Reveni Light Meter

For the last month I've been using the Reveni Light Meter with my M4 and a combination of Kodak 5222 Double X, Kodak TMax 100 and 400 and overall the results have been good. The meter is small, the tiny buttons take some getting use to but spending a little time with a known meter and a grey card is worth the time. The meter offers EV adjustments from -2 to +2 in .33 stops and the ability to make adjustments in calibration mode with .01 EV stops from -20 to +20. The OLED display is bright enough to be easily read in bright sunlight and the display is adjustable for viewing from 5 to 30 seconds. It's not perfect but what meter is? It's nice to be able just to grab the camera and go without having to carry anything else.

To me it looks well thought of with its different attaching options .

What I miss is a statement of its sensitivity. Is it EV1@ISO 100 ? Or is that EV1 just the minimum in the display range?
Edit: at the webshop it is stated as sensitivity EV 0.5 @ ISO 100 and in the pdf manual it is EV 2 @ ISO 100


However I consider an old analog meter with a needle display more apt for an old camera. Furthermore such gives a variety of shutter-speed/aperture pairings at the display. A different concept. But typically much bigger and less sensitive, and the smaller ones (e.g. Gossen Sixtino) I rarely come across.

Digisix or Digiflash for the same price or bit more...

I have a Sekonic 308x and a Gossen Pilot that is surprising accurate considering my older brother bought it new in 1965 but I like meterless film cameras and the Reveni fills the gap between sunny sixteen and carrying additional equipment.

Just found this thread. I'll chime in once my meter arrives.

I'm the opposite, I like cameras with built-in meters. But I have some nice cameras without meters that I don't use often, so that is why I want this little meter.

Got my Reveni today. Wow, is it small!

Run a roll through before making any changes. I tried all sorts of different settings with a gray card and Sekonic 308. In the end, actually using it with film, I just bumped the EV by .33 and the exposures are spot on.

Their double accessory shoe is a bargain:

That is some impressive design, for sure. And the information is well-written, and in spite of Covid he is shipping, giving a firm impression the guy knows what he's doing. I must admit the unit is tempting, although this fumble fingered old guy might fear something that small being too easy to misplace or lose! I already own a Digisix and a Sekonic L-508, so my metering is covered (if less convenient).

The flexibility of manufacture these days is awesome, he has a really well thought out array of widgets to go with it -- and the prices for those are pretty reasonable.

Thanks for the heads up.

I picked up one of these, and the two slot adapter, during their kickstarter. I have been very impressed with the unit. My only complaint is that it feels a little loose when used on a Leica IIIc and has fallen off once. A piece of tape would probably fix that. I have only used it with B&W and IR film. I would highly recommend this.

Wallendo said:

My only complaint is that it feels a little loose when used on a Leica IIIc and has fallen off once. A piece of tape would probably fix that.

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Yes it seems accessory shoes "back in the day" were not very standardized. I bought the shoe mount accessory for my Digisix and found it was alarmingly loose in my 1957 vintage Argus C-3. I noticed in the Raveni line-up of accessories he has a sort of shim device to possibly deal with that, one of the items that impressed me with his attention to detail.

The 3D printing leaves variances from batch to batch. I did add a piece of tape to foot of the double accessory shoe to keep it snug on the camera. It also took some breaking in to be able to slide the finder in without a lot of effort.

I recently received one of these meters, did some testing, corresponded with the guy to verify my observations, and sent it back.

While I appreciate anyone who is supporting the film community, this meter is simply not usable.

First the pros. The small size is perfect for mounting on an accessory shoe. The display is bright and easy to read, even in sunlight. The buttons are intuitive and user friendly. Best of all is the replaceable button cell, so you don't have to futz with a USB cable and recharging.

Now the cons, which make it unusable to anyone who needs an accurate meter. The meter locks in a single reading when turned on. Where ever it happens to be pointing when you hit the button is the reading you get. So if it is shoe mounted and you turn it on and bring the camera up to your eye to frame, you've got the wrong exposure. That wrong exposure stays in the display until you manage to find the tiny power button while still trying to keep the image framed, then turn the meter off and on again. I've never seen any other meter that works like this, and for good reason.

Worse than that is that it only reads in one stop increments. Being off a full stop will ruin any transparency, which is the primary application for a meter. In order to "compensate" for this screaming shortcoming, the meter can be set to flash an EV value in 1/10 stop increments. "Flash" is a bit of an overstatement. The value literally displays for about 1/4 second. During this time you need to read and remember the decimal value, then do the mental arithmetic to apply that correction to the full stop meter reading to get an accurate exposure.

And after spending a significant chunk of change in postage both ways, the most upsetting part is that these shortcomings could be easily fixed. A simple software change would allow the meter reading to be dynamic, like every other light meter in the world. The meter obviously has the sensitivity to measure in 1/3 stop increments, the guy just chose not to do so.. I made these recommendations to the manufacturer and he made it clear that he has no interest in making any changes (He "doesn't want to confuse beginners".) . Since he isn't up front about these shortcomings, I hope this posting is helpful to anyone contemplating a purchase.

P.S.: I have a V-201X meter from China, which does read dynamically so you get the actual exposure where ever it is pointed. It also reads in third stops for the aperture, third stops for the shutter speed and tenth stops for the EV. It's cheaper than the Reveni, to boot. It is a bit larger and has to be recharged via USB, but I'll take that for a meter that's actually useful.

AgX said:

However I consider an old analog meter with a needle display more apt for an old camera.

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No one to comment on this?

AgX said:

No one to comment on this?

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LED is old technology too! So, a vintage style meter with some red and green LED could fit well with a camera from the 1970s.
I think a very compact meter with an analog needle might be hard to see. Galvometers are not so small.

Valid point. Actually to me any M-model is a piece from the 50s.

I guess I better start a seperate thread on "compatibilty" of photographic gear. (And to my own standard I might not even use modern emulsion technology on an old camera... Things get tricky soon...)

AgX said:

No one to comment on this?

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I suppose it depends on the photographer's intent. If one is trying to be historically correct I guess a moving needle meter would be more contemporary with the older cameras. But my old Gossen Lunasix would look rather clumsy on an accessory shoe mount. These days I lean away from purely analog meters, as the aforementioned Lunasix suffered a failure of the meter movement in just a few years (and a repair failed just weeks past the end of the repair warranty! )

Admittedly being able to observe the variation of the needle position while scanning around with the meter could be useful -- and likely easier to follow than a numerical digital display rolling like a slot machine. I suppose these days it would be possible to implement a virtual meter needle on a high rez LCD screen if one just had to have a needle! In fact the fotometer app I have on my iPhone has a moving needle display across the bottom (against a linear scale vs circular).

I have tested the Reveni against my hand held meters and have used it now for a week.

1) Press the button and it holds and displays the exposure value. My old Norwood Director (RIP) would not hold a reading, making it somewhat difficult to use in some situations where the needle was not right on top of a mark. All my other meters will hold a reading by pressing a button.

2) I don't own any meterless cameras with intermediate click stops on the aperture or with intermediate shutter speeds. If the meter did not round to full stops, I'd have to do it in my head. Now where is f 6.7 on my camera...

3) I calibrated my Reveni to my Sekonic. I have not detected inaccurate readings with the Reveni.

I'd give it a 9 out of 10.

I was actually preparing to make my own little meter with 2 leds by taking the meter assembly (and 3 LEDs) out of an old Yashica fx3. Finding the Reveni saved me a lot of work.

AgX said:

However I consider an old analog meter with a needle display more apt for an old camera.

Click to expand...

I have a Gossen Pilot, the original one with the selenium cell. Can't get much more period correct to go along with a M4.

I got it too (original designation "Sixtino"). Small enough to even mount it on camera.

madNbad said:

I have a Gossen Pilot, the original one with the selenium cell.

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Ah yes, I have one of those I inherited from my dad. Almost never use it, but there is something to be said for not needing batteries!

In the photo you can see the fifty-five year old Gossen and the year old Sekonic both show the same reading. The Reveni was off by about half a stop.