Digital compact that can serve as a great light meter?

[cjbroadbent]

An M8 or M9. It's manual and doubles as a real camera. You can swap it for a whole LF outfit if needs be.

[mrladewig]

I would strongly recommend against this course unless you are planning to shoot some wide latitude film. I've got a Panasonic LX3 and there is no way I'd trust it as a light meter for transparency films. Its a fine camera and a nice small companion when carryig the 4X5, I don't trust its metering. While the camera may indicate ISO80,100,200,etc... there are many threads showing that it is probably not shooting at quite that ISO and its internal computer is programmed to compensate.

[r.e.]

An M8 or M9. It's manual and doubles as a real camera. You can swap it for a whole LF outfit if needs be.

Maybe a bit pricey for "happy snaps"? But when Leica comes out with an M10 that performs well at higher ISOs, that's the day that my 1955 Double Stroke M3 gets retired

[Matus Kalisky]

If you decide for a compact, than consider some of the "higher" end zoom models. Zoom will help you get a bit closer to spot metering, so to say. Cameras Like XZ-1, LX5, C95, or the new X10 should I be usable. However I would check their absolute ISO ratings against your light meter - those could be up to 1 stop off (usually on the slow side). And also make some tests (maybe with some 35mm camera and slide film, not to waste 4x5" film) to get the feel of it. I used my DSLR quite a bit as a light meter and it worked just fine, but "standard" lightmeters are just simpler to use, at least for me.

[Bob McCarthy]

I used to be against using a digicam as they do so much processinjg to optimize the digital file, which often it made the settings recommended useless for film.

I was wrong with making a blanket statement, my Canon G12 allows full manual mode, metering, focus, aperture/shutter and it works fine as long as you can translate what it says to film. One of the previous posters mentioned dynamic range which is much narrower with transparency films than with the G12.

In really low light, it has been my only reliable meter.

bob

[jm51]

Google "chdk"

I don't fully understand it yet but if I've got the gist correct, you can change the 'operating system' on certain Canon compact digis and then have many extra features like RAW, manual mode etc. Should make a good exposure meter.