a meter. It would depend on the type of shooting you will be doing. If Image size and quality were the same and you didn't constantly have lights or needles waving and flashing in front of your eyes all the time, it would be quite handy to have a metered prism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antonio_carusone Posted May 7, 2004 Author Share Posted May 7, 2004 John, Yes the Kiev prism is pretty cheap. I can get it for less than $100. Im going to try it out and see how it goes, I just want to see what you guys thought of it. Flashing lights and needles dont bother me at all. Im use to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_goldfarb Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 I've adapted a spot-TTL meter for my Bronica S2A, and you can calibrate it easily so that it's pretty accurate, but the precision isn't very fine. There is about a half-stop range that will register as "correct", and a half stop can make or break a slide. On the other hand, you might ask whether any meter is accurate enough for transparency work without a fair amount of testing, practice, experience and knowledge about metering for a particular film, so I think that if you work with it, you can use it, but it's not going to be quite as precise as, say, a Minolta or Pentax spotmeter. On the mutant third hand, the meter on your camera is better than the meter sitting in your bag or at home, so if you're not inclined to use a handheld meter and calculate filter and magnification factors, then the convenience of the TTL meter prism wins out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dale_dickerson2 Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 The new Kiev TTL Spot meter is better than the older models. I have used the older models and the new one. The new one is accurate and should work for slides. It is not as accurate the meter in my Rolleiflex 6008, but the new Kiev meter will do the job. I think you will need to get the meter adjusted for your camera. The meter is calibrated for the screen in the Kiev 88CM. The calibrating instructions on found at http://www.kievaholic.com/meters.html If you need the name of a good repairman to do the calibration, I would be happen to send you his email address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_nancarrow Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 Antonio, I had the kiev meter, the good one with both spot and averaging, I paid 95 for it and sold it for 68 one year later after not using it much. It did darken the image a bit and for some reason it was not pleasant looking through the finder. The spot and averaging never coincided with each other, even metering into an evenly lit scene, which led to many doubts. When you meter with one of these meter prisms you must still look on the side of the prism to get the shutter speed/ aperture setting and then transfer these to the lens, this is even more steps than using the meter winder from hasselblad that can be purchased for less money and is always there for you. For street shooting, most people take a reading either from hand-held or camera meter and then use that reading until they feel that the light has changed, you can adjust slightly one way or the other depending on the subject and this will come with experience. It is accurate enough doing it this way, especially with B&W film which is more forgiving than Slide. The only advantage I found to the Kiev was the non-reversed image which you can get with a non-metered hassy prism with more light transmission. P.S. did you buy the 500 from adorxxx? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antonio_carusone Posted May 7, 2004 Author Share Posted May 7, 2004 Rob, thanks again. You are really helping me out. I went to Adorama and checked out the camera. It was really clean. What a beautiful camera. I didnt buy it cause I was hoping they would give me a good deal on my Contax RX setup and Yashica TLR. They wanted to offer me $400 for both cameras which is nuts so I put them both on ebay. Once I sell them an get the cash Im going back to Adorama and picking up the camera. I cant wait! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnmarkpainter Posted May 7, 2004 Share Posted May 7, 2004 Robert, Thanks for that bit of info...I had come close to getting a Kiev several times. For me, most of my Hassy use is with a Flash anyway and I dislike metering through a camera finder. jmp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wp_cheng Posted May 8, 2004 Share Posted May 8, 2004 Doesn't it matter which lens you're using? Without any maximum aperture indexing mechanism, how can the prism know whether you are using a f/2.8 lens or f/4 lens? I suppose you can only calibrate the meter to a particular maximum aperture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_nancarrow Posted May 8, 2004 Share Posted May 8, 2004 Cheng, the set of dials on the side of the Kiev prism allows setting the maximum aperture of the lens you are using, also the ASA of the film. You then look through the finder while turning the metering knob of the finder, no changing any settings on the lens. When the LEDs indicate proper exposure by the center one lighting up, you stop and look at the dials (knobs) and transfer the proper shutter speed/f-stops to the lens. Then you look back into the finder to take your picture. This process is quite different than metering through a typical 35mm SLR where changing the shutter speed or aperture automatically changes the metering LEDs or needles. Bob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h._p. Posted May 9, 2004 Share Posted May 9, 2004 I've been using the late spotmeter prism for around a year now. I have to say I wouldn't rely on it for slides although it's fine for black and white, which is what I use my 'blad for. The calibration needs to be done with great care, as the fixing screws can get 'lost'. I'm not sure but I assume there are cut-outs in the fitting and if you turn the dial too far when calibrating, you can end up with the screws over the cut-out. The meter display intrudes rather a long way into the screen area. I'm used to it now but it was a bit off-putting when I first encountered it. Overall, if I were doing slides, I'd get the plain prism, which is super cheap, and a good incident light meter which is much better than a spotmeter for reversal material, in my experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antonio_carusone Posted May 9, 2004 Author Share Posted May 9, 2004 I will buy a handheld meter but like I wrote earlier I do alot of street shooting. A handheld will not work well so I want to get a metered prism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_goldfarb Posted May 9, 2004 Share Posted May 9, 2004 Given the fact that the Kiev meter isn't coupled, it's not necessarily going to be quicker to use than a handheld meter. It just makes the meter one less thing to carry. For street shooting, I often use a handheld meter, take maybe one reading in full sunlight and one in shade if it's a clear day, and then just use those readings until the light changes. I often do the same with the prism when there isn't time to meter every shot, and in any case you really don't need to meter every shot when lighting conditions aren't really changing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antonio_carusone Posted May 9, 2004 Author Share Posted May 9, 2004 Well thats the main reason a handheld wont work for me. Its one less thing to carry. Others might not have a problem with it but I like the carry as little as I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnmarkpainter Posted May 10, 2004 Share Posted May 10, 2004 Antonio, I have never used a Hassy for street shooting so I can't comment on that... BUT I have used them with Rollei and Leica. An Incident meter is excellent for street shooting. You can very discreetly take a meter reading without lighting the camera to your eye....set your aperture and shutter speed and even do an aproximate ("Zone") focus. By the time you raise the camera you are ready to shoot. With a little practice it is easy to meter the light that YOU are in and then see the light your subject is in and get your exposure correct. My Meter is a Sekonic Flashmate....inexpensive, compact, fast, flexible (also a Flash Meter) and accurate. Another plus is that you can use the same meter with all of your cameras (None of my cameras are metered except for my Digital). jmp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_nancarrow Posted May 10, 2004 Share Posted May 10, 2004 Antonio, sounds like you want the meter regardless, in that case take care to buy one that was used but kept in great shape, that way if it doesn't suit your needs you can re-sell without too much loss. I still think you should try the meter winder, you don't have to carry an extra meter, it's cheap, and it's more convenient and easier to use than either a finder or a hand-held. Bob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antonio_carusone Posted May 10, 2004 Author Share Posted May 10, 2004 Rob, I emailed you about the metered winder but I guess you didnt get it. Where can I pick one up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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