Light Meter

[TooManyShots]

I use a Pentax Spotmeter V.

 

[digital&film]

I've been using a Gossen Luna Pro F for about a year now, and you should be able to pick one up for $50-$75. It's not the most compact meter but it is light and will do incident, reflective, and flash measurements. It will also meter in very low light.

Found a Gossen Luna Pro at Adorama for $69.00, which was nice because I had a credit for $59.00.

I read the manual, and it's straightforward and concise. Thanks for the advice!

 

[frank]

If you are shooting B&W or colour negative film, then the smart phone app is good enough, and it's free, or maybe $3 for an ad-less version.

 

[digital&film]

If you are shooting B&W or colour negative film, then the smart phone app is good enough, and it's free, or maybe $3 for an ad-less version.

That will definitely be my back-up meter.. mine was like $3 and it's very close to the Gossen.

 

[aRolleiBrujo]

Should I consider using a meter as well for film? I have been using my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and an app as a meter sadly, and I hope I haven't allowed my film to be ruined! I thought I understood film to be very forgiving in these type of instances, however, I guess I'm still very lost in this art! I am in the process of buying a Nikon F3, F4, or the F100 to act both as a light meter, and the ability to shoot Nikkor lenses again, plus the availability of 35mm film?! Should I just consider a meter first? I plan on photographing every scene known!

 

[TooManyShots]

Should I consider using a meter as well for film? I have been using my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and an app as a meter sadly, and I hope I haven't allowed my film to be ruined! I thought I understood film to be very forgiving in these type of instances, however, I guess I'm still very lost in this art! I am in the process of buying a Nikon F3, F4, or the F100 to act both as a light meter, and the ability to shoot Nikkor lenses again, plus the availability of 35mm film?! Should I just consider a meter first? I plan on photographing every scene known!

You need to know what you are planning to meter to determine what type of meter you want? Metering ambient/incident light only? Or Metering the reflected light off the subject? I use a 1 degree spot meter because it allows me to use the zones system. I just pick a shadowy area and meter it. Put the light meter reading into zone 3 and to get my exposure reading. Normally, I just let the highlight to take care of itself. If a sunny day, I use N or maybe N+1 development time. If a cloudy or a shady day, N+2. If you meter off the ambient or incident lighting, there is a chance that the scene in front of you (maybe a large landscape) may not have the same exposure value because maybe it is under different lighting condition.

Anyway, if you are planning to use a SLR to meter (hopefully the one with the spot metering), it means you have to carry an extra body and lens with you.

 

[r.reeder]

I'm new to Medium Format, and I acquired a Mamiya RZ Pro II with prism finder (no meter) and a 180mm lens.

That leads me to my question:

What would be a quality light meter... I'm ok with used, just want to not spend too much so I can save for the 110mm 2.8 lens.

I downloaded an android app just to test the camera, but would prefer a more precise and reliable meter.

I'm not a studio shooter, primarily street and some outdoors nature shooting. What would you recommend?

Thanks

The Gossen Luna Pro is a great meter. I use mine with easily obtainable 675 button batteries & a roll of cut cardboard in the battery compartment as a shim so the smaller 675's will fit. It works great. I also have several battery-less meters: A Weston 715 (great for low light situations), a GE 8DW58, a GE 8DW68, a GE PR-1, among others. They're older meters, 1940's, 1950's, but if you come across a working meter, get it, & it'll come in handy when the batteries die in the Luna Pro.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

There are many skills, tricks, methods, short-cuts, processes and comparisons to be made with meters. It's very, very subjective and many photographers just buy any meter and knuckle down to learning how to use it. That's done through RRR (rote, repetition and refinement), recording notes as they go until they achieve results they are pleased with (never mind about what other photographers may think). Sekonic often runs webinars (free) that will walk-through beginners with metering technique although to some extent there is reliance on a Sekonic meter (and sometimes a high end, costly one!). Incident meters are faster to use in constant quality light (e.g. backlit subjects you approach in the street), while spot meters are much more accurate at working through a big range of luminances (e.g. shadow areas, emerging light, etc.). A matter of choice vs available skills and how far you will go with metering into the future.

 

[pdmk]

check ebay or any internet auction webpages sometimes you are lucky and can find good thing for small money. I was able to catch Sekonic L-408 with leather case looks like new for cca 100Euro

 

[John Koehrer]

Found a Gossen Luna Pro at Adorama for $69.00, which was nice because I had a credit for $59.00.

I read the manual, and it's straightforward and concise. Thanks for the advice!

View attachment 95738

AYUP, That's a good 'un!
Does what you want & not too large.

 

[MattKing]

Found a Gossen Luna Pro at Adorama for $69.00, which was nice because I had a credit for $59.00.

I read the manual, and it's straightforward and concise. Thanks for the advice!

View attachment 95738

For clarity, that is a Gossen Luna-Pro F, not a Gossen Luna-Pro.

A good choice!

But if you start looking for information on a Gossen Luna Pro, you may get confused, especially since some of (but not all of) the accessories for the Gossen Luna Pro will work with the Pro F.

In most of the world, the US designated Luna-Pro F is badged as Lunasix F, even though it is more closely related to the Profisix.

 

[alanrockwood]

For a basic light meter for daylight and not-too-dark scenes a Gossen Pilot is not a bad choice... nothing fancy, but it works pretty well.

 

[Texsport]

I use a Gossen Digisix and a Voigtlander.

Tending to like the Voigtlander because it's a lot smaller and also fits right on top of the camera.

http://www.amazon.com/Voigtlander-Meter-Mounted-Speed-Light/dp/B000TDXNPC


Texsport

 

[aRolleiBrujo]

That will definitely be my back-up meter.. mine was like $3 and it's very close to the Gossen.

Cool! I use mine each time, and despite not really knowing the outcome, I think it fares well! I used it for this shot, indoors, with those spiral light bulbs, and in my opinion I think it gave me a better result rather than fidgeting with that which I don't fully understand! And as soon as I have some of my film rolls developed, I'll post the rest of the outcome as well!

Scan by Epson V500 Photo

img002 by a.rodriguezpix, on Flickr

 

[aRolleiBrujo]

Cool! I use mine each time, and despite not really knowing the outcome, I think it fares well! I used it for this shot, indoors, with those spiral light bulbs, and in my opinion I think it gave me a better result rather than fidgeting with that which I don't fully understand! And as soon as I have some of my film rolls developed, I'll post the rest of the outcome as well!

Scan by Epson V500 Photo

img002 by a.rodriguezpix, on Flickr

Screenshot_2014-10-09-19-09-18 by a.rodriguezpix, on Flickr