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Exposure meter suggestions

I have a Zeiss Ikon Ikophot bought in 1960. I used it help with my very basic 35mm cameras until I bought a pair Minolta cameras in 1975. The Ikophot still appears to work, however I have not compared it to the meters in the Olympus cameras. The comments about the reliability of the Weston meters are quite reassuring as the Weston was my meter of choice in the 1960s however they were relatively expensive compared to the Ikophots
 
I've discovered I have more than a dozen light meters! Picked up over 50 years in flea markets, ebay. or gifts from friends.

1/ Gossen Lunasix 3 (working perfectly)
2/ Gossen Lunasix 3 (battered and broken)
3/ Weston Master V (Working perfectly)
4/ Weston Master V (Working perfectly)
5/ Weston Master V (Broken and jammed needle, I tried to open it to "mend" It)
6/ Weston Master v (Dying cell, reads 2-3 stops down)
7/ Gossen Sixtino (Working perfectly)
8/ Gossen Sixtino (Working perfectly)
9/ Gossen Sixtino 2 (Working perfectly)
10/ Gossen Bix (Working perfectly)
11/ Capital CDS (sort-of working)
12/ Gossen Lunasix F (Now being calibrated)
13/ Gossen Lunasix F (Broken beyond repair)
14/ Sekonic L-308 Just bought brand new

Maybe I should discuss it with my analyst.
 
I've discovered I have more than a dozen light meters! Picked up over 50 years in flea markets, ebay. or gifts from friends.

1/ Gossen Lunasix 3 (working perfectly)
2/ Gossen Lunasix 3 (battered and broken)
3/ Weston Master V (Working perfectly)
4/ Weston Master V (Working perfectly)
5/ Weston Master V (Broken and jammed needle, I tried to open it to "mend" It)
6/ Weston Master v (Dying cell, reads 2-3 stops down)
7/ Gossen Sixtino (Working perfectly)
8/ Gossen Sixtino (Working perfectly)
9/ Gossen Sixtino 2 (Working perfectly)
10/ Gossen Bix (Working perfectly)
11/ Capital CDS (sort-of working)
12/ Gossen Lunasix F (Now being calibrated)
13/ Gossen Lunasix F (Broken beyond repair)
14/ Sekonic L-308 Just bought brand new

Maybe I should discuss it with my analyst.
At least you only have one analyst!


Pete


3 exposure meters
 
The two I use most are
Sekonic L-308S Flashmate
and
Sekonic L-478DR Litemaster Pro ,
Very advance meter , You can also factor in filter compensation
Have some older meters that are now more like ornaments
 
Yes, nobody wants the old ones, can't be bothered to sell them on ebay for a few euros, and can't really throw them in the rubbish, they were so beautiful, or cute, or handsomely made compared to the modern ones.
 
The Minolta Flashmeters are very good.
I’ve had my Model 3 for more than 30 years remains accurate and reliable.
 
I've had a Sekonic 408 for many, many years and that's excellent. I went with it instead of the 308 as it has a spot meter which was useful when I was doing zone system metering.
 
I've had a Sekonic 408 for many, many years and that's excellent. I went with it instead of the 308 as it has a spot meter which was useful when I was doing zone system metering.

Spot meters are great with digital too, where the aim is to protect the highlights.
 
I like using vintage cameras so I thought I would try a vintage light meter for the full experience, partly inspired by this thread. I bought a Weston V fully restored by Ian Partridge with a new Selenium cell installed. Not a cheap meter compared to what they can be bought for on ebay, but I wanted the piece of mind of a fully restored meter that should last for decades.

I did some initial testing out the living room window on a late scottish afternoon and I was a bit surprised to find that the Weston over estimated the amount of light by nearly two stops compared to a bunch of other reliable meters. I did tilt the meter down to eliminate the bias from the sky. The reading on the Weston was around 7.5 with the low light baffle open.

I will do some more testing in brighter conditions. It would be useful to hear the experiences of other Weston users about the reliability of these meters in low light conditions.
 
I like using vintage cameras so I thought I would try a vintage light meter for the full experience, partly inspired by this thread. I bought a Weston V fully restored by Ian Partridge with a new Selenium cell installed. Not a cheap meter compared to what they can be bought for on ebay, but I wanted the piece of mind of a fully restored meter that should last for decades.

I did some initial testing out the living room window on a late scottish afternoon and I was a bit surprised to find that the Weston over estimated the amount of light by nearly two stops compared to a bunch of other reliable meters. I did tilt the meter down to eliminate the bias from the sky. The reading on the Weston was around 7.5 with the low light baffle open.

I will do some more testing in brighter conditions. It would be useful to hear the experiences of other Weston users about the reliability of these meters in low light conditions.

I've seen his website, and the price, IIRC, is £179. So it should be accurate! I would discuss it with him if further tests confirm it is over-reading. 2 stops is a hell of a lot!
 
I like using vintage cameras so I thought I would try a vintage light meter for the full experience, partly inspired by this thread. I bought a Weston V fully restored by Ian Partridge with a new Selenium cell installed. Not a cheap meter compared to what they can be bought for on ebay, but I wanted the piece of mind of a fully restored meter that should last for decades.

I did some initial testing out the living room window on a late scottish afternoon and I was a bit surprised to find that the Weston over estimated the amount of light by nearly two stops compared to a bunch of other reliable meters. I did tilt the meter down to eliminate the bias from the sky. The reading on the Weston was around 7.5 with the low light baffle open.

I will do some more testing in brighter conditions. It would be useful to hear the experiences of other Weston users about the reliability of these meters in low light conditions.

Could the EV to ASA conversion possibly be incorrect?

There's a calculator and a chart lower down here

https://www.scantips.com/lights/evchart.html
 
Or maybe your other meter is in "Incident Light" mode, while the Weston is measuring reflected light. That would account for 2 stops difference. But if it is really overmeasuring by 2 stops, it is worse than useless.
 
Or maybe your other meter is in "Incident Light" mode, while the Weston is measuring reflected light. That would account for 2 stops difference. But if it is really overmeasuring by 2 stops, it is worse than useless.

I was comparing to meters in cameras and also my Minolta spot meter. I will send it back to Ian to check if needed, but first I want to do some more thorough testing in lighting conditions closer to what I would be typically shooting in. I have two cameras that have been recently serviced with a meter calibration so it will be interesting to see how it compares to those cameras.
 
Could the EV to ASA conversion possibly be incorrect?

There's a calculator and a chart lower down here

https://www.scantips.com/lights/evchart.html


I doubt that since the conversion is hard linked in the calculator dial of the meter. The meter does not measure EV, but an arbitrary light value which is transferred to the calculator by rotating until the red arrow matches the measured light value. You can then read off EV and shutter speed/aperture combinations. I did double check that I had the film speed set correctly.
 


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