paul_clayton Posted June 14, 2006 Share Posted June 14, 2006 Hi I have a Minolta Auto Meter 3 and I aslo have the instruction manual. However I am still unsure on how to use the meter. Basically, you set the ISO and the shutter speed. The meter then gives you the corresponding f number. The f number is follwed by a third digit of any value between 1-9. What does the third number mean and how does it effect the exposure setting? The manual says that the thrd figure should be divided by 10. eg 5/10 = 1/2. underexpose by 1/2 stop. But what about the number 8 for example? Can anyone give a plain english way of using the meter? Thanks, Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan_dzo Posted June 14, 2006 Share Posted June 14, 2006 Paul, it's purely a decimal reading. so 8.8 is 0.8 or 8/10's. F stops on your camera maybe in whole, half or third stops. You set it to the nearest you can, eg 8.3 means F8 and a third of a sotp, you would set it to either F8 if whole stops, F9 if half stops and what ever your camera says if it does third stops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_clayton Posted June 14, 2006 Author Share Posted June 14, 2006 Thanks for the response. So lets see if I get this right. Taking f8 as a reading, the following needs to be applied for the relevent decimal number: 8.1 = f8 + 0.1 overexposure (impossible to achieve in camera?) 8.2 = f8 + 0.2 overexposure (impossible to achieve in camera?) 8.3 = f8 + 0.3 overexposure (can add in camera if 1/3 increments are possible) 8.4 = f8 + 0.4 (impossible to achieve in camera?) 8.5 = f8 + 0.5 (can add in camera if 1/2 or 1/3 increments are possible) 8.6 = f8 + 0.6 (impossible to achieve in camera?) 8.7 = f8 + 0.7 (can add in camera if 1/3 increments are possible) 8.8 = f8 + 0.8 (impossible to achieve in camera?) 8.9 = f8 + 0.9 (impossible to achieve in camera?) So f8 + 0.4 really means that f8 with overexposure somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 stop. I can really use either of the two. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan_dzo Posted June 14, 2006 Share Posted June 14, 2006 Perfecto! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_clayton Posted June 14, 2006 Author Share Posted June 14, 2006 Thanks Ivan, much appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_clayton Posted June 14, 2006 Author Share Posted June 14, 2006 Actually I think I got it wrong, the manual states to inderexpose by the above values, NOT overexpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan_dzo Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 No you are right. If it reads 8.4 and you expose at F8 then it will have nearly half a stop of overexposure. It needed less light and you gave it more = overexposure. The 1/10 decimal seems strange but is useful for slide film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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