Possible Light Meter Calibration Service?

[Kino]

Never thought to check this company, but they do offer calibration for these brand meters:


"Optical Meters We Calibrate in Our Lab
In addition to offering accredited calibration for our own meters, we also calibrate meters from other manufacturers including the following light meter manufacturers:

Avantes, Cooke, Daavlin, Delta OHM , Dymax, EIT, Excelitas, Exfos, Extech, Fluke, G&R Labs, Gigahertz-Optik, Greenlee, Gossen, Hamamatsu, Henkel LOCTITE®, Honle, Jelight, Konica Minolta, Lesco, Linshang, National Biological, OAI, Ocean Optics, Omega Engineering, Omnicure, Opsytec Dr. Grobel, Optimum, Sky Instruments, Solarmeter, Spectral Products, Sekonic, Spectroline, Spectronics, Sper Scientific, UDT, UV Power, UV Process Supply, Testo, UVX, Yokogawa, and more."

(emphasis added by me)

Disclaimer: not a customer, no experience with said company, not sure this relates to exposure meters, etc...)

Light Meter Calibration Services | ILT

At International Light, we offer ISO17025 Accredited Calibration Services for a wide array of light measurement devices.

www.internationallight.com

 

[Steve Goldstein]

Hmm, I wonder if by calibration they mean they measure and document the meter response (no adjustments) or if they’ll actually adjust it to spec? They make no mention of repairs, either.

I’ve often wondered what became of all the parts and information George Milton must have had when he closed QLM a few years ago. I really hope his knowledge wasn’t lost.

 

[Kino]

I would assume they would have to adjust it to be actually calibrating a meter, but then I assume.

I also assume the service probably only is available for relatively new models of meters, but then again, that is just an assumption.

Parts? Ditto above...

Might be worth an email; I have no pressing need for the service now myself, just passing on some possible service information for those who might need it.

 

[Pieter12]

The site has lots of information about calibration, but I don’t see anything about service or repairs.

 

[250swb]

I think it's all a scam. Given all the variables in photography the baseline is still accuracy, but not to the point of worrying about half a stop between meters. You can have the most accurate meter in the world, and it still won't compensate for what you point it at regarding your exposure and developing technique. Test them all against the same wall in the same light and note if any come up different against the meter most likely to be accurate, if they are a bit out it won't matter, if they are a stop out note on a label and stick it on the meter. Remember, the whole point of the Zone System was not to test + or - against other equipment, other meters, other types of film etc, but to test against the equipment you have and are using.

 

[Kino]

Whatever. The choice is yours; explore and use the service because it's needed for your work or don't.

 

[runswithsizzers]

Hmm, I wonder if by calibration they mean they measure and document the meter response (no adjustments) or if they’ll actually adjust it to spec?

Few people choose their words so carefully, but in the lab where I worked, we used the word, "verification" to check and confirm if an instrument was measuring accurately. The word, "calibration" was used for the process that resulted in actually adjusting the output curve.

 

[runswithsizzers]

I found this statement on one of the ILT webpages:
"(Note: Non-ILT meter calibration does not include internal manipulation of the meter's stored calibration. A scaling factor (multiplier) is provided for non-ILT meter calibrations, along with a certificate of calibration. For devices that allow programming, a new calibration factor, ILT supplies the data required for the end user to adjust the readings/internally stored calibration factors.)"

Light Meter Calibration for Non-ILT Meters, Sensors, Filters, Optics and Integrating Spheres

ILT offers ISO17025 accredited light meter calibration services for a broad range of meter manufacturers.

www.internationallight.com

 

[DREW WILEY]

Half a stop off between meters would be career suicide in Hollywood, and a nightmare for anyone shooting chrome films. Every meter I've had matched every other meter I had over the whole range, because they were all calibrated to the same industry standard. If one drifted even a third of a stop, I had it recalibrated. That happened only twice over 40 years. And the Zone System never realistically had color photography in mind. When it was concocted, it was hard enough to get different batches of the same b&w film to perform at the same alleged box speed.

I don't have any experience with the cited company. All my repairs and recalibrations were done by Quality Light Metric near Hollywood, which is now out of business (George retired.),

 

[Pieter12]

I don’t think still photographers are the intended customers of this service. Cinematographers, possibly. Others who need accurate readings for industrial or scientific purposes, probably.

 

[DREW WILEY]

When I looked at their site awhile back, it seems their interest is more in scientific and industrial photometrics, not what we here call light meters. But no harm calling them, if you can afford their services.

 

[Kino]

When I looked at their site awhile back, it seems their interest is more in scientific and industrial photometrics, not what we here call light meters. But no harm calling them, if you can afford their services.

Exactly. Depends on how demanding and/or desperate you might be! I expect 99 out of 100 won't even bother trying; I certainly wont!