Light meter details and comparisons

[mattie]

Hi all

a few months ago I narrowly missed a Gossen lightmeter and instead settled for metering my MF gear from my 35mm. This isn't ideal so I'm after a handheld meter - I can't justify the price of a new meter so I'm looking at used. Unfortunately, I know nothing about meters (in terms of specific models) and I'm a bit lost when going through eBay or online shops. Does anyone know of any decent references or web sites that would provide some detail? I'm looking at Gossen as a start, but cannot tell the difference between a Profisix, lunasix, lunalite etc., in terms of what are more robust, more accurate etc.

Alternatively, a recommendation for a good reasonably priced meter would be appreciated. I shoot many black and white with occasional slide, so I'm happy with ambient and bracketing slide if I don't have spot metering. I don't really need flash metering at the moment.

All comments greatly appreciated.

[beejaybee]

Does anyone know of any decent references or web sites that would provide some detail?

Well you could try the web sites of retailers who sell the things - you should get the features, size and an idea of the new price.

What to look for:

- incident light facility - these days usually an opalescent thing which slides over the sensor
- flash metering
- spot metering, if so the size of the spot - some are only around 1 degree coverage, this may sound ideal but needs a sighting system to point accurately
- size may be an issue, some of the spot meters with sighting systems are not as small as you might think

I have and (occasionally) use a Gossen Sixtomat digital meter which seems to be accurate, it's never let me down, the battery seems to last forever. Doesn't have flash or spot, does have a nice feature where you can hold down the button and scan across the scene to get an idea of the contrast within the scene. But I find digital readout meters aren't as intuitive as analogue (swinging needle) meters.

The reason I say "occasionally" is that I prefer to rely on the inbuilt TTL meter on the Olympus OM-3 and OM-4 cameras I use most of the time, for reasons of convenience as well as the multi-spot mode being very flexible and effective in difficult light.

What you would appear to want is one of the old-fashioned CdS meters that were popular about 30 years ago - sorry, I don't know if/where you can still get them, except on eBay where you need to watch out for old meters which require PX625 batteries which are no longer available.

[nimbus]

I have a Lunalite languishing in a drawer, there it can stay. I use a Euromaster bought used for £5 from a camera trader. It is far more accurate than the Lunalite, which is more optimistic than a politician. It is not battery dependent either. The Euromaster was the last in a long line of meters that several generations of photographers swore by.

[tessar]

Hi Mattie,
I have a few different Gossen meters, from 10 to 30 years old. Never a moments trouble, all accurate. Certainly buy one secondhand, though I would use a reputable dealer with the usual 3 months gaurantee.
As far as I am aware all have incident/reflected capability
Cheers Bill.

[mattie]

Well you could try the web sites of retailers who sell the things - you should get the features, size and an idea of the new price.

What to look for:

- incident light facility - these days usually an opalescent thing which slides over the sensor
- flash metering
- spot metering, if so the size of the spot - some are only around 1 degree coverage, this may sound ideal but needs a sighting system to point accurately
- size may be an issue, some of the spot meters with sighting systems are not as small as you might think

I have and (occasionally) use a Gossen Sixtomat digital meter which seems to be accurate, it's never let me down, the battery seems to last forever. Doesn't have flash or spot, does have a nice feature where you can hold down the button and scan across the scene to get an idea of the contrast within the scene. But I find digital readout meters aren't as intuitive as analogue (swinging needle) meters.

The reason I say "occasionally" is that I prefer to rely on the inbuilt TTL meter on the Olympus OM-3 and OM-4 cameras I use most of the time, for reasons of convenience as well as the multi-spot mode being very flexible and effective in difficult light.

What you would appear to want is one of the old-fashioned CdS meters that were popular about 30 years ago - sorry, I don't know if/where you can still get them, except on eBay where you need to watch out for old meters which require PX625 batteries which are no longer available.

Cheers, most useful - I have looked at the usual suspects' websites but they don't tend to give much detail beyond saying whether it's an ambient or flash meter, and in any case some of it is quite subjective - relative quality can't really be indicated except (to some extent) through price.

I was under the impression that some old meters (selenium?) may drift over time, does CdS suffer from this do you know?

I was not anticipating getting a spot meter, as most I have seen have been big bucks in comparison to ambient/reflected. I quite like the sound of an analogue, they also seem to be a bit cheaper than digital - budget is, as ever, an issue.

I have a Pentax 67 but the metering head is shot, and carrying a 35mm camera (used for metering) along with the 67 gear and tripod is backbreaking! Replacement metering heads do not seem to come cheap, and I have no way of knowing if it is actually a duff head or if the body isn't interacting with it correctly - it's been serviced but they couldn't find the problem. A pocket-sized meter would be much more useful.

[mattie]

I have a Lunalite languishing in a drawer, there it can stay. I use a Euromaster bought used for £5 from a camera trader. It is far more accurate than the Lunalite, which is more optimistic than a politician. It is not battery dependent either. The Euromaster was the last in a long line of meters that several generations of photographers swore by.

Thanks for comments.

Is that a Weston meter? I've been warned that the photosensitive material drifts with time, have you noted any issues on that front?

[mattie]

Hi Mattie,
I have a few different Gossen meters, from 10 to 30 years old. Never a moments trouble, all accurate. Certainly buy one secondhand, though I would use a reputable dealer with the usual 3 months gaurantee.
As far as I am aware all have incident/reflected capability
Cheers Bill.

Thanks Bill - Walters were selling loads of Gossen meters of half-price but I was too slow, much prefer the idea of getting it from a shop than eBay so I'll keep looking!

[Gordon_McGeachie]

I still use (sometimes) a Weston Master III that I bought for £15 way back in the early 80`s. It still gives reasonable exposures and compared to the meter on my dslr they are very close.

[nimbus]

The Euromaster is a Weston design, that was manufactured latterly by East Kilbride Instruments. So the one I own is not all that old. These can deteriorate over time, but certainly this one is fine, certainly a whole lot better than the Lunalite, which was an expensive purchase some years ago. These meters cetainly could be serviced and recalibrated if necessary, but I do not know who currently offers this service. At the £5 I paid, I was of the opinion that it was worth the risk. It was even boxed with instructions and leather case.

[Gordon_McGeachie]

My Master III is complete with case and in mint condition.

Must be one of the best buys I have ever made as I have never regretted getting it.

[Dave_Cox]

I use an old Zeiss Ikophot - simple to use, clear readings and still accurate when checked against my K10 - £5 on Ebay including the leather case and opaque thingy-what-I've-worked-out-what-it's-for.

[beejaybee]

I was under the impression that some old meters (selenium?) may drift over time, does CdS suffer from this do you know?

They work in a completely different way. Selenium meters have no battery, the meter cell generates a voltage which drives the needle directly. With CdS meters the resistance varies with the light intensity, it is the current which is measured.

Yes, selenium meters do age. I have inherited an "AVO Universal Exposure Meter" which my dad bought new in the early 1950s; it's reading a couple of stops under at low light levels but is not far out in reasonably bright daylight.

I don't think CdS meters tend to "go off" in the same way. If they fail it usually seems to be terminal. However most "swinging needle" meters have an adjustment screw which could be used to correct minor discrepancies if required. This would certainly be the case if you fitted a meter requiring the old 1.35V PX625 mercury cell with the 1.5V alkaline cell frequently peddled as a "replacement".

[PentaxManiac]

I bought a used Gossen recently, the Lunasix F.

Unlike the other Gossen models, this takes a normal 9 volt battery rather than the mercury button cells that are no longer available. It does both reflected and incident readings. Mine cost £59 from MXV in Sussex: over the last two years I've bought a lot of used gear from them by mail order with no problems at all. You have to ring them to order, their website doesn't have online ordering.

I also have a Jessops meter: these cost about £24 if you can find one. It's perfectly accurate but the handling is poor, not least in so far as if you put it in the case supplied you will switch it on and drain the battery!

[nimbus]

My disliked Lunalite also uses a standard 9v cell. It is one of the few good points of this meter. At least they are readily obtained almost anywhere.

[mike_j]

Megatron are the people to talk to. They still service Weston Masters I think.

[mattie]

Thank to all for responses.

I'm looking at a Lunasix 3 as it's available at a good price, but I note that it was designed for mercury batteries. I assume the adjustment screw that beejaybee mentions would be sufficient to adjust for voltage differences when using non-mercury batteries?

[nimbus]

This could be one reason why they are available at a low price. I seem to remember seeing a battery adaptor which could be used with a current cell type. This was intended for cameras, but presumably would be usable in a meter as well. this device also compensated for any voltage difference. Perhaps someone can recall who supplied them.

I do have a small supply of mercury batteries, purchased for use in Olympus cameras, before the type was banned. These cells have a long shelf life.

[beejaybee]

I assume the adjustment screw that beejaybee mentions would be sufficient to adjust for voltage differences when using non-mercury batteries?

I don't know, you could try it. Remember to calibrate at both ends of the needle range.

Alternatively try the Wein zinc-air cell which is available in "625" size - though these are expensive and only last about 6 months once exposed to air - or one of the converters which fit a 386 size battery (LR44, SR44) and have a diode built in to reduce the voltage to match a mercury cell.

[Iloca]

Try here for the battery adapter.

Small Battery Company

Richard

[Burgy]

There have been several cheap Sekonic Meters on Ebay recently, I have a 508 and it is superb, it also runs on an AA battery so easy to source.

Worth looking for a Sekonic 308, they tend to go for about £30