Aaaah. This answers something I've wondered about for years. In his account of the making of the negative for "Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico" Ansel said that he couldn't find his light meter, and then remembered the near-constant illumination of the Moon's near-full face in foot-candles, and did the conversion to exposure in his head (which resulted in greatly underexposing the townscape part of the negative, resulting in bleach-redevelop in water bath attempting to bring up that portion without blocking up the Moon -- and still a challenging negative to print).
Since I got my Pentax Digital Spot I really haven't looked into other meters and had no reason to. Since reading this post I checked out the Reveni Spot and if I didn't have the Pentax this little meter would be high on my list. It would be ideal for when I walk out the door with one of my old folding 120 cameras and wanted to keep things in a small package. Heck, I might just get one as a backup spot meter?I have the Reveni Labs spot meter and I think it’s a brilliant tool. It works exceptionally well, is easy to use and 100% reliable/accurate. I recommend it over the older spot meters, or modern, very expensive ones.
Painful hahahaAs far as a $350 Pentax digital spot meter being "expensive" what term do you use for the price of a box of Kodak TMy-2 400 or 50 sheets of 16x20" enlarging paper?... asking for a friend.
The discussion is classic. The OP asked about options for spotmeters. So you get input from those who have and use them...to the you don't need one...get a ___________.....we never had them in the '70s.
Not many 35mm photographers use a spotmeter and get good negatives, so why the need for a spotmeter simply because the film size is bigger?
Can't say how "good" my negatives are (or not), but I use a spot meter with all formats from 35mm to 8x10.
It's great to have an opinion about a tool you've never used, isn't it?!I doubt something like a Raveni meter is really in the league to be a practical substitute for a Pentax meter. It probably just doesn't have the accuracy, let alone the durability.
The moon should be exposed to the Sunny 16 rule as it reflects the sunlight as if it is daytime all
I agree, but Ansel was probably caught up in trying to get his 8x10 set up on his on-car platform, focus & compose, and set exposure before the Moon dropped into the clouds -- and was already beyond guessing exposure. Or so he seems to imply in the description he wrote of this image in The Negative.
Alex Burke also uses a digicam for his large format work exposure determination. Seems faster and cheaper to get the results you want, but I can understand why people wouldn't want to use them (less traditional).
I just took a look at the Rivian specs, seems to be a good choice, less than a used Minolta or Pentax spot. Looks like it can fit in large pocket. I suspect it is accurate, wounder how durable. My Soligair is getting very long in the tooth, the sensor cell must near the end so maybe.
In the early years AA used a Weston, maybe II or III, Moonrise was taken in the 40s before he used the newer scientific meter in the 60s. Minor White used a Weston, his early classes and how to books are based on the Weston Meter scale.Aaaah. This answers something I've wondered about for years. In his account of the making of the negative for "Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico" Ansel said that he couldn't find his light meter, and then remembered the near-constant illumination of the Moon's near-full face in foot-candles, and did the conversion to exposure in his head (which resulted in greatly underexposing the townscape part of the negative, resulting in bleach-redevelop in water bath attempting to bring up that portion without blocking up the Moon -- and still a challenging negative to print).
I think the OP was under the impression that if you shoot LF you need a spotmeter, thus asking for recommendations.
However, a spotmeter is not essential. A lens is essential and a filmholder is essential, a spotmeter is not. If the OP is on a budget, and already has a meter of some sort, be it incident or a 35mm SLR that will work.
Not many 35mm photographers use a spotmeter and get good negatives, so why the need for a spotmeter simply because the film size is bigger?
In the early years AA used a Weston, maybe II or III, Moonrise was taken in the 40s before he used the newer scientific meter in the 60s. Minor White used a Weston, his early classes and how to books are based on the Weston Meter scale.
The moon should be exposed to the Sunny 16 rule as it reflects the sunlight as if it is daytime all the time (assuming the sky is clear). Measuring ground illuminated by the moon would vary based on atmospheric conditions (and moon phase) just as sunlight varies on the ground because of atmospheric conditions, time of day, altitude angle, etc. and why we need a meter to determine the exposure.
I think the OP was under the impression that if you shoot LF you need a spotmeter, thus asking for recommendations.
However, a spotmeter is not essential. A lens is essential and a filmholder is essential, a spotmeter is not. If the OP is on a budget, and already has a meter of some sort, be it incident or a 35mm SLR that will work.
Not many 35mm photographers use a spotmeter and get good negatives, so why the need for a spotmeter simply because the film size is bigger?
I agree, but Ansel was probably caught up in trying to get his 8x10 set up on his on-car platform, focus & compose, and set exposure before the Moon dropped into the clouds -- and was already beyond guessing exposure. Or so he seems to imply in the description he wrote of this image in The Negative.
It's only cheaper if you have one..... some folks don't.... (choice of course) but these days $350 doesn't buy much of a digicam and then one more thing to drag around....
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?