Light Meter ManiaScott Adams

Sekonic L-408 MultiMaster

O'VER THE YEARS photographershave come to realize that there are dozensof things that can go wrong during theprocess of creating an image. With timeand experience most problems are easilyresolved, but the most unpredictable ele-ment is exposure. Film manufacturers goto great lengths to expand exposure lati-tude with new emulsions, while cameramanufactures refine metering systems tobetter capture the elusive perfect expo-sure. One solution has always been tobracket the exposure every scene andcross your fingers that you caught theright exposure. If Murphy's Law is with

Polaris Digital Flash Meter

you, that will surely be the exposurewhere your subject blinked. A better solu-tion is to use a separate, hand-held ex-posure meter backed by a good workingknowledge of how to use it.

As the electronic industry envelops pho-tography, exposure meters have expandedfrom mechanical dial types to includeones with digital readouts. The new breedof exposure meter is practical, easy to use,and more accurate than the meters of thepast we have come to know and love.

A word or two about this article...it isnot our intent to cover each and everymeter available, but rather to give you an

WeinWP-1000

overview of the market and then highlightone or several meters from each of themanufacturers in order to better informyou of the features and functions available.

Sekonic

Sekonic offers a wide range of meters tosatisfy both amateur and professionalphotographers. Six digital and fourmechanical meters cover a wide spectrumof lighting situations. One of the latestadditions is the Sekonic L-408 Multi-Master. This extremely compact water-resistant meter is designed to work in all

RANGEFINDER • OCTOBER 1997

weather conditions, offering both reflect-ed and incident metering. The 5° reflect-ed spot meter is selected by sliding aprotective door down on the front of themeter. The dome on the incident part ofthe meter is adjustable in its angle of pre-view, as it retracts inside the meter allow-ing for contrast metering. The meter fitscomfortably in your hand with the expo-sure button and function adjustmentsjust under your thumb. Controls for ISO,mode function, power on/off, aperture/shutter priority, and multi-exposure arelocated on the front of the meter. Themode button allows you to select flash,multi-flash, or ambient light. The ISOvalues can be selected from ISO 3 to ISO8000 in K-stop increments. You have thechoice of readings in full stop, X stop, orXo-stop increments with a display fromf/1 to f/90. The shutter speed display canrange from 1 second to X<x. second whenused as a flash meter, and from 30 min-utes to X<HX, second for ambient light.Both cord and cordless flashes areacceptable with the MultiMaster. The1.5-volt AA battery is checked each timeyou turn the unit on, and is displayed inXo increments.

Polaris

The Saunders Group represents a vari-ety of photographic manufacturers pro-viding products for the darkroom andstudio, including several types of expo-sure meters. The Polaris Digital FlashMeter is designed to provide all the func-tions of a professional exposure meter,while still maintaining simplicity of oper-ation. The unit fits easily in either handwith the exposure button on the rightside. Four buttons on the front of the unitcontrol power, mode, ISO, and the multi-exposure functions. A battery checkcomes on when you first apply power tothe 1.5-volt AA battery and is displayed inX.^step increment levels. Once the poweris on, you can set the ISO from 3-8000 atXt-stop increments. The Mode buttonallows you to select flash, multi-flash, orambient light. The Multi button is usedto calculate multiple flash exposures.Adjustments to the Mode and ISO con-trols are with "up" and "down" buttonson the right side, just under the exposurebutton. The exposure data is displayed ona very large liquid crystal panel on thefront of the unit. Shutter speeds are dis-played in M stops, and f-stops are dis-played as full stops with additional Xo-stop data below the number. The domediffuser at the top of the meter can slideto the side, so that you can take a flat orcontrast reading.

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Wein

The Wein flash meter is also part of theSaunders line of photographic products,and comes in two variations. The WP-500B is designed to read incident lightfrom electronic flash and give a direct f-stop readout up to f/22. The film ISO isset from 25 to 1600 with the rotating dialon the front of the unit. A three-positionswitch allows you to check the 9-volt bat-tery, take a meter reading and reset theunit. The WP-1000 is similar except thatthe f-stop range is increased to f/90, andthe meter readings are accurate to within

X of an f-stop. The ISO film range has alsobeen increased to ISO 6400.

Minolta

Minolta's newest addition to their fullline of exposure meters is the Flash MeterV. This sophisticated meter offers all thebells and whistles a professional requires,yet it is simple to use. For most appli-cations, you would just use the buttonson the front in an AUTO mode. As youhold the meter in your hand, you willfind an adjustment dial on the right sideof the meter, located just under the expo-

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Minolta Flash Meter V

Cossen Luna-Star F2

Gossen Ultra-Spot 2

Cossen Color Pro

Cossen Luna-Pro Digital

sure button. This dial controls all thevariables of the other functions onthe front of the meter. The powerbutton turns on a 1.5-volt AA battery,which will automatically shut off inone hour if there is no usage. TheISO button will adjust the meterfrom ISO 3-8000 in X-stop incre-ments. A special instant film buttonlets you make a different setting forPolaroid instant film, which oftenhas a different sensitivity. There arefive additional buttons that are usedless often so they are hidden awayunder a sliding cover. The Mode but-ton selects ambient, flash, multi-flashand the auto function. The autofunction is unique in that the meterwill automatically read flash or ambi-ent with or without a flash cord. The"M"(memory) and "M-dr" (memoryclear) allow you to record up to eight

different measurements. The two mostadvanced features of the Flash Meter V arethe "*" and the "S/A/H" buttons. These twowork together to compute average expo-sure, shadow exposure, highlight exposure,brightness ratio and mixed lighting ratios.In addition, there are five more controlsinside the battery compartment that fine-tune the controls on the front of the meter.If you love high technology, you're goingto love this meter.

Gossen

If you like German technology, thenyou may want to look at the very impres-sive Gossen meter line. Several levels ofexposure meters, and one color tempera-ture meter are distributed by the BogenPhoto Corporation. Their three most re-cent additions in exposure meters includethe Luna-Star F2, the Luna-Pro Digital,and the Ultra-Spot 2. The Luna-Pro Digitaland Luna-Star F2 are both similar in size,but are configured differently. The func-tion control on the Luna-Pro Digital selectsthe following modes: aperture, shutterspeed, EV values, exposure correction, andfilm ISO. Each function is adjusted with upand down arrows next to the meter but-ton. The incident dome on the front of themeter slides to the side changing it to areflected meter. Film ISO readings can bechanged from ISO-8000. A 1.5-volt AAbattery operates the meter and will rum offafter two minutes of non-use.

The Luna-Star F2 rearranges some ofthe same controls to the side of the unitand adds flash reading capabilities. Aswivel head was also added and thepower source was changed to a 9-volt bat-tery. Lighting contrast, with the diffusingsphere in place, and scene brightness con-trast, without the sphere, can be mea-sured on either meter by holding downthe measure button while scanning thescene. The values readout on a bar at thebottom of the display.

The Ultra-Spot 2 is a dedicated reflectedspot meter that takes measurements downto 1°. The base of the meter has a handgrip and all the button controls are withinthe reach of your thumb. Functions areselected with the up and down arrowslocated to the right and left of the centercontrol panel. A single up/down button inthe center adjusts each function. Singleand averaged multiple readings are takenwith the "+M" and "-M" controls respec-tively. The top half of the meter containthe data viewer. When you look throughthe camera-like eyepiece, you will see a 15degree angle of the scene with a 1 degreespot in the center. Liquid crystal data isincorporated in the area around the out-

RANCEFINDER • OCTOBER 1997

Fo

Go

r More Information...

CossenBogen Photo Corporation565 E. Crescent AveP.O. Box 506Ramsey, NJ 07446-0506(210) 818-9500http://www.bogenphoto.com

MinoltaMinolta Corporation101 Williams DriveRamsey, NJ 07446210) 825-4000http://www.minoltausa.com

PolarisThe Saunders Group21 Jet View DriveRochester, NY 14624(716) 328-7800http://www.saundersphoto.com

SekonicSekonic Professional DivisionMamiya America Corporation9 Westchester PlazaElmsford, NY 10523(914) 347-3300http://www.sekonic.com

WeinThe Saunders Group21 Jet View DriveRochester, NY 14624(716) 328-7800http://www.saundersphoto.com

side of the viewing area. This display givesyou information about shutter speed, f-stop, average exposure, and the functionsavailable with the unit. The functionsinclude f-stop, shutter speed, film ISO,flash, EV numbers, exposure correction,cine and the Zone System. To take a singlereading you press the +M and the resultsare displayed around the viewing area.Pressing the -M button adds additionalreadings and averages them in a bar dis-play at the top of the viewer. Up to nineadditional readings can be averaged in thisway. The Ultra-Spot 2 is powered by a 9-volt battery that rums off 15 seconds aftera reading is taken.

The Gossen Color Pro measures thecolor temperature of light and gives adirect readout indicating Kelvin, themired values and the Kodak compensat-ing filters required. It uses the same meterhousing as the Luna-Star F2, only thename and internal components havechanged. The function control selectsfilm, color temperature, variable colortemperature, light source, flash and lux.

To use the meter, select the film type ordesired color temperature with the "Film"or "Vari" functions. Next, select flash orambient light as the light source, andpress the "M" button to take a reading.The display on the front gives you theKelvin temperature of the film you areusing, the Kelvin temperature of the lightsource, and the filtration needed tomatch the two.

I was very impressed with the quality ofall the meters I reviewed and would behard pressed to pick the one I would select

for my work. They all have their goodpoints, special applications and price con-siderations. I only wish this technologyhad been available when I first started inphotography. Then maybe I wouldn't havehad to learn so much by my mistakes!

If you want to leam more about any ofthe meters in this article, contact thesecompanies or jump onto the web and gosurfing:

Scott Adams is a freelance journalist/photographerliving in the Pacific Northwest.

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