lightmeter

I am looking for a lightmeter but I don't really know what to look for so all ideas are welcome.

my budget is max Euro 200.

I will be using it when photographing people (portraits, groups) and when working with a lighttent for product photo's.

I have a Minolta Auto Meter III like this one: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Minolta-Auto-Light-Meter-3-Metering-Booster-2-more_W0QQitemZ150232925051QQihZ005QQcategoryZ708QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I paid £30 for it about 5 years ago (used) and it's extremely good for ambient light readings but doesn't take flash readings (expect to pay quite a bit more for a flash meter). I don't have the booster that's shown in the above listing but I did get a spot metering attachment thrown in.

I also have an old Weston meter but it's very slow to reset itself when going from bright to dim conditions so I've kept it for sentimental reasons rather than practical ones.

I've never used a Pentax meter but they seem quite well thought of - and expensive. I don't think you can go far wrong with Minolta though IMO.

Sounds like you'll need a flash meter.

I can recommend the Sekonic L358 Flash Master which has a standard PC socket to trigger flash heads. An optional radio trigger module is available.

The Sekonic L308s Flashmate may well fit your budget, but has no radio trigger option.

I love my polaris flashmeter.
It's cheap, acurate to 1/10 stop and can be calibrated to match your sensor!

it has a pc socket, and can do incident and reflected settings for corded, cordless, flash and ambient light readings.

I tested it against my photo instructors sekonic (costing 3x as much) and it is accurate.

thanks for the info, I will look for the mentioned units.

Which Polaris flashmeter do you have?

I believe they only have two, mine is the one that doesn't have a spot meter adaptor on it.

Does anyone know the Visatec FM 2000 flashmeter?
It is Euro 199,00 (US$ 293)

It is this unit:




The specs are the following:
The measurement range for flash at ISO 100 extends from f/4.0 to f/90.9 in 1/10-stop increments, with shutter speeds adjustable from 1/1000 s to 1 second. Continuous light can be measured at ISO 100 over a range from f/1.0 to f/90.9 in 1/10-stop increments, with shutter speeds adjustable from 1/8000 s to 30 minutes. Continuous light can optionally also be measured as exposure values from EV -1 to 19.9. The values are easily read off from the LCD panel. The measurement head pivots 270°. Film speed can be set over a range from ISO 3 to 8000. The meter operates on a commonly available
3V battery. A power-saving circuit automatically shuts off the meter and its LED display when not in use in order to extend battery life.
The VISATEC FM 2000 can be used for both subjet and light metering; in the latter mode, the measurement angle can also be controlled. For filmmakers, the FM 2000's ability to measure EV and aperture at a preselected frame rate is very useful. The compact unit weighs 102 g (without battery) and is supplied with a neck cord and case.

I bought a Minolta Autometer VF in near mint condition.
I got it for about the same price as a lot of the lower spec new units.

I think you'll be very happy with it - the VF retailed at around £250 and Minolta meters are incredibly rugged so there's no reason to suppose you won't get many, many years good service from it. Congratulations!

like Hefty1 I have the same Minolta and paid a lot more for it new! I bought it to replace the Minolta Flash Meter IV given to me by Harry Benson www.harrybenson.com that some b****** stole. All Minolta meters are ace but the Flash IV is the best, try and find one.

I'm playing a little with the unit now but there is one thing that puzzles me, and from what I have seen all flash/ambient meters work in the same way and that is comparable to the shutter priority mode on your camera.
I just want to know the following, I normally work my camera in Aperture priority mode to have control over the DOF.
When I take a measurement with my Minolta meter at a given exposure time and then change that time to get to the desired aperture value is that then the correct exposure?

for example:
at a exposure time of 1/250 it gives me an aperture of f5.6, but I want to take that shot at f8. I change the exposure value on the lightmeter to 1/160 and then the aperture value is at f8.
Am I correct that the combintation 1/250 and f5.6 will give the same exposure as 1/160 and f8 (just with a different DOF)?

If it's 1/250s at f/5.6, it should be 1/125s at f/8, because there's a full stop between f/5.6 and f/8, so you need to double the length of exposure. 1/180s should give f/6.7.

I suspect the lightmeter is rounding the readings up and down. Try it and see!

Dan

r u remembering to pay attention to the little bar graph?
that meter (certianly my meter) should be displaying a graph with 1/10 stop increments, so a reading of f5.6 that has 9 dashes underneath it is alot closer to f8 than the indicated f5.6......

The weather is nice so I will go out and have a go with some experimental shots.