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According to the manual, if you retract the dome you can then use the meter to take a light reading from a non 2 dimensional object such as a painting. Could you also use this situation say in the landscape where you maybe in the shade and the subject is in the sun but you are unable to walk up to the subject.
I know you could flip over to spot meter but was curious if you could use the retracted dome as a regular reflective meter.
Ian, IMHO the Lumisphere retraction is not intended for that.
What I understand is that when the Lumisphere is retracted then the metering is taken with a "flat diffuser" on it.
This delivers an incident reading that is more suitable for flat objects facing perpendicular (I guess) to the camera.
When the Lumisphere is extended it gives a reading that is more suitable for the rest of subjects.
Note that our subject throws more or less light to the camera depending on the illumination angle and depending on how the subject is angled to our optical axis.
Using the incident metering for landscape may bring on certain problems. We can meter under sunlight while our subject is at the shadow or the counter, so may be we are not metering the incident light that reaches our subject.
If you have a L758 then you have a pretty powerful meter, with powerful spot metering. For landscape the spot metering is what says what density you will obtain in the negative for each spot in the scene. You know how sky/clouds will result, if your shadows are in the toe or in the linear zone... and what N+/- you want...
Thanks Pere.
I was just curious as to whether it would work as a normal reflective meter but having read your reply, I will stay with the spot meter
Agree with what I understand to be Pere's point.
When the dome is retracted, and pointing at a distant subject from the camera position, it is a similar situation as taking an incident reading of a subject at the camera position. To me this is not the best way to meter a landscape.
If the camera was in shadow and the distant subject was in sun, and I had a spot meter, I would use the spot meter.
I recommend the Pocket Lightmeter app for smartphones, it is a good backup and in surprisingly close agreement with the L758DR in spot mode.
Only time I used that feature was when photographing wall paintings.
I just compared the Pocket Lightmeter app using the secondary phone camera (the selfie camera), with the L-758DR using the incident dome. The readings were less than 1/2 stop apart. Both devices were resting on a flat horizontal surface (table) pointing vertically up toward the ceiling. Not bad; the phone+app would be useable if nothing else was available.
Perhaps for fisheye or very wide angle photography where you wanted an average reading. Of course you would first need to use the calibration or exposure compensation function to adjust the reading to your film.
This is probably a better solution than a retracted dome:
Attachment 182324
Care to explain what that is? Never seen before.
The 'retractable' dome on the newer meters is a way to duplicate the flat "dome" on the meters that had interchangeable domes. Those meters with interchangeable domes not only had the option of a round or flat dome, they also had the option of the 'reflected light' disk. That is what is in the picture: A Sekonic reflected light Lumigrid for the L-398.
For a $500 meter, I'd like the option of having the interchangeable disks, but I suspect that is why they incorporated the "Average" function into the spot meter. You "Spot" a bunch of areas and get the average and that should give you the same results as if you had the Lumigrid on your L758, or the 10 or 20 degree option of some earlier spot meters. And, of course, as mentioned, to duplicate the flat disk on the L-398, one retracts the dome of the L-758.
And to review the flat "dome" functionality; for flat subject matter, light at a 90 degree angle to the subject matter does not add to the illumination, but it will hit the extended dome and alter the metered exposure value. Thus the theoretic benefit of the flat or retracted dome.
Attachment 182327