Sometimes you just can’t trust a camera’s meter or you want to do something creative with how you meter your photos. And then there are times your camera just doesn’t have a trusty built in meter. So you have to do things old school and that’s use an external meter. Something that lives in almost every photographer’s bag.
To give a quick review there are two types of meters based on how they measure light. The first is incident metering that measures the amount of light falling on the subject and then there’s reflective meters that measure the amount of light reflected off the subject.
Meters Featured on Today’s Show…
Pentax Spotmeter V – This is Alex’s go-to meter when shooting medium and large format black & white as well as some colour negative film like Portra 400. It is a pretty simple 1 degree spotmeter that gives an EV reading which you then dial-in with the calculator on the side of the meter, giving you a full range of apertures and shutter speeds. The only thing he wishes it could do is go lower than ASA-6.
Make: Pentax
Model: Spotmeter V
Type: 1° Reflective Spot Meter
Photocell: Silicon Photo Diode
Scales: ASA-6 to ASA-6400, EV 1 to 19, 4′ to 1/4000″, f/1 to f/128
Intrepid – Fuji Fujinon-W 1:5.6/125 – Adox CHS 100 II – Blazinal (1+25) 5:00 @ 20C
Intrepid – Fuji Fujinon-W 1:5.6/125 – Kodak Plus-X (PXE) @ ASA-64 – Blazinal (1+100) 10:00 @ 20C
Weston Master I Model 715 – This World War II era meter is still going strong and next to John’s iPhone is his meter of choice. Of course you need to use a calculator to figure out the Weston Scale for film speeds which was one developed by the company as film speeds in the 1930s and 40s weren’t as accurate as they are today.
Make: Weston
Model: Master I Type 715
Type: Reflective meter
Photocell: Selenium
Scales: ASA-6 to ASA-820, 100″ to 1/1200″, f/1.5 to f/32
Pentax Spotmatic SP1000 – Carl Zeiss Jenna 50mm 1:2.8 – Ilford Pan F+ – Rodinal
Gossen Luna Pro SBC – The non-flash version of the legendary Gossen Lunasix F or Luna Pro F (for those in the US). Well loved and respected by both photographers and cinematographers this meter will not steer you wrong according to Mike. SBC stands for Silicon Blue Cell, after the CdS cell that reads the light. Plus it takes a readily available 9v battery.
Make: Gossen
Model: Luna Pro SBC
Type: 30° Reflective or 180° Incident meter
Photocell: Silicon Blue Cell
Scales: ASA-0.8 to ASA-100,000, EV -8 to EV +24, 8hrs to 1/8000″, f/0.7 to f/128
Calumet CC400 4×5 Monorail – Schneider-Kreuznach Symmar 210mm 1:5,6 – Kodak Tri-X Pan (TXP) @ ASA-12 – Kodak HC-110 Dil. M 60:00
Zenza Bronica SQ-Ai – Zenzanon 65mm ƒ/4 – Kodak TMAX400 – Ilford Ilfosol-3 1+14
Sekonic L-398a Studio Deluxe III – This is a wonderful entry level meter with the option for incident and reflective metering, though Donna prefers to meter for reflective light rather than incident. And since it’s a selenium based meter no need to worry about batteries.
Make: Sekonic
Model: L-398a Studio Deluxe III
Type: Incident/Reflective
Photocell: Selenium
Scales: ASA-6 to ASA-1200, EV 4 to EV 17, 60′ to 1/8000″, f/0.7 to f/128
Rollei RPX Films: Rollei’s RPX film are in Alex’s words the spiritually successors to the legendary Agfa APX films. Like the APX line they are available in three flavours: ASA-25, ASA-100, and ASA-400 and have really hit the film world. The film is avalible in 35mm and 120 formats but we’d really like to see it in 4×5 maybe? While there are many detractors there are still plenty of fans of the film itself! And the best part is that it’s now very easily accessible here in Canada through our friends at Argentix, Burlington Camera, and Downtown Camera!
Samples from RPX 25
Hasselblad 500c – Carl Zeiss Distagon 50mm 1:4 – Rollei RPX 25 @ ASA-25 – Blazinal (1+50) 11:00 @ 20C
Olympus Pen F – SMC Pentax M 50mm 1:1.4 – Rollei RPX 25 – Rodinal (1+50) 11:00 @ 20C
Pentax 645 – SMC Pentax A 645 35mm 1:3.5 – Rollei RPX 25 – Kodak Xtol (1+1) 7:00 @ 20C
Samples from RPX 100
Hasselblad 500c – Carl Zeiss Distagon 50mm 1:4 – Rollei RPX 100 @ ASA-100 – Rollei RPX-D (1+15) 6:30 @ 20C
Pentax 645 – SMC Pentax A 645 – 35mm 1:3.5 – Rollei RPX 100 – Kodak Xtol (Stock) 8:00 @ 20C
Rochoflex Diacord L – Rikenon 80mm 1:3.5 – Rollei RPX 100 – Kodak Xtol (Stock) 8:00 @ 20C
Samples from RPX 400
Hasselblad 500c – Carl Zeiss Planar 80mm 1:2.8 – Rollei RPX 400 @ ASA-800 – Kodak Xtol (1+1) 14:30 @ 20C
Rolleiflex 2.8F – Carl Zeiss Planar 80mm 1:2.8 – Rollei RPX 400 @ ASA-320 – Pyrocat-HD (1+1+100) 18:00 @ 20C
Nikon F5 – AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm 1:2.8G – Rollei RPX 400 – Kodak Xtol (1+1) 12:00 @ 20C
We’re having a meet ‘n greet! That’s right this is your chance to network, drool, and photograph with the hosts of Classic Camera Revival and the fans and listeners in downtown Hamilton on the 7th of May, 2016! The best part is that it’s also the same weekend as Doors Open Hamilton so there will be plenty to shoot. If you plan on coming please RSVP either on our Facebook Event or by Email. And we hope to see you there!
Looking for a good spot to get your gear and material fix…check out Burlington Camera, Downtown Camera, Film Plus, Belle Arte Camera and Camtech, if you’re in the GTA region of Ontario, if you’re on the West Coast (British Columbia) check out Beau Photo Supply. Additionally you can order online at Argentix (Quebec), the Film Photography Project or Freestyle Photographic.
Also you can connect with us through email: classiccamerarevivial[at]gmail[dot]com or by Facebook, we’re at Classic Camera Revival or even Twitter @ccamerarevival