What is a good, cheap handheld exposure meter ?

[Chan Tran]

I should mention that this is not quite accurate statement - the forward voltage drop on any diode, Schottky or plain, is not fixed - it can be 0.21V only for certain current flowing through it (let alone only at certain temperature), e.g. this voltage is highly current dependent. In case of usage in Luna Pro - meaning this drop will be different depending on which scale you're taking the reading at: the meter draws ~10...300uA on low scale, ~50...500uA on high scale and ~200uA during "Batt Check". So the diode voltage drop will vary depending on what you're doing; the diode will not only introduce non-linearity, but inconsistent one. Small, but noticeable. For most users it's just small enough not to matter, but it's there. The right way to deal with this is to make a proper voltage regulator with fixed 2.7V output.

I don't want meter with 1/2 stop EV error.

 

[336v]

Yes, I hear you, that's why I used real 2.7V LDO regulators, not forward biased diode. As of EV error, I must say two well calibrated meters may easily differ by this amount - highly dependent on how you point the meter to the subject, spectra of light (if sight sensors are made with different technologies - it's impossible to compensate exactly, to make one meter function as the other) , and few other variables. In short - if you have more than one meter, you likely have up to 1/2EV readout difference between them already, whether you want it or not.

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

I use plain-ole batteries in legacy equipment that would otherwise use mercury cells. When the batteries are new, I find a 2x change in the meter's ASA dial brings the meter into line. This changes a bit at low light, but then I switch to a handheld meter and/or change the adjusted ASA so the old meter reads correctly for the new lighting conditions. I change the batteries out for fresh ones when the 2x correction no longer holds.

There is no point sweating a 1/2 stop 'error' in metering film. The vagaries of subject matter and lighting contrast means there is rarely a correct exposure - all exposures will be a compromise. With modern film, as long as the exposure is generous enough then everything will be copacetic. The final exposure is determined when the negative is printed and adjustments made with dodging and burning. If the negative is the score and the print the performance it is only necessary that the negative capture all the notes in the 'score.'

 

[Bill Burk]

I don't want meter with 1/2 stop EV error.

To truly evaluate exposure effectiveness I’d plot curves and check resulting subject negative densities.

Very often I find my densities so far up the straight line that I question what I was thinking when I planned the exposure. That’s in usual day-to-day picture taking.

I’ll try to come up with another example again sometime. I have done the testing carefully in the past. Last time it was a picture of my dog and a gray card and the result was 1/6 stop away from what I expected.

 

[Chan Tran]

To truly evaluate exposure effectiveness I’d plot curves and check resulting subject negative densities.

Very often I find my densities so far up the straight line that I question what I was thinking when I planned the exposure. That’s in usual day-to-day picture taking.

I’ll try to come up with another example again sometime. I have done the testing carefully in the past. Last time it was a picture of my dog and a gray card and the result was 1/6 stop away from what I expected.

Well so you say since you can't get your film to behave you don't need good meter? I would shoot film without a meter any day but I don't use a meter that is not accurate. I have a good number of camera that takes mercury battery for the meter I simply just use them without meter. Besides an exposure meter I don't know any kind of measuring instrument that a 25% off is good enough accuracy.

 

[Bill Burk]

I’m kind of the same way. I want my exposure meters to indicate 32 candles per square foot when they are looking at a 100 foot lambert reference light source.

Not 25

 

[KevinW]

Regarding the use of zinc air batteries to replace the old mercury type batteries, here is an article from a 1995 issue of Popular Photography. They found less than a one third of a stop difference whether Mercury batteries, Wein Cell batteries or off the shelf Zinc Air batteries were used in a Gossen Luna Pro.

 

[ericB&W]

Gossen Polysix or Variosix (simply Variosix, Variosix F is another different kind), is the same thing , just the name is different.
It has integrated 10 or 20 degrees spot without tele attachment so is smaller than others Gossen as Profisix ecc.,
uses 2 normal AA batteries, one as to turn the adjustment ring till two leds turn both red , meaning right exposition .
I've compared with Profisix and gives the same values, the only thing , is a CDS cell non a SBC .

 

[wiltw]

Just acquired a Lunasix 3 Gossen and then realized it uses mercury batteries (1,35V). I put PX 625 (1,5V) in the battery chamber. I could compare the reading with another lightmeter but I would like to have your opinion on this. Is the difference in voltage significant?

...what Nicolas said in post 103 about 1/2EV error, particlarly if you understand the degree of error you can introduce in a reflected light reading of an 18% gray card!

...after all, one is not expecting 0.1EV precision and accuracy from your meter (or else you would not be settling for a 'cheap meter')

Just a point of reference (but NOT stating the same would be true in your brand/model meter) back 3 decades ago, when mercury cells were just being phased out but not yet extinct (photographically speaking,) I tested a mercury cell vs. an alkaline cell in an Olympus OM-1n. I found that

1. the amount of error in meter reading was significant
2. the degree of error would change in low light vs bright light conditions

Some meter designs can tolerate the difference (mercuric oxide vs. alkaline cell Voltage), some cannot. The 'newer' meter designs are not so dependent upon 'constant' Voltage characteristics typical of mercuric oxide cells.

 

[Lee L]

I haven't read the entire thread, so apologies if I'm repeating information. I've used the Gossen Digiflash (same as the small Digisix but with addition of flash readings.) for years as a small unit, and also used a Gossen LunaPro F (similar to the Digisix) and a Gossen Sixtomat F2. I've also used many Sekonic and Minolta meters in studios I've worked in. I liked all of them, especially the LunaPro F and Digiflash. But for a small currently available meter I recently purchased a Reveni Labs Lumo. It's a recently introduced small meter and costs about US$150 (Canadian $200) and is made by a small company in Canada. It's an extremely versatile meter that has many features, including incident, reflected, Kelvin light temperature, calculates Duv offsets (green/magenta) for digital color and LED light sources, measures frequency of lamps that flicker (PWM), firmware updates, USB charging with a replaceable battery, etc. You get factory calibration settings for four parameters that you can adjust if you have to. I'm very impressed and will now carry it as my default meter.
Manual is on the website: https://www.reveni-labs.com/reveni-labs-lumo

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I have several cameras that have no meter. My dad has a Lentar meter that he bought in Germany in the late 50s. It takes the unobtainium Mercury battery 1.35v. Im not sure how accurate this meter is especially in low light. In these modern times, is there any cheap and accurate hand held light meter I can buy? Please advise.
Thanks.

if cost is an issue and you still want good, I suggest a name-brand such as Gossen Luna-Star F2 out of the 2nd-hand market,ehere anything around $200 is considered cheap,but it is a high-quality instrument,very low-lightsensitive,robut and takes regular 9V block batteries!

 

[Rumbo181]

I tested a mercury cell vs. an alkaline cell in an Olympus OM-1n. I found that

1. the amount of error in meter reading was significant
2. the degree of error would change in low light vs bright light conditions

Some meter designs can tolerate the difference (mercuric oxide vs. alkaline cell Voltage), some cannot. The 'newer' meter designs are not so dependent upon 'constant' Voltage characteristics typical of mercuric oxide cells.

The same thing happened to me with my Olympus OM-1. Of all the cameras in my collection, I think it’s the most sensitive to the absence of mercury cells. I actually use a voltage converter so I can use alkaline ones.