Lightmeter selection

[robert_landis]

I am shooting with a Rolleiflex 2.8 E2, and am using a Nikon D7000 in spot metering mode as my light meter ( and test shots). I have shot

some landscapes in wooded areas (using Ilford B &W) and meter the darker areas ( ie tree branches) to expose for those, as opposed to getting too much

sky and too little of the darker details in the woods. The exposures have been good using that method.

BUT- I am tired of carrying the digital camera around to use as a light meter. Will any of the models available ( ie Sekonic 308s or similar

Polaris) be sufficient? How do I meter the darker areas with those kind of light meters (whether it's landscape or portraits) so as to expose

for the details and not get a roll of film back overexposed with light and no details? I don't want to spend $$ and time for poorly exposed film.

Thanks so much for any help.

[c_watson1]

<p>Get a Sekonic 308 for incident metering or a Sekonic 508/558/608/758 that does it all and leave the DSLR at home.</p>

[sfcole]

<p>I have both the 308 and 558. Both are great, but each has a tiny limitation:<br>

308-fits in your pocket. However, if you consistently use a different exposure for a given film, there's no way to calibrate it. For example, I find (as do many users) that Sekonic meters in general underexpose slightly, like about .7 stop. So for any given film, you have to remember to set the iso accordingly. But with the bigger meters, like the 558, you can dial in a general compensation and always just shoot at box speed. Just one less thing to think about if you pull out the meter to shoot quickly.<br>

558-does just about everything, including spotmeter. However, does NOT fit in your pocket. A large, bulky meter more at home in the studio. Can activate Pocket Wizards with accessory module. In spite of its size, I'd still pick it if I had just one meter.<br>

Batteries in both of above last forever. </p>

[JDMvW]

<p>I always recommend the Gossen LunaPro SBC. Best meter I've ever had. Takes standard 9-volt batteries and has a spot-metering attachment available. Works for both incident and direct. It's not small, and some people recommend the other, smaller Gossen meters, but I personally have been happy with the SBC.</p>

[tim_ludwig2]

<p>I still use the old version of the Luna pro with great success. For spot metering, I have the analog version of the Pentax 1/21 meter and it too works perfectly.</p>

[david_henderson]

<p>The 508/558/608 etc may not be the smallest meter on the planet but its no giant and not heavy. I carried one around as part of a Medium format outfit for ten years. Its certainly a whole lot lighter and smaller than a dslr. Personally I used it in spot mode all the time, but the meter allows you to choose incident if thats the way you prefer ( which you may not if you're getting good results with a dslr set to spot). Others may recommend the Gossen or Minolta equivalents, which may well work just as well its just not what I have experience with.</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>Most spotmeters are about the size and weight of an old cine-film camera. Personally I wouldn't recommend one over a digital camera for portability, especially since some compact digital cameras have perfectly respectable spotmetering built in, as well as a zoom lens that makes them more versatile than a fixed area spotmeter. Plus they autofocus, which a spotmeter doesn't.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>"How do I meter the darker areas with those kind of light meters?"</p>

</blockquote>

<p>You walk up to them and point the meter at the bit you're interested in. If the shadow area is too far away to walk up to, then use an incident reading. Unless you're deeply into the Zone system and individually develop each shot, you'll find that incident metering is totally reliable and consistent - provided you use it intelligently. E.g. Don't use it for against-the-light shots without applying some compensation.</p>

<p> </p>

[david_henderson]

<p>The Sekonic 508 is factually a fraction over 6" long x 3.3" wide x 1.5" deep. It weighs 7.5 oz plus one AA battery. Is that the size of a cine-camera? I wouldn't have thought so. And it zooms to 1 degree, so you can mostly take all your readings from one place.</p>

[jose_angel]

<p>If you have to meter small areas in distant subjets, the only way is to use a spot meter.<br /> I wonder if your really need to do so... with my incident meter (one of the cheapest&smallest in the market) I use to get the readings I need for most of my shots.<br /> You can always compensate for overexposing a dark area, or for underexposing if you need it... it is something photographers have done since the meters exist.<br /> With any incident meter, you can also check the contrast ratio of a scene (not a distant scene, I`m afraid), to know the best exposure, and in most units, to make a reflected 30º reading (no spot, but still useful depending on the case). There are many tricks or methods to correctly use that meters. For instance, you can use your hand to shadow the dome to aproximately know the exposure of a shadowed area (I bet, way enought for most needs).<br /> Think that you need an uniform scene contrast in all the shots to have a perfectly printable roll. It`s not only the meter, it`s the light you are shooting. With a meter, you`ll not change that contrast, nor the densities you`ll get on the film after development. So unless you shoot perfectly uniform scenes, you`ll notice more or less different densities on the film. And it`s not only the scene, but the development, where you have to "cut" overdevelopment in high density areas, depending again on the scene`s contrast ratio.<br /> But if you know you need/like a spot meter, the only way is to have a spot meter, obviously. They could be big or small, it is something irrelevant if you must have one of them.</p>

[robert_landis]

Thanks to all so far!

[farrell_elion]

ALL meters are designed to give an average grey reading( zone 5 ) , and compensation must ALWAYS be made for dark

shadow areas. The most simple way to meter any scene is to buy an AVERAGE GREY CARD, and merely to meter this.

Kodak used to make them and if you can get a plastic covered one it lasts longer. Mine is a bigger, folding one which on

the one side is a white reflective surface which can be used as a reflector if necessary.

A very small, reliable meter was the Western Master 5 but they can't take small knocks and buying one used, must be

carefully checked against your present camera meter.I keep mine as it is selenium, and uses no batteries, useful when

batteries fail.It has an invercone for incident readings too ,ut no spot readings, besides getting up close. They are dirt

cheap now, and there was a service in Britain which repaired and calibrated them( I used them about 10 years ago )

For most of my work I use the Gossen Vario F. Very very lightweight, has spot and incident and standard metering.able to

adjust compensations if necessary. In very low light situations, I use the Gossen Luna six ( or Pro ) Has spot, standard

and incident capability and is very light weight and small. If using Zone system, I use an Asahi Pentax spot meter.

[q.g._de_bakker]

Farrell,<br>Your <i>"ALL"</i> and <i>"ALWAYS"</i> are rather too bold.<br>Incident light meters are not made to given an average grey reading. They are made to give a reading that produces a 'correct' exposure for all parts in a scene, whether they reflect an average amount of light, much more, or less, by not even beginning to include reflective values but instead just meter, well... incident light. No compensation for shadows needed. (Unless you do not want those (dark) shadows to appear as just that. Which is a matter of what we decide what 'correct' could mean.) So an obvious exception to your <i>"ALL"</i> and <i>"ALWAYS"</i>.<br><br>You can use a reflected light meter and meter off a grey card. What that does is mimic an incident light reading, and the easier way to get what you are after would be to just use an incident light meter.

[farrell_elion]

Q.G of course you are correct,

.I was thinking only of the reflected light meters, and incident readings are the light directly on the dome.

[farrell_elion]

The writer's comments at the end as to not wanting to spend dollars also side tracked me, as a grey card is the cheapest

option?

[q.g._de_bakker]

There's an even cheaper one: the palm of your hand.<br>It changes very, very little in brightness, and is never more than an arm's length away... ;-)<br>Calibrate once, and use for as long as you wish.<br><br>There also are other cheap options. Grass (and other green foliage) is also a good, and constant, 'middle grey'.

[farrell_elion]

I often used the palm of my hand with the Western Master 5 and it gave excellent results. My palm is a zone 6 but this

was probably compensated for by my rating of FP4 at 200 asa.

[Rob F.]

<p>I use either of two meters with my Hasselblad: the Gossen Digital F Luna-Pro, and the Minolta digital Autometer. The Gossen reads both incident and reflected with no need for attachments; the Minolta is an incident meter that can read reflected light with a viewing attachment that allows you to read a small selected area. When used in incident mode, these two meters agree perfectly! Best of all, they give me such good exposures that I usually leave the metering prism home. Of the two, I use the Gossen more often, because it is more versatile: I can easily read reflected light at the touch of a button. It's my go-to meter for medium format. It also gives me a reality check when using cameras with built-in meters. When the subject is either very light or very dark, an incident reading gives me a heads-up that my reflected meter is over-reacting to a brightness extreme. In such a case, the truth is usually in the middle.</p>

[farrell_elion]

Has anyone got the Hasselblad prism meter ? I missed an opportunity to buy one used about a year ago. But really, I

suppose I am in love with the brand. Having 3 good meters, I must be nuts. Is it really easy, or more handy to use ? If you

kept the prism attached, the camera ( 500C) would be heavier and add more bulk.If not attached permanently, the act of

attachment would take the time necessary to use a hand held meter

I must say, for a permanently attached, small meter for emergency usage, the Gossen, built -in to the round winding on

knob, is really very useful.

[q.g._de_bakker]

Using a meter prism frees up a hand, and as such is easier. What they do is reduce the metering process to the bare minimum: you will be looking through the viewfinder anyway, so all you need to do extra to meter is push a button and look at the display. Compared to what you have to do to use a hand held meter, quie a big difference.<br>I have meter prisms on my Hasselblads. They come off only when it is more convenient to use the folding hood (tripod mounted camera, doing 'slow photography').<br>There are a number of different Hasselblad meter prisms. The very earliest CdS meter i would not recommend.<br>Most only offer center weighted reflective light metering. The latest ones, PME90 and PME45, also offer spot and incident light metering.<br>I don't think these two (PME90 and PME45) are 'necessary', find incident light metering with the meter dome on top of the camera not very handy, and use the older meter prism more. Only having one 'mode, they are simpler, with no choices to worry about and no menus to flick through. Just point and meter.<br><br>They all work perfectly fine, give good, accurate readings. But i do also carry a small incident light meter (Gossen Digisix) and use that when i think it would be better.<br><br>Compared to a tiny meter like the Digisix, meter prisms add a lot of bulk, yes. But for that you get more than just a meter. And compared with the larger meters i did (and often still do) carry (my main meter for decades now is a Gossen Mastersix.), not really that much more bulk.

[david_smith35]

<p><br>

</p>

<p> </p>

[fwstutterheim]

<p>The Gossen meters are excellent except for the fact that (some of) the modern ones (with digital displays) do not have a real on/off switch. They just go to sleep after a while. With respect to the battery they are "on the take" all the time. My Variosix F could empty a battery in 5 to 6 months without ever being used. What adds to the problem is that it wakes up by just touching any button. You can imagine what happens when you stash it away in its soft pouch in a camera bag. Whenever you touch the pouch to grab something from the bag, your lightmeter will wake up. If your bag is fully packed there may be something pressing on one of the meter buttons and it will be awake all the time. I had a dead battery whenever I wanted to use the lightmeter. After a while I removed the battery after a photo shoot. I sold the Variosix F and now use a Sekonic. The new owner of the Gossen Variosix is a happy man and so am I. I feel that the Gossen meters I described were designed with studio use in mind, not field use.</p>

[fwstutterheim]

<p>Yesterday I was out with a group of people. Among them was the good friend who had bought my Variosix F a few years ago. He told me he had solved the battery consumption problem of the meter! It just took him three months of extensive use . :-) The analysis I had made in my post of Dec 15, 2013 was basically right. The problem was within the soft pouch of the Variosix F. The flap has a few soft compartments to store exchangeable cones. When you close the flap there is a good chance that one of the cones touches a button on the side of the meter. That is the culprit! He removed one of the cones and now battery consumption is just fine. I feel I have to let you know because I have warned against the use of this meter on several occasions. The meter itself is just excellent, it was the battery consumption that had put me off .......</p>

<p>Ferdi.</p>