Indecent Exposure

[lilmsmaggie]

OK - Newbie Question to follow:

Gossen or Sekonic. Ambient or Reflected. Spot or Center-Weighted.

Having never used one of these; Is there are an all-around exposure meter that fulfils the needs of the LF photographer?

Sooner or later, this is one of the accoutrements I'm told I'll need and won't be able to live without.

Dwain

[Darren Kruger]

Gossen or Sekonic. Ambient or Reflected. Spot or Center-Weighted.

Having never used one of these; Is there are an all-around exposure meter that fulfils the needs of the LF photographer?


I use a Sekonic L-558. It has a spot meter and ambient meter built in along with flash meter. It has done everything I've needed to do with it so far. The L-508 is the older version of the that meter and i think the L-758DR is the latest and greatest.

-Darren

[BrianShaw]

for a newbie I'd suggest the following: get an inexpensive general-coverage meter that will do reflected and incident light metering. Two to consider are Weston and Gossen LunaPro. There are likely others that will do these two functions in an accurate and reliable manner. Then shoot some LF and decide if you need to get a spot meter, or a flash meter... or an expensive Sekonic "does almost everything" meter (which I, too, use but only after 25 years of LF success with a LunaPro).

[GPS]

The Gossen LunaPro exposure meter has a defective electrical construction. It is known to the manufacturer. It takes a small amount of current from batteries even if switched off. After a month or two you find the battery dead. I have it too, I measured the current (it is in order of mA) and I needed to install there a miniature switch to cut off the current. Beware.

[Steve Hamley]

Agree with Brian, but Weston meters are now too old to be able to buy one in reliable shape (IMO) unless you can find a very late one branded as a Euromaster I think. They're also less sensitive being selenium cell meters, but require no battery.

A Luna Pro-SBC is what I normally use unless I need a spot meter for a particular purpose like a sunrise, snow, etc. A Luna Pro-F would be fine too. Both have silicon cells that are reasonably sensitive and respond quickly. A Luna Pro-S or the European equivalent, the Luna Lux 3s provide more sensitivity, using CdS cells but can be a little slower to respond.

What hasn't been said is that a lot of people have used a lot of meters over the years, with perfectly acceptable (or not) results. The most important thing once you have a properly functioning meter is to learn how the readings in use correspond to the results on film. There will be some learning curve.

Cheers, Steve

[Joanna Carter]

Try the Kenko KFM-2100; a very capable spot, incident and flash meter.

[BrianShaw]

The Gossen LunaPro exposure meter has a defective electrical construction. It is known to the manufacturer. It takes a small amount of current from batteries even if switched off. After a month or two you find the battery dead. I have it too, I measured the current (it is in order of mA) and I needed to install there a miniature switch to cut off the current. Beware.

I've never experienced this, nor have I heard it before. I thought I paid attention... please include links to additional information if you have any.

[Frank Petronio]

Back to the original question, I am the master of indecent exposures and my meter never mattered.

But as for meters, my Luna Pros (original, F, SBC) have been better than expected battery-wise. I also like the little Gossen Digi-Pro and Digi-Flash, the old Minolta Auto-Meters, and the Pentax Digital Spot is the best. They are all simple compared to the "do-everything but forget how to use it in between sessions..." meters.

[lilmsmaggie]

Try the Kenko KFM-2100; a very capable spot, incident and flash meter.


I understand this meter offers quite a lota bang for the buck - or in Joanna's case the pound.

Dank u
Merci
Danke
Gracias
Arigato

Grazie - Grazie! Molto Grazie

Dwain - aka Lilmsmaggie

[douglas antonio]

i used a minolta autometer III and made a lot of miscalculations which often ended up in underexposed or overexposed pictures.
changed to a minolta spotmeter f and have had very good results ever after. i spot measure the most important parts of the future picture and then sometimes open or close the shutter according to my estimate for the rest of the picture. works perfectly.
i do it sort of carefully because i tend to make mistakes. the meter also has an average metering function after multiple spot meterings.

hope this helps.

[Joanna Carter]

... or in Joanna's case the pound.
:cool: :D

I chose the Minolta Flashmeter VI (which is what the Kenko used to be called), because it allows me to set the exposure range of my film, take either a shadow or highlight reading, and it will work out the correct exposure, showing when you are out of range if necessary. There are times when idiot-proof (depending on the idiot) is a good thing :o

[Peter De Smidt]

I have both a Pentax digital spotmeter and a Gossen Luna Star incident available light and flash meter. When you know what you're doing, either will do for available light.

[BrianShaw]

Back to the original question, I am the master of indecent exposures...

Yes you are, Frank! :D

[GPS]

I've never experienced this, nor have I heard it before. I thought I paid attention... please include links to additional information if you have any.

Almost 20 years ago I discovered that on my LunaPro. I contacted a repair center where I was told that Gossen knows about it and takes it as normal... I didn't, repaired that on my own and only later I read on some forum that it is a faulty construction. End of the story.

[Ron Marshall]

Another vote for the Pentax Digital spotmeter.

[tim o'brien]

Almost 20 years ago I discovered that on my LunaPro. I contacted a repair center where I was told that Gossen knows about it and takes it as normal... I didn't, repaired that on my own and only later I read on some forum that it is a faulty construction. End of the story.

Not end of story. Your experience.

I have used two Luna pros over 24 years the first one the battery lasted about 14 years. The second (with the voltage adapter put in it) is running on it's first set I put in about 4 years ago.

The issue is not leaking current in batteries, it's that you need an adapter to convert the 1.5 cells of today to the 1.35 cells needed by the original Luna Pro. This is not an issue with the Luna Pro F which uses a 9volt battery I believe.

tim in san jose

[mandoman7]

Different meters seem to have different strengths. For studio and portrait situations, I've always preferred an incident meter. For field work with 4x5, I like the pentax spotmeter (reflected readings). I don't know the market that well now, but a few years ago there wasn't a meter that really did both measurements equally well.

I've used the Minolta flashmeter III for many years for incident readings, it used to be somewhat of a standard for studios. Now they're selling very cheaply on ebay. For those readings I think those are a better choice than the Gossens.

[GPS]

Not end of story. Your experience.

I have used two Luna pros over 24 years the first one the battery lasted about 14 years. The second (with the voltage adapter put in it) is running on it's first set I put in about 4 years ago.

The issue is not leaking current in batteries, it's that you need an adapter to convert the 1.5 cells of today to the 1.35 cells needed by the original Luna Pro. This is not an issue with the Luna Pro F which uses a 9volt battery I believe.

tim in san jose

I'm speaking LunaPro F with 9V battery. If you measure the current in the switch off state you'll find that it takes a few mA. At that time, 20 or so years ago, I calculated the time to get the battery flat - with a new battery the time was confirmed by a practical test... A repair center confirmed that too. Manufacturer was aware of it too. Not my experience only.

[Thomas Greutmann]

I have started out with a Gossen Lunasix Pro and a Capital Spotmeter (similar to the Pentax analog models) and finally ended up with a Sekonic (the older L-608 model).

While the Gossen and Capital are good meters and have certainly served me well I think the Sekonic model beats them by far. It works with natural light and flash as well, you can select various measuring modes (exposure values, aperture, time). What I particularly like about the Sekonic is the memory function: you can measure multiple spots in a scene and all values are displayed together on a single scale - this really helps to meter the exposure range of a given scene, even with flash mode. I use this a lot.

As far as I understand the older models 508, 608 and 558 are all similar with minor differences, and so is the newest model 758. With the older models it is possible to vary the angle for spot meter from 1 to 4 degrees, the newer models only have 1 degree. For me this would not matter.

When you are looking for a good price: there are also so-called CINE versions of the Sekonic models out there, and they are usually a bit cheaper. But they have different features, so try to avoid these.

Greetings, Thomas

[Bob Salomon]

"Ambient or Reflected."

You mean incident or reflected?

[tim o'brien]

I'm speaking LunaPro F with 9V battery. If you measure the current in the switch off state you'll find that it takes a few mA. At that time, 20 or so years ago, I calculated the time to get the battery flat - with a new battery the time was confirmed by a practical test... A repair center confirmed that too. Manufacturer was aware of it too. Not my experience only.

Makes more sense. Thank you for clarifying this. The original Luna Pro rocks!.

tim in san jose

[Scott Davis]

Sekonic 308 - very inexpensive, pocketable, does reflected and incident, ambient and flash, uses a single AA battery.

[lilmsmaggie]

You mean incident or reflected?[/QUOTE]

Play on words here: Indecent Exposure vs. Incident

C'Mon - Get wid da program Mon ami!:D

________________________________
Start everyday with a smile and get it over with: W.C. Fields

[neil poulsen]

I have two. A Sekonic 508 for color and a Pentax V with the Zone VI alteration for B & W. But having an embedded 1 degree spot, the Sekonic could double for both.

[venchka]

I'm speaking LunaPro F with 9V battery. If you measure the current in the switch off state you'll find that it takes a few mA. At that time, 20 or so years ago, I calculated the time to get the battery flat - with a new battery the time was confirmed by a practical test... A repair center confirmed that too. Manufacturer was aware of it too. Not my experience only.

If this ever was a wide spread problem, Gossen obviously corrected this in the Luna-Pro sbc. A friend has been using his for years without any rapid battery drain. I have had mine for 6 months without failure. Another friend has the Luna Pro F sbc. I'll ask if he has noticed any rapid battery drain.

Hoping to nip another internet myth in the bud,

Wayne

almost forgot: Original topic........

I seem to have a meter fetish. My current collection includes the following:
Weston Master V with invercone
Gossen Luna Pro happily running on mercury cells
Gossen Luna Pro sbc happily running and running and running on a 9v battery
Minolta Auto Meter IV
Sekonic selinium, a small meter I bought in Missoula, MT in 1979 and carrying in various camera bags as a backup meter. Never needed it.
Various cameras with built in meters

Best meter I own: Leica M5. Perfect exposures as long as I remember to point it in the right direction. With the 90mm lens attached the M5 is also a perfect narrow angle spot meter.

[Aender Brepsom]

I can only recommend the Sekonic L-608 and the L-508. I have never tried anything else, since they are just perfect for my needs.

[GPS]

If this ever was a wide spread problem, Gossen obviously corrected this in the Luna-Pro sbc. A friend has been using his for years without any rapid battery drain. I have had mine for 6 months without failure. Another friend has the Luna Pro F sbc. I'll ask if he has noticed any rapid battery drain.

Hoping to nip another internet myth in the bud,

...

As I said I speak about the LunaPro F meter. You speak about a different type. Nipping what then?

[Alan Davenport]

Is there are an all-around exposure meter that fulfils the needs of the LF photographer?

There is. Or I should say, there are. Mainly, any meter that you use and understand what it is telling you.

My choice, and an interesting one in light of where this thread has gone, is the Gossen Luna Pro F. Direct and incident readings. Accessory spot attachment gives 15 and 7.5 degree coverage. That's obviously not as fine as a 1 degree spotmeter, but I find in practice it works well.


I'm speaking LunaPro F with 9V battery. If you measure the current in the switch off state you'll find that it takes a few mA.

My meter is exactly that: Luna Pro F with the 9v battery. It is NOT the sbc version.

I won't dispute your experience, but I'll add mine. In 6 years that I have owned this meter, I have put two batteries in it. The first battery went in when I bought the meter. Four years later, that battery still tested good but I replaced it out of a general distrust of aging alkaline batteries.

As with all extraordinary claims, yours requires extraordinary proof. My experience does not support your claim.

[GPS]

...


As with all extraordinary claims, yours requires extraordinary proof. My experience does not support your claim.

The repair center I contacted didn't see it as extraordinary as you do, quite the contrary - a fact known to them and to the manufacturer too...