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Photo Forum / Film Photography / 35 mm / September 2004Low-light spotmeters
Hello, I do a lot of low-light photography, usually using spotmetering to determine exposure. At present I am using a Gossen Profisix (US - Luna Pro SBC) with spotmetering attachment. This gives me a metering capability of down to -2 EV at ISO 100. The problem with this setup is that the meter plus attachment is extremely bulky. I'm hoping to replace this with a dedicated spotmeter to reduce bulk and at the same time retain the same low-light capability. Does anybody know of a meter (new or old) that I could get as a suitable replacement for the above? Many thanks, DAM  SignatureDonald A Morrison >Hello, > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >Does anybody know of a meter (new or old) that I could get as a suitable >replacement for the above? I recently found a digital soligor spot meter that measures to EV 0 used / like new for $60 US. Works great. Look long enough there are some good deals. RP© > Hello, > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > Many thanks, Donald, I have a Sekonic L-558. Reads down to EV -2 as well and is purported by the manufacturer as the lowest light reading lightmeter around. Not sure if it's true or not (I seem to remember while researching which light meter I'd buy the Gossen Starlight went lower, but not by much), but it does offer the spot meter attachment integrated into the same housing as well as incident and reflective capabilities. Not to mention the flash metering as well. I have found it to be a great all-around meter with the full program of features and very accurate. You might want to look at one of these (or the Starlight) and keep all the features you're looking for without loosing other unforeseen features in the future. Jim P.S. The Sekonic is running about $390 on that auction site. > Donald, > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > Jim Hello, Many thanks to you and to all who offered advice. Sorry for not responding sooner, I've been away from a computer for the past week. I took a look at the Sekonic, as far as I can tell from the spec sheet the EV -2 seems to apply only to incident metering. Spot metering seems to be limited to EV 1. The Gossen Starlight also seems to be similarly restricted. I also took a look at the various Pentax spotmeters and, true to form, they stop measuring at EV 1. Does anybody have any other meters to suggest? If not then I think that I will end up going with the Sekonic, my current setup is just too bulky to be manageable even though I need the extra sensitivity. Many thanks, Donald SignatureDonald A Morrison damorrison@btinternet.com > Does anybody have any other meters to suggest? If not then I think that I > will end up going with the Sekonic, my current setup is just too bulky to be > manageable even though I need the extra sensitivity. Could you describe the shooting you do where you need this low light sensitivity? Offhand I don't know of a meter that goes lower, but there are likely other ways to determine your exposure requirement. Signature-- rec.photo.equipment.35mm user resource: -- http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm -- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.-- > > Does anybody have any other meters to suggest? If not then I think that I > > will end up going with the Sekonic, my current setup is just too bulky to be [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > lower, but there are likely other ways to determine your exposure > requirement. Mostly for landscape photography, at dusk and twilight. From time to time I also photography urban architecture, also after sunset (or before sunrise). Donald. SignatureDonald A Morrison damorrison@btinternet.com > Mostly for landscape photography, at dusk and twilight. From time to time I > also photography urban architecture, also after sunset (or before sunrise). Well, then don't bother metering. It's not needed. Further, a lot of these shots are up at about EV 8 - 11 in any case. See the links below to convert the EV into speed and f/stop for your film. (Or compute it based on EV = 1 stop where EV 0 = f/1.0 for 1 second at ISO 100.) For landscapes: -10 minutes B4 sunset: EV 11 -just after sunset: EV 10 -10 min. after: EV 9 The last one includes lit city skylines Snowsacape lit by a full moon (long after sunset) EV -2 Landscape lit by a full moon (long after sunet) EV -3 half moon EV -4 cressent moon EV -5 starlight EV -6 (or less). I've done all of the above except starlight, half/cresent moon. Works fine. On negative film double the exposure with no risk. Cheers, Alan http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm#Light%20Intensity%20Chart http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm#EXPOSURE%20FACTOR%20RELATIONSHIP%20CHART%20B Signature-- rec.photo.equipment.35mm user resource: -- http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm -- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.-- > > Mostly for landscape photography, at dusk and twilight. From time to time I > > also photography urban architecture, also after sunset (or before sunrise). [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > (Or compute it based on EV = 1 stop where EV 0 = f/1.0 for 1 > second at ISO 100.) [snip] Many thanks for your suggestions. This will be a lot of help for a good many of my shots. I'll still be in a bit of a fix in some situations however, I use the spotmeter to try and assign precise tonal values at exposure time. Quite often this means making a meter reading of EV -2 (and sometimes below). Unfortunately it seems that there is no currently available meter which reads down this low. Many thanks to all who made suggestions though, very much appreciated. Donald. SignatureDonald A Morrison damorrison@btinternet.com >Mostly for landscape photography, at dusk and twilight. From time to time I >also photography urban architecture, also after sunset (or before sunrise). Meter off the brightest part of the scene then compensate. I.E. Meter streetlight .... -5 stops for scene exposure (just an example) This way your meter will effectively meter way below it's limits. A little practice goes a long way. RP© >>Mostly for landscape photography, at dusk and twilight. From time to time I >>also photography urban architecture, also after sunset (or before sunrise). > > Meter off the brightest part of the scene then compensate. > I.E. Meter streetlight .... > -5 stops for scene exposure (just an example) This way your meter Do you mean metering the light itself? From my way of seeing it, it would be the opposite ... if you point a meter at a light, it believes there's more light than there really is on the scene... not sure about your number of stops, but let's assume 5 stops is correct: point at light, read: 1/500 f/8 So open up (+5) stops to shoot the scene... 1/15 f/8 Signature-- rec.photo.equipment.35mm user resource: -- http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm -- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.-- >> Meter off the brightest part of the scene then compensate. >> I.E. Meter streetlight .... [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > >So open up (+5) stops to shoot the scene... 1/15 f/8 Whoops. I stand corrected. Thanks for pointing that out Alan. RP© |
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