metering with another camera.

Quinten · May 5, 2005

Hello,

My Hasselblad 501 doesn't have an exposure meter so I used my 35mm as one. Than I discovered that the exposure results between the two where different when I also shot some of the same film in the 35mm. So I checked it with another camera with a build in lightmeter and the metering was different.....

Does this mean I can't use my little nikon as a light meter for the Hasselblad?

----
BTW I used the SAME RELATIVE FOCAL lenght lenses on all camera's 80 on the hasselblad, 50 on the 35mm camera and 33,3 on the digital one. The apendeture was f/5.6 on all cameras. The cameras with lightmeters gave completely different shutterspeed advice. (it's a nkon FE and a digital D70 both set at matrix metering.)

I am back to film but it would be great to use the D70 as light meter for the 501, the D70 has a fairly nice spotmeter build in so I don't need to buy a lightmeter yet.

cheers,
Quinten

André E.C. · May 5, 2005

Quinten,

What about a hand meter?
Check Minolta, Sekonic or Gossen products, EV values capability will be excellent.
Just a suggestion!

Cheers

André

Quinten · May 5, 2005

I know a light meter would be better, at the moment I don't have any money for that though so the meter in one of my other cameras would be a great solution for a while.

A light meter works for all cameras so there should be a way to use one camera with a lightmeter and do something with that reading for another one. In case this was impossible there should be different meters for each camera right? I mean the lightmeter would work for the Hasselblad and for the Nikon, so the Nikon should work for the Hasselblad, there is a relation.

But there is no doubt your suggestion is the ideal but for now impossble solution.

cheers

Bob F. · May 5, 2005

There is no technical reason why using a camera as a light meter will not work fine. A few people report success with this.

You will get differences of exposure between different cameras because they use different "intelligent" metering methods and will therefore react differently to the same scene (although you would expect them to be within half a stop or so of each other when metering a "normal" scene). If one of your cameras has a "spot" metering mode, use that with a long lens (to make the spot as small as possible) and use it as a spotmeter. That will get around any confusion caused by the camera's "intelligent" metering modes...

You do not need to use equivalent focal lengths: 1/60th @ f/8 is 1/60th @ f/8 with any lens (of course, you need to set the same film speed too). The only real downside is the bulk and weight..

Cheers, Bob.

rogueish · May 5, 2005

I used to do the two camera switch too. My Nikon f401 metered for my Yashica TLR. Works fine, just a little testing to find what works best for you. For me I prefered just a bit more exposure on the TLR then what the Nikon reported. I guess this is exactly what BobF is saying about metering meathods of cameras. (there were other complications for me like the shutter speeds on the TLR were different than standard camera settings: 1/5 sec, 1/10 sec, 1/25 sec.)
To find the best results I metered with Nikon, then bracketed on the Yashica. 1 stop over, 1 stop under, you know...

In the end I bought a handheld light meter. I find it is more convient to use, and won't go back to two camera metering unless forced. Carrying one less camera (and accessories for said camera) means more room for film and is supposed to mean less weight, but never seems to work out that way.

Ole · May 5, 2005

It's proved again: If you have one lightmeter you always know what the exposure is. If you have two, you can never be sure...

So either use just one, or get another one and go with 2 out of 3!

John Koehrer · May 5, 2005

and, just to cloud the issue. It could be that the variable is actually inaccurate(differing) shutter speeds. Tolerance is about 25% so if one is slow & one is fast, that's a total of 1/2 stop.
What you could do, if only for your own sanity is do a film test using one camera for the meter & the 'blad for exposure.

rogueish · May 5, 2005

rogueish said:
... My Nikon f401 metered for my Yashica TLR... and won't go back to two camera metering unless forced.

The Yashica does not have a built in light meter.
What I meant to say was I no longer use the Nikon as a meter for the Yashica.

Click to expand...

Bighead · May 5, 2005

I think its fine... I always shoot a three shot bracket though, just in case.... At the very minimum, I shoot two... One metered and one overexposed a stop..

jimgalli · May 5, 2005

You may have to sacrifice a couple rolls of film to testing. Pick a typical scene, set the Nikon to 1/4 sec. Shoot film of identical scene in both cameras but bracket the Hassy by 1/3rd stops. Develop in the same tank and contact print. If you find the 2/3 bracket is the one that matches the Nikon, you can adjust your "asa" accordingly and you should get identical exposures afterwards. I used to use a twin camera platform with my Mamiya Universal back in my Velvia days with great success letting my FE do all the metering work.

L Gebhardt · May 5, 2005

Did you adjust for the efective speed of the D70 being 200?

Also, some films are different between 35mm and 120. Tri-X comes in both a 400 and a 320 speed in 120, but only 400 speed in 35mm.

BradS · May 5, 2005

My guess is that either...

A) the cameras were not all set to the same "film speed" (in quotes because well, the D70 has no film...???)

or,

B) they're using different "intelligence" to meter the scene (as somebody already suggested).

What happens if you point both meters at something really boring like, evenly lit blacktop or a patch of grass (again, evely lit - either all in sun or all in shade)? The readings should be pretty close - especially if the cameras are both set to the same film speed.

Once again, you can do a sanity check by comparing the readings to the "Sunny-16" rule...

ndevlin · May 5, 2005

Personally, I have found that the meters on many DSLRS are accurate, in that they produce repeatable results, but are often not calbrated to the represented ISOs. Your answer is to use the same meter (whether it's the camera or a hand-held) all the time and a LOT. Through trial-and-error, you will develop a feel for how it's readings correlate to your film speed. Then you're laughing.

For what it's worth, my best friend does all of his LF metering with his Nikon F6, and it works just fine, since he's learned its characteristics.

adrian_freire · May 5, 2005

The D70 program is designed in order to not blow the highlights. This could be the problem. When the camera thinks instead of you and you dont know how the camera thinks... but you can measure the light in differet little zones (using the logest focal length of the lens ) and deduce the correct f and t. Don't let the camera choose between a range of different amount light. Or you could buy a hand meter at ebay, I bought a Sekonic L-248 for 10 $ shipping included (from california to europe) and I think it's a great meter ( and much less heavy than your metered camera).

crackers · May 5, 2005

If you drop that second metering camera, you'll wonder why there's not a $20 Pilot in your pocket.

Quinten · May 6, 2005

Both cameras indeed give a more or less the same reading when pointed at a dark subject with little contrast. The difference can be hughe though when aimed at high contrast subjects or bright things.

I think I am going for a cheap light meter after all, the more intelligent the machine the harder it is to understand... Manufacturers don't understand.

Blighty · May 6, 2005

With a seperate hand-held meter you have the option of taking an 'incident' reading (if it has an incident attachment, that is!). BLIGHTY.

BradS · May 6, 2005

Quinten said:
Both cameras indeed give a more or less the same reading when pointed at a dark subject with little contrast. The difference can be hughe though when aimed at high contrast subjects or bright things.

I think I am going for a cheap light meter after all, the more intelligent the machine the harder it is to understand... Manufacturers don't understand.

Manufacturers all seem to assume that consumers are idiots.

adrian_freire · May 6, 2005

Quinten said:
...I think I am going for a cheap light meter after all, the more intelligent the machine the harder it is to understand... Manufacturers don't understand.

Wise election, small grasshopper.

metering with another camera.

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