What recommended Lightmeters to use for meter-less old cameras?

[alfred_alfred]

ContaxII, Rolleiflex, Bessa II, What Lightmeter would you recommend to be used

with these old cameras?

 

Mainly shooting Landscapes, Portraitures(flash) , Still-life.

 

The Voigtlander VC meters looks tiny but expensive. No flash meter.

[gene m]

An Ikophot. Cheap and good.

[bueh]

I use a sturdy and weather-proof Sekonic L-508 incident, spot and flash meter. It has never disappointed me.

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[mark f]

If you can live with a larger meter, a spotmeter is hard to beat (and are willing to learn basic zone system principles). Another good choice is a Gossen Digi-flash or used Luna-Pro (or luna-pro F). Gossen has a conversion kit avaliable versions with mecury battery and will still repair them.

[jeff bishop]

I've got two meters. One is a Luna-Pro SBC, which is a fantastic meter. The other one is a "Gold Crest" which is one of those things you find on that auction site for about $5 - $10.

 

Both work fine. I'll usually take the small cheap one because it's light weight. You don't have to pay much for a meter.

[mark_hahn]

for landscape and flash you really don't need a meter, sunny-16 for landscape and the flash is flash.

 

My Sekonic Twinmate-II is very nice and small and cost about $79 new (incident and reflective).

[JDMvW]

Another vote for the Gossen Luna Pro SBC - the one with a 9-volt battery so you don't need the mercury batteries.

[kerkko_kehravuo]

Answer is again Gossen, it has LW (EV) scale.

 

Kerkko K.

[patrick j dempsey]

I use a Minolta Auto Meter II... although it's not quite as spunky as it was 20 years ago... I really wish it wouldnt get hung up. Coolest thing about it is that it is completely analog readout. You press the button and you get all the possible combinations of f/stop and shutter speed for that light situation and film speed... end of story... no calculations needed. I love it!

[jtayloreckstein]

First off, please tell me you're not planning on shooting black dogs in the snow on a hazy day with a rainbow in the background. If you are, good luck. If not, read on.

 

I shoot B&W, which gives me the freedom to sometimes let loose and not sweat exposure. There's also the darkroom to let me make up for botching exposure or for just botching things all over again.

 

If you are shooting slides or to a lesser extent C-41, you will need to make sure your light meter has the range of sensitivity and accuracy you need.

 

Shooting low-light mostly? Spend the extra cash or you will be wasting film. Night time and indoor exposure can be very nasty. Daylight? Sunny 16 and any selenium cell (that has been preserved and kept away from moisture) will do adequately with minimal correction.

 

If on a budget, search the auction and scam-me site for a reasonably priced CdS meter. Make sure you can find/buy the manual to check specs or you have no idea what you're getting into! Double check to make sure you can find batteries for whatever you buy. You will have to test it against an accurate meter too (or run a few test rolls).

 

Also, check this site for "Light meters for Classic Cameras":

http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/index-frameset.html?lightmeters.html~mainFrame

There are a bunch there I never knew of.

 

Check the EV calculator here ( http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/key=exposure ). If you know your fastest lens and how shaky your hands are, you can cut out some of the more sensitive and more expensive meters. If your fastest lens is a f/2.8 200mm, (@ 400 ISO darkest shot could be taken hand held at 1/200 and f/2.8 = ~8-9 EV) your meter being able to meter to 0 EV may not matter. If you shoot wide angle on a rangefinder at some obscene ISO, you wouldn't want to miss out on some awesome available light photography because of your meter.

 

I use a Vivitar 45 and have tested it against my Nikon SLR to see how it reacts to different colors, levels of contrast, sun light, common subjects, different scenes, etc. and know how to correct readings that seem unlikely. Since I'm not a big fan of metering every blade of grass or pupil, I'm in the process of trying to understand exposure better. Not sure I'm having much luck, but Diafine takes care of the rest.

 

Get something and start shooting.

-Bonifaz

[canfred]

I am surprised the Weston Master V or the easy to read Weston Euro Master is not on this list yet.

While I use a Gossen Lunasix F, those Westons have a lot going like

no batterie very sensitive rugget actually very well build cheap to buy and most important accurate.

I have both and can recommend them.

Manfred

[15sunrises]

I just recently got a Sverdlovsk 4 which I am very pleased with so far. It's small, has fake spot metering, and seems to be accurate in most lighting conditions. They are pretty cheap on ebay.

[cliffmanley]

I have always used Weston Master meters and like them. I think from what you are saying, the Weston or Ikophot would be fine. I use constant light inside, and don't need a flash meter. If you are going to do serious flash portraits, with remotes and bounce, you need a flash meter, like the Gossen, but I doubt you'll be doing that with a Bessa. If you are just mounting the flash on the camera, get a flash with an auto mode and forget it. I second the motion to "get something and start shooting".

[donnie_strickland]

Sekonic L-208. Uses a lithium 2032 battery and it will mount in the flash shoe, if you want to use it that way.

[charles_stobbs3]

Read this before buying anything. http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm

[colin carron]

If you wanted to go really authentic how about an extinction meter for 1920's - 1950's fear? They are very cheap, never go wrong and are fairly easy to use. Just look briefly through the graduated filters and pick the darkest one where the number can be easily read. Adjust your dials and read off the required exposure.

 

here is the Nebro meter.

 

http://www.marriottworld.com/stock_pics/accessories/nebro_meter.htm

[colin carron]

for '1950's fear' read '1950's gear'!

[furcafe]

Gossen Digisix or Digiflash (if you need flash metering). Very small & accurate.

[JDMvW]

On the other hand, extinction meters never go right either. Because of the accommodation of the eye, you need to be very consistent in how you use them to get passable results, and I wonder if the old sunny-16 doesn't work about as well, since in both cases you are really relying on the latitude of the film you're using.

 

Here's a modified version of the old Kodak film guide that used to be packaged in every box of film.<div></div>

[antonio_bonito]

Another vote for Sekonic L208 Twinmate, very compact, accurate and aesthetically pleasant also with the old cameras.

It will fit on the accessory flash shoe of the camera.......old style.

[martin_dake]

Another vote for the Minolta AutoMeter II, I love mine.

Just push the button and the motorized dial gives all possible Aperture/Shutter Speed combinations; no turning dials or anything once the ASA is set.

[patrick j dempsey]

Addressing the issue of sensitivity... the Minolta Auto Meter II has a range from 1/8000th of second to 2 hours with a huge range of speeds. There is an incident and a reflective metering attachment. Unfortunately, mine is spotty in results... sometimes when I press the button it is unresponsive. However, when it does respond it's dead accurate and works great indoors and at night... I regularily shoot 3000 speed Polaroid film indoors at night with it... I've got a Weston Master V and it has nowhere near the range of the Auto Meter II and is an older meter, and slightly more difficult to use.

[mark_hahn]

this is why I chose it over the Gossen digi series options :)

 

>>Sekonic L208 Twinmate... aesthetically pleasant also with the old cameras.

[david_m]

Gossen Pilot II

[alex macphee]

My Weston Master V has been in regular use since 1967, and has been repaired once (mid 'seventies). It's still spot on. When I'm using flash, I use my Sekonic L308 ; easy to use, good for low light, and spot on for exposure.

 

Other than that, with B&W film, Sunny 16 is still a remarkably reliable exposure meter, and one of my favourites. Uses no batteries, and is absolutely free.