I have the Gossen Lab and have used it quite extensively, but that was decades ago. I used it with my ProfiSix meter.Originally Posted by Ironage
I bought both the meter and the enlarging attachment in 1985; I think I used it for enlarging until close to 1990. Once I purchased a Color Star colour analyser I didn't use it, except on the rare time I was in someone else's darkroom.
It is slightly cumbersome to use and understand, but once you know how to use it, it is quick and quite accurate. It can and does give a reliably close contrast setting of your negative to give you a starting point of which grade of paper should be close or very close. It also is very accurate in measuring exposure time differences for different sized prints from a known print size, or enlarger height size.
The best way is to remove the negative holder, turn off the darkroom lights, place the meter fitted with the Lab attachment and take a reading, null the meter. Then place the negative stage back, adjust to your desired new size, up or down. Repeat the procedure of exposing to the filtered enlarger light. One then has two possibilities, you can use the Gossen method using their charts and instructions, or do a quick read of where the needle is and note the exposure difference in 1/3 stops. I then adjust the timer to reflect the stop changes in time adjustment.
If you have a Gossen meter and you can acquire a Lab attachment cheap, go for it.
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