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Photo Forum / Film Photography / Other Equipment / October 2004Light meter question(s)
Hi, all. I'm wondering about buying handheld light meters on the used market. While new ones are relatively inexpensive, a used one will cost even less, goes my reasoning. Are certain brands of light meters better than others in terms of long-term reliability, resale value, etc.? What would you recommend? My advanced-amateur photography is chiefly outdoors, or occasionally indoors with appropriate lighting, etc., and I would like to expand my horizons. TIA Dieter Zakas > Hi, all. > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > advanced-amateur photography is chiefly outdoors, or occasionally indoors > with appropriate lighting, etc., and I would like to expand my horizons. It's hard to go wrong with a Gossen. If you can find a used LunaPro with a full set of accessories, you'll probably never need another meter (it's got spot, flash, and enlarger metering capability as well as reflected averaging and incident, and a 2-3 ranges covering light from blazing sun on sand down to a living room lit for television watching). Go a little older, and a Lunasix is a good option; the Luna family got its name because it was reputedly able to take a reading by moonlight, though I suspect that was exaggerating by a stop or two. I use a Gossen Sixtomat that's most likely older than I am; I acquired it with an Exa II SLR that I bought in 1973. It's a selenium meter, so needs no battery, and is still accurate at something like fifty years of age despite many rants I've read about how selenium cells die in twenty years or so. I do keep it in the dark when not in use, which is supposed to help. However, selenium meters aren't much good in low light; mine drops out about the time I have to put my Spotmatic on a tripod due to insufficient light to hand hold at f/2 and ISO 400. Another brand with a good reputation for durability is Weston, if you can get one that uses a battery, but doesn't need a mercury cell -- however, some of them are a bit non-intuitive in operation; you might have to hunt around for a reprint manual if you get one of the special versions. And there are always Sekonic meters; I don't believe I've ever heard anything bad about them other than that they don't have some gosh-wow feature or other, but then that depends on which model you have. I don't know either the Weston or Sekonic lines well enough to recommend specific models.  SignatureThe challenge to the photographer is to command the medium, to use whatever current equipment and technology furthers his creative objectives, without sacrificing the ability to make his own decisions. -- Ansel Adams Donald Qualls, aka The Silent Observer http://silent1.home.netcom.com Opinions expressed are my own -- take them for what they're worth and don't expect them to be perfect. > It's hard to go wrong with a Gossen. If you can find a used LunaPro > with a full set of accessories, you'll probably never need another meter > (it's got spot, flash, and enlarger metering capability as well as > reflected averaging and incident, and a 2-3 ranges covering light from > blazing sun on sand down to a living room lit for television watching). don't get one that requires those tiny round 'watch' batteries cause you can't get them anymore, find one that takes a 9v >don't get one that requires those tiny round 'watch' batteries cause you >can't get them anymore, find one that takes a 9v Since when?? The only mini-cell batteries not available are the mercury cells. There are many different models available in silver oxide and alkaline.. Colyn Goodson http://home.swbell.net/colyng http://www.colyngoodson.com ColynG© wrote: >>don't get one that requires those tiny round 'watch' batteries cause you >>can't get them anymore, find one that takes a 9v [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > There are many different models available in silver oxide and > alkaline.. Furthermore, any meter that calls for a mercury cell will work (albeit with reduced battery life and a possible need to recalibrate) with zinc-air cells like the Wein cells or hearing aid batteries. And given that hearing aid batteries routinely sell for less than $1 each, it shouldn't be a big hardship to carry a package of spares (they come in packs of 6 to 12) and peel a fresh one a half hour before starting something critical. Yes, it'd be better to get one originally designs for alkaline batteries, but a button or miniature cell instead of a 9V radio battery shouldn't be a criterion to cause you to pass up the meter, as long as it will work with a modern battery you can still buy. SignatureThe challenge to the photographer is to command the medium, to use whatever current equipment and technology furthers his creative objectives, without sacrificing the ability to make his own decisions. -- Ansel Adams Donald Qualls, aka The Silent Observer http://silent1.home.netcom.com Opinions expressed are my own -- take them for what they're worth and don't expect them to be perfect. Your mention of "possible need to recalibrate" is the exact reason why I don't recommend old mercury cell meters. True... some mercury cell based meters adapt easily to alkaline replacements, but many do not. Alkalines and zinc batteries drop in voltage over time while mercury batteries remain constant. Why mess with having to constantly recalculate exposure values based upon the current battery voltage or pop in a new battery every time you want to take a good shot? Seems that buying a meter with a readily available correct power source would be the prudent choice unless quick accuracy isn't all that important to you. > Furthermore, any meter that calls for a mercury cell will work (albeit > with reduced battery life and a possible need to recalibrate) with > zinc-air cells like the Wein cells or hearing aid batteries. >Your mention of "possible need to recalibrate" is the exact reason why I >don't recommend old mercury cell meters. True... some mercury cell based [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >available correct power source would be the prudent choice unless quick >accuracy isn't all that important to you. Simple fix.. Re-calibrate to the silver oxide cell.. It has nearly the same voltage curve as the mercury and are readily available.. I've been using silver cells in my SRT's, Weston Ranger 9 meter, as well as other mercury powered cameras/meters for some time now without any problems or off exposure readings.. Check out the below links http://www.colyngoodson.com/cameras.html http://www.colyngoodson.com/minolta.html http://www.colyngoodson.com/weston.html It would be a waste to disregard many of the mercury powered meters/cameras when there is a simple fix.. Colyn Goodson http://home.swbell.net/colyng http://www.colyngoodson.com > Your mention of "possible need to recalibrate" is the exact reason why I > don't recommend old mercury cell meters. True... some mercury cell based [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > available correct power source would be the prudent choice unless quick > accuracy isn't all that important to you. Alkalines do drop gradually over their life; zinc-air have a discharge curve very similar to mercury, except the total life is much shorter. That, and the voltage (1.35V vs. 1.3 for mercury) are the reasons zinc-air make the best replacements for mercury cells; most meters won't need recalibration for .05 V; they'll read less than a 1/3 stop high (many/most modern meters have more K factor built in than that in any case). As a side benefit, until the seal is broken, they have a shelf life better than top quality alkalines costing 5 times as much. OTOH, the poster I responded to recommended avoiding *all* button type cells in favor of 9V transistor batteries only, instead of looking for meters designed to be voltage tolerant (all that requires is a bridged meter, which is effectively independent of voltage, at least over a moderate range of, say, 1.2 to 1.6 V; the internal meter in my 1967 Spotmatic SP is of that type, so I can use modern alkaline cells in this 37 year old camera without problems even though the originally specified cell was a mercury type, for longer life). One of the major advantages of a button cell powered meter is compactness; you can have a single range reflected/incident meter that's barely larger than a 9V battery if it uses button cells, but with a 9V inside it's going to be quite a bit larger. Might not make a difference if you're already lugging around forty pounds of large format gear, but if you need a meter for a Minox or Minolta 16, a meter bigger than the camera can cause an uncomfortable level of cognitive dissonance... SignatureThe challenge to the photographer is to command the medium, to use whatever current equipment and technology furthers his creative objectives, without sacrificing the ability to make his own decisions. -- Ansel Adams Donald Qualls, aka The Silent Observer http://silent1.home.netcom.com Opinions expressed are my own -- take them for what they're worth and don't expect them to be perfect. >Alkalines do drop gradually over their life; zinc-air have a discharge >curve very similar to mercury, except the total life is much shorter. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >case). As a side benefit, until the seal is broken, they have a shelf >life better than top quality alkalines costing 5 times as much. Actually zinc-air cells are 1.4v and mercury cells are 1.35v Colyn Goodson http://home.swbell.net/colyng http://www.colyngoodson.com > Hi, all. > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > advanced-amateur photography is chiefly outdoors, or occasionally indoors > with appropriate lighting, etc., and I would like to expand my horizons. If your dealing with an old meter, say pre-1980 watch for the type of battery used, many used Mercury batteries, usually PX-625 or PX-675 batteries, these are between difficult and impossible to find in North America. They can often be converted to use Silver-Oxide or Zinc-Air batteries but need to be recalibrated in the process. It may be more expensive to get a 25 year old meter recalibrated then to purchase a new meter. W Buy high quality used. Stay away from all (new and used) cheap selenium (solar) cell meters unless you can find one for a few bucks or less and can be proven that it's working. Battery powered meters are best. Look for a meter that uses a battery type that's easily obtainable. Many older battery powered meters use batteries that are hard to find and don't work well when modern battery types are substituted in them. I looked for a good used meter for some time and finally found a used Gossen Luna Pro F for $40 at a camera shop. It's high quality (around $350 when new), deadly accurate, and takes a simple 9v battery. Nice thing is good quality used meters can be found at camera shops going cheap since they're not in high demand. > Hi, all. > > I'm wondering about buying handheld light meters on the used market. While > new ones are relatively inexpensive, a used one will cost even less, goes > my > reasoning. > I'm wondering about buying handheld light meters on the used market. While > new ones are relatively inexpensive, a used one will cost even less, goes my > reasoning. Are certain brands of light meters better than others in terms of > long-term reliability, resale value, etc.? What would you recommend? My > advanced-amateur photography is chiefly outdoors, or occasionally indoors > with appropriate lighting, etc., and I would like to expand my horizons. older meters get older faster, the sensors get weird. I don't know if the newer ones are tougher but they are sensitive devices, you can't tell if they have been knocked around. they are not like a remote you can drop a dozen times a week. So I'll buy used lenses, used flash, tripods, reflectors, but I'll buy new bods and meters. Of course you don't have to depend on the meter. You can do an exposure test and work out your 'working' ISO and once you know, even if the thing is off 2 stops, you know and you set your ISO to 100 when shooting 400 and you get the right exposure. as for resale, meters are not like cars or camera bods where you drive for awhile and then trade them in for a newer, flashier model, or before the warranty or lease runs out, they are like a chef's knife, a cook's spoon, a meter is for a life time or until it goes wonky on you cause the sensor got old or jarred a few times to often. A bod is like a girlfriend (or insert sexual partner of choice) but a meter is like a best friend. I used to use Luna Pro, had several (well I'd need new best friends too if I slammed their heads into rocks and floors as often as I did) but I noticed at professional workshops and demos where photogs would be shooting along with a top gun teacher that Minolta was clearly the meter of choice, of course that could be that minolta sponsors a lot of the teachers... this reply is echoed to the z-prophoto mailing list at yahoogroups.com |
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