Question about older lightmeter - Sekonic Digipro X-1 (L-518)

[iamthejeff]

I picked up one of these recently for cheap and it seems to operate well, but I have a few questions.

First off, the manual says that the f-stop bar will indicate battery level for a couple seconds when you first power on the unit. This seems to work, but even after inserting a fresh battery, the battery level only goes up approximately half way, up to f8 on the f-stop bar. The bar itself goes up to a maximum f90. Is this normal? Does a half-full f-stop bar indicate full battery?

Secondly, what would be the recommended attachment and method for metering for landscapes? Should I use the lumisphere, lumidisc, or reflective attachment? The manual seems to suggest that the first two should be used pointed towards the camera, and it says the reflective attachment should be held as close as possible to your subject. I feel like both are impractical for landscapes.

 

[summicron1]

for landscapes I usually meter off directly off the trees, or ground, or whatever. Landscapes are too far away to use incident metering.

Can't help you with the metering question, though. However it works with a new battery is what you should go by, but perhaps it would be best to test the meter against a known reliable meter under a variety of circumstances just to make sure it is reading properly.

If so, don't sweat the battery check, you're good to go.

 

[John Koehrer]

Probably IMO the best for landscapes.....
The Lumispere is used for incident readings. Have the meter in the same light as the subject and pointing toward the camera.
It's not influenced by colors affecting reflectance.

Lumidisc Is used in copy work. Laid or held against the subject and moved around it, it tells you if the lighting is even or not.

Reflected works for many but can be influenced by the color of the subject and/or the amount of sky the cell sees. IE: Point it a bit downward if there's a lot of sky.

Other than the Lumispere both methods work and BOTH methods need a bit of interpretation.

 

[iamthejeff]

Thanks. The problem I was having is that I was trying to meter a distant sunny landscape using the lumisphere while I was standing in the shade. This obviously made my shots way over exposed. I experimented a bit, and switched to the reflected attachment. Like you said, I pointed it down from the sky a little bit and got way more accurate readings this way.

 

[John Koehrer]

^^^If you had stepped out of the shade, the incident reading should also give an appropriate reading. It's really what you prefer.

IMO if you're going to fiddle with the Zone system, Adams' is based on reflectance and Pickers used incident. Just different routes
to the same destination.