Light meter use for paper and pinhole exposures.

[finn_margrie]

<p>I'm thinking of getting a light meter soon, mainly for my normal range finder, but I've recently started taking photos directly onto B/W neg paper. I end up just guessing the exposure which takes ages as I have to go and develop the images to see how I need to adjust it. So my question is, are there some calculations to do to a light meter's result to get a good time for the 6 IOS paper (either with a pinhole or known standard size aperture)?</p>

<p>Thanks, Finn</p>

[rjjackson]

<p>finn,</p>

<p>yes. check out pinhole.cz -- he's got a great calculator to convert your exposures based on a reading from f-22. you'll need to know the aperture rather precisely, though, to be sure. after making some pineholes that i'm happy with, i tested them in sunny conditions with different exposures and sorted out my own converstion factor with the pinehole.cz calculater used as a starting point. i think eventually you won't have to meter anymore if you use the same pinhole, focal length, and paper: a couple minutes for sun, a few more for cloudy days, and so on. <br>

my favorite handheld meter is the seconic l-208. goes everywhere and i can rely on it when i don't want to carry a spot. the digisix looks good and gossen makes solid meters, though i haven't tried their digisix yet.</p>

<p> </p>

[richterjw]

<p>I have used the DigiSix for several years now. It is very good as a general purpose light meter.<br>

You can also find some exposure info at www.pinhole.org/make/exposure.cfm. JR</p>

[mark_hahn]

<p>look at the bottom of this page, might help:</p>

<p>http://www.geocities.com/markhahn2000/pinhole_concepts.html</p>