Light meter options for MF

[AlanKlein]

I didn't say landscape photographers shouldn't use a

spotmeter. I said that they would use it differently than

Ansel Adams would as medium format camera shoots

a roll of film rather than a separate shot of large

format. . Bill raised a good point about using three

separate backs. That seems a little too much to me

especially since I don't print my own photos anyway.

Of course that is an option with the rb67.

[bebu_lamar]

<p>Alan my response is directed to Mukul who wrote"</p>

<blockquote>

<p> I do not understand why "landscapes and travel photgraphy" require a spot meter. A meter which does incident and reflected light readings is entirely adequate.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>If he said a landscapes and travel photographer doesn't need a spot meter then who would need one?<br>

If you say you always use a spot meter that's OK. If you said you don't ever use a spot meter for anything that's fine too. But he said Landscape photography doesn't need a spot meter then what kind of photography would need one?</p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>Here's a basic Sekonic brand new for about $100. You can find something used much cheaper but you want something recent so you don't get into the obsolute battery issues others have mentioned.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/200224-REG/Sekonic_401_208_L_208_Twin_Mate_Meter.html">https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/200224-REG/Sekonic_401_208_L_208_Twin_Mate_Meter.html</a> <br />I agree that a spotmeter can be useful in landscape work. But there are also tricks to using them so you're better off starting with a standard meter.<br />I do not trust smartphone meters. I have one on my phone for fun. Sometimes it's right on. Other times it's completely wrong. Part of the problem is that it sees what the smartphone camera sees, and smartphones have very wide angle lenses. So it's difficult to be precise in what you're aiming it at -- you could be taking in half the sky (which is bright), for example, and underexpose. Or picking up something else that throws off the reading.<br /><br />You don't need a meter at all if you remember the sunny f/16 rule and follow some of the old guides that used to be printed on film boxes or instruction sheets. </p>

 

[PapaTango]

<p>I have three meters--a Gossen Digiflash (not the 2), a Minolta Spotmeter, and a recalibrated Weston Master V. A little hotshoe plate was bought from B&H which is attached to the bottom of the Gossen. This allows it to be placed on my TLR cameras, and also the grip for the RB67. Great stuff.</p>

<p>The spotmeter I only use if I am shooting 4x5" LF. There I need it to do averaging and carry the shot into the darkroom for something quite similar to the Zone System in developing. It is not a general carryabout meter. The Weston is quite handy for landscape work. But the Gossen kicks it all!</p>

<p>Never say that you might not need to meter a flash. I bought two used Pentax AF400-T hammerheads soon after my first RB67 body. Slaved, they are great for interior work--and the Gossen gets it right. Often, as in the case of the newer Digiflash 2, there is only a few dollars difference between the two. Go for future possibilities...</p>

<p>Now, the way things have gone. Rarely am I out with film cameras and no DSLR at hand. With a quick swing up, I have a meter that does center weighted, 8 degree spot, and matrix metering all in one. Plus, I can pop off a couple digital shots as well...</p>

[PapaTango]

<p>Here is what I was talking about with the shoe adapter and sticking the Gossen to the camera:</p>

<p><img src="http://papatango.photography/pn1/yashica.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p><img src="http://papatango.photography/pn1/rb67gossen.jpg" alt="" /></p>

[James G. Dainis]

You don't have to be close to use an incident meter. As long as you are in the same light it will work fine. The sun is 93,000,000 miles away so there is no difference between the light falling on you and the light falling a mile or two or three away. Spot meters work fine if you learn how to adjust the reading(s). Take a reading off a person's face and open up one stop or take readings off the highest and lowest brightness elements and average them out or split the difference. Built in meters on cameras are reflective meters and they work fine for most scenes. Rank amateurs use camera built in meters without giving it a thought and they work fine for the most part. For a photo of children wearing white snowsuits and building a snowman in a snow covered field, The reflective meter and the spot meter (a reflective meter) will have problems, not the incident light meter.

[john_tran14]

<blockquote>

<p>there is no difference between the light falling on you and the light falling a mile or two or three away</p>

</blockquote>

<p> <br>

It is not the "geometry" of the light that is different because of a few miles. But any two different locations are lighted differently because of many reasons. Clouds and shades are some examples. They are different not only in brightness but also in WB and others. And it doesn't need a mile to make a difference but for an event like wedding in a church or a restaurant, we often have to measure the light right at the subject (not from the place the photographer stands) and that is possible because the subject is near. If you stand on one bank of the river and take a shot at the other bank, do you have to wait till both banks are lighted the same way and use an incident meter?</p>

[James G. Dainis]

<blockquote>" ...do you have to wait till both banks are lighted the same way and use an incident meter?"</blockquote><P>

 

Yes.<P>

 

Or, if the other side is in sun you can step into the sun on your side, If it is in shade step into the shade on your side. When using my 8x10 view camera in the field, I would use a spot meter to take several readings to determine the exposure I wanted to use and the type of development to give the film. I would also carry an incident meter to check on the exposure. As long as you are in the same light the incident meter gives accurate exposure recommendations. A snow man on a snow covered field? No problem with an incident meter. With a reflective meter you have to determine how many stops to open over the indicated exposure. With a one degree spot (reflective) meter you can take a reading off the snowman and set that on zone 8 and a reading off his black hat and set that on zone 1 and calculate the difference to determine zone 5. Or you can just take an incident reading and be done with it.

[peter_simpson1]

<p>I'm a fan of the Gossen SBC, because of the 9V battery.</p>

<p>But a light meter app for my cellphone is much more convenient, and almost as accurate (you just have to figure out a correction factor)<br>

I like "Pocket Light Meter", because it's like a spot meter. There's also "Photometer", which has a "Gossen-like" interface called "Classic".</p>

<p>To get yourself up and running fast, just go with the cellphone and "sunny 16" -- should get you through your first roll OK.</p>

[AlanKlein]

<p>Peter What correction factor?</p>

[jose_angel]

<p>Before switching to Sekonic, I have used digital Minoltas for years. I could keep using the IV F without a problem; some Sekonics are simply more convenient because they are all in one meters (spot included).<br /> I use spot metering for the Zone System. I rarely use spot when shooting roll film. A "spot only" meter is not that useful, IMHO.<br /> Digitals are way more convenient to my taste. They are not "too digital", nor "too complicated" or "clinical". They are made to work, and to my taste, digital ones work and are way more easy to use. Some basic features like average reading and the printed scale are really useful. ISO changes are fast and reliable. You can also set them in halves or thirds of a stop. They use to offer a lower EV reading capability.<br /> Needle based ones also works; I have a SBC Pro and a L208, but I prefer the Minolta IVF. I use the L208 when I want to go light, it is really small. The SBC is on the closet.<br /> I found cell phone meters interesting but somewhat erratic; maybe some are better than others, the ones I have used gave different readings between them (some -very- different). So I prefer to trust on my good old hand held meter. Anyway, I keep a metering app on my phone, just in case.</p>

[jose_angel]

<p>Another question to Peter: Why do you like the 9V battery? I must be missing something... :D</p>

[bebu_lamar]

<p>I think Peter meant that the 9V battery in the Luna Pro SBC is much better than the Mercury battery in the older Luna Pro. Of course the 9V battery isn't as nice as the AA battery in the Minolta IV F. However, if you compare the SBC to the Minolta flashmeter III with 6 EPX76 it's much cheaper. </p>

[jose_angel]

<p>Thanks BeBu. Very likely this is the reason.</p>

[ryan_bertetta]

So I bought a Minolta IVf with 10 degree spot attachment. $200 on ebay. It does all three metering types, will store and

average a couple of readings, and will read in exposure values. Individually the most expensive part of my foray into MF

(so far). It will fit in my pocket, and generally seems like an investment for the sake of all my future endeavors. That': how

I justify it.

 

It's also simple. I already read through the manual, and it seems to do quite a lot in a simple presentation. I've heard the

more expensive sekonics have menu systems to comb through - not something I'm interested in. I hadn't come across a

ton of the meters that have been mentioned in this thread, and I might still sell the minolta and buy one of those if they

seem cheaper, smaller and just as useful. I'm really interested in the small ones that were hot shoe mounted. But I feel

safe in my decision, considering how deep this rabbit hole seems. Right now I'm reading about color correction/reduction

filters - a separate, and equally deep hole...

 

Lugging around a DSLR (mine is mirrorless, Olympus EM10) is not an option, as many people seem to do. Even though

my first leap into MF was a 6x7 tank, I'm never willing to carry more than is absolutely necessary. One camera, extra film.

Keep It Simple, Stupid. Though now it'll probably be a couple film backs, light meter, and tripod as well.

 

I'm glad my assumption that you can't take an incident reading of a mountain 20 miles away was right. And most of the

"extreme situations" in which a basic reflected meter would fall short are situations I like to put myself in. I did a two week

stint backpacking the JMT out of Yosemite with 3-4lbs of Nikon F2 (which had a broken light meter, coincidentally). And

this Christmas I'm taking a filmcation to Sapporo, one of the furthest north parts of Japan you can go.

 

Ashamed to say I don't know what chrome film is. But I do all my own B&W developing and have the means to build a

dark room when I move back to the states - something I've been wanting to do for five or six years now. I carted an

enlarger from FL to CA when I moved thinking I would be able to, just to ship it back to FL when I moved overseas.

 

Glad this caused a spirited discussion! This is now the type of photo.net thread I like to come across while doing

research. Cheers

[dhbebb]

<p><em>don't know what chrome film is</em><br>

It is colour film with "chrome" in the title. Way back when, this nomenclature was used to indicate black-and-white films with extended or full colour sensitivity (Selochrome, Selochrome Pan, Verichrome, Verichrome Pan). Today it means films like Fujichrome Provia 100F, which are colour films which yield a direct positive (AKA slide film, colour reversal film, or E6 film, since E6 is the processing chemistry). Many great pictures were taken on films such as Kodachrome and Ektachrome in the past, today this type of film is teetering on the brink of extinction. Insofar as people still shoot colour on film, they use colour negative films (C41).</p>

[ryan_bertetta]

Ah - I know slide film. It's just never been conveniently accessible up until this point. And it's been intimidating because of

the exposure latitude. Actually, after shooting three rolls of B&W 120 on the RB67 I went ahead and bought Fuji Velvia

100 for a reasonable price.

 

I've just ignored it up to this point because these days it's harder to find, harder to work with, and develops with different

chemicals.