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Exposure meter suggestions

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.

I didn't know whether the EV dial and the ASA dial were different parts that fit together when assembled properly or an all in one thing as you say.
 
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.

It would be interesting to know what you discover. Partridge's website insists on the precision and reliability of his products, so it should be perfectly accurate. A tiny deviation, of 1/3 of a stop or less, from another "good" meter is possible, indeed probable, since some read, say, a 40 degree area and some 30 degrees, some are more or less sensitive to some light colours rather than others. But 2 stops or more is ridiculous. Try comparing against an evenly lit wall, with the meters pointing at 90 degrees from the wall. And make sure both are set to read reflected, rather than incident, light. There is also the "sunny 16 rule," which says that a scene in bright sunshine should give you F16 with a shutter speed equivalent to the ASA rating of the film. But I've found this only works in really very bright sunshine, in a completely open area. like a beach in July. Most of the time it should be "Sunny 11." Besides, I doubt you could use it in Scotland in December.
 
It would be interesting to know what you discover. Partridge's website insists on the precision and reliability of his products, so it should be perfectly accurate. A tiny deviation, of 1/3 of a stop or less, from another "good" meter is possible, indeed probable, since some read, say, a 40 degree area and some 30 degrees, some are more or less sensitive to some light colours rather than others. But 2 stops or more is ridiculous. Try comparing against an evenly lit wall, with the meters pointing at 90 degrees from the wall. And make sure both are set to read reflected, rather than incident, light. There is also the "sunny 16 rule," which says that a scene in bright sunshine should give you F16 with a shutter speed equivalent to the ASA rating of the film. But I've found this only works in really very bright sunshine, in a completely open area. like a beach in July. Most of the time it should be "Sunny 11." Besides, I doubt you could use it in Scotland in December.

I did do the test you suggested, using an artificially lit wall in the house and metering at close range, all meters in reflected light measuring mode. I tested a whole bunch of cameras and the Minolta spot meter. This time the difference was only 2/3 of a stop (Weston still measures more light), so the difference in metering pattern was probably a factor when I did the first tests. I was surprised in a good way how consistent all of my metered cameras were!

The test was still quite a low light level, around 7 on the Weston. I will do some more tests outside on the weekend.
If the Weston is close enough at typical shooting levels of light I will keep it. I mainly shoot neg film now which has plenty of latitude.

I always attempt a sunny 16 estimate in any case and sense check it against the meter reading from a camera. It is a good way to teach yourself to interpret the light level. I have mainly been shooting FP4 so am getting quite good at estimating the light.

This light meter purchase was definitely more of a heart than head decision. The smarter choice would have been a brand new sekonic for a tenner more. I will probably get one of those some time in the future.
 
I perfectly understand your "heart" decision. The Weston is such a lovely piece of engineering, nice to see and nice to use. It is also very sensitive and very accurate, except in very, very low light.
If your other meters agree with each other, then it is fair to assume the Weston is "seeing" too much light. 2/3 stop underexposure would give you thin negatives. If further tests confirm the over-reading, I would talk to Partridge.
Just a thought: there is a screw at the back for setting the needle to "0" when the meter is not receiving any light at all and is held at about 45 degrees. Is that set correctly?
 
I perfectly understand your "heart" decision. The Weston is such a lovely piece of engineering, nice to see and nice to use. It is also very sensitive and very accurate, except in very, very low light.
If your other meters agree with each other, then it is fair to assume the Weston is "seeing" too much light. 2/3 stop underexposure would give you thin negatives. If further tests confirm the over-reading, I would talk to Partridge.
Just a thought: there is a screw at the back for setting the needle to "0" when the meter is not receiving any light at all and is held at about 45 degrees. Is that set correctly?

Yes the zero calibration is spot on. I will report back when I have tested in some decent light.
 
Thanks for the suggestion, Boon. I was, in fact, also considering a Gossen Sixtomat F2, which seems similar to your Variosix. But in the end I bought the Sekonic 308, because nobody seems to sell Gossens in Rome and I would have had to order it from Gossen. The Sekonic was also repeatedly recommend here in this thread. I've used Gossens for about 40 years, so sentimentally I was inclined that way, but decided to set sentiment aside. In any case it is just a plastic box with buttons, and will serve to check the 2 Lunasix 3s and the Lunasix F which I will be actually using. I find it easier to watch a needle moving, and having the round calculator with all speed/aperture combinations visible than reading numbers on a display. On the Sekonic, for instance, if the shutter time is 1.3 seconds it reads 1.3 on the display. But the full-stop is tiny, and one could easily read 13 seconds by mistake.
 
By pure chance, just this morning I was in a second hand shop near Rome, just wandering about, and found a Gossen Pilot, the Sixtino for the US market. It seemed to work OK, asking price was 13.50 Euro and they agreed to 10.00 Euro. At home I compared its readings to the brand new 200 Euro Sekonic and it was bang on! And it must be at least 50 years old! Incredible how well they used to make things.
 


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