Light meters

[Niner]

I have a couple of old cameras without meters...because they didn't have them back in the day. A Ciro-flex 120 film DLR and an Argus "brick" and a couple of old Kodak folders. I took a chance on a couple of old meters. The best one, from directions I found online, is the GE Type Pr-1. Only it works on selenium, or something like that, and it has lost it's power over the years. Another...can't find at the moment... worked on batteries, in theory. But that wasn't happening now.


Are there any "cheap" light meters made for photography? I know there are plenty of light meters made for measuring light for some other purpose that are cheap, but all photographic instruments seem to be worth more than the cameras I want to use them with. I don't want to spend $150 for a meter to make picture taking with a $25 camera more exact.

I've been reduced to taking along a Pentax K1000 and using it's light meter to get an idea for camera settings on the old Ciro-flex. And.. I know about the Sunny 16 rule. I just want something that works for cheap.

Any suggestions.

 

[tirediron]

Old selenium meters probably aren't all that accurate any more; the material loses its sensitivity over time, but there are a million of them on eBay; and compartively cheap as well. Gossen, Sekonic, and Minolta are good brands to look for. For most of your work, you likely want a reflectance meter (the same as in your K1000), which means (in simplistic terms) you measure the light from where you stand. If you see a white dome, it's an incident meter, meaning you measure the light at the subject's location. MOST (but not all) incident meters double as reflectance meters. Here's an example of a nice, inexpensive meter that will what you need. It changes from an incident to reflective meter simply by sliding the white dome over.

 

[compur]

A Gossen Pilot meter recently sold on eBay for $6 shipped and was described as 100% functional. It's a selenium meter but you can test it against another known meter and compensate if necessary by adjusting ASA/ISO. Later Pilot-series meters were CDS types, probably more accurate than selenium today and still available cheap. I see lots of other meters selling on eBay for $10-$15 or so that appear to be working.

With most negative films you don't need all that much exposure accuracy to get a decent negative.

 

[cgw]

Two things to remember: working meters aren't necessarily accurate meters; and you get what you pay for.

Check out the Sekonic L-398m, a "new" old school selenium meter: very accurate, a bit heavy, low-light limited by design, somewhat fiddly to use. There are also older Sekonics like the 318/328 that aren't wildly pricey.

I'd stay away from relics like Westons, older Gossens, or any old selenium meter. Go for an incident meter with reflected light capability which most, as noted above, have.

Failing all this, you might be ahead getting a newer camera with a working meter.

 

[Derrel]

If you have a smart phone, there are downloadable light metering applications for 99 cents, and the one I got for iPhone is amazingly accurate, and easy to use. It even allows me to do a screen capture of the scene, with the metering readouts (ISO, f/stop/shutter speed) superimposed on top of the photo of the scene!!! That allows you to literally build an album of small photo JPEGs that show a scene, and the right exposure for it, right on the smart phone! The one I got is a reflected light meter, and I tested it against my Minolta meter, and have used it for about five rolls of film, with good results. Measuring scene brightness values using the lens/camera system of a modern smart phone is NOT that difficult, and the precision and accuracy is high. These are not gimmicks. It's in some ways, the best light meter I have ever had for reflected light metering, and the PHOTO snap option is VERY useful. Very useful. I have a record of my scene, and my exposure, plus I end up with the negative or slide to evaluate the success or failure.

 

[Niner]

Lots of good suggestions. Thanks to all who have responded.

 

[minicoop1985]

I'd stay away from relics like Westons,

Hey now, I meter with an old Weston Master. Original. Black face. It's still working perfectly though.

 

[Derrel]

I'd stay away from relics like Westons,

Hey now, I meter with an old Weston Master. Original. Black face. It's still working perfectly though.

My old Weston died maybe 25 years ago. It's a Master II, and I LOVED the analog readout scale. What a sweet system! Hi- and Low- scale needles, that cool baffled trap-door for the low-scale readings, and who would not love that funky 1950's design ethos? I bought it in 1977 or so I guess, when I was about 14, for $16.95, wayyy used and old even then. But as one can see, the needle no longer moves at all...

 

[compur]

I have an old Sekonic Studio Delux selenium meter that still works accurately and is built like a tank.

I also have a little clip-on selenium meter branded as Voigtlander ...

... but actually made by Bertram/Biwi which works fine with a little compensation. It clips onto the camera flash shoe and is about the size of 2 sugar cubes.

 

[The Barbarian]

These seem to be everywhere, and I've yet to find one that wasn't working:

 

[The Barbarian]

This was one of my favorites, but unfortunately, it's become unreliable. About 13 years ago, I was in a pawn shop, and picked up an old leather bag, which turned out to hold a colored-dial Contax IIa, this meter, a cable release for that weird system Contax used, a mess of filters, and two lenses. Cost me nearly a hundred dollars, but I really liked it. Turned out to be a really good shooter.

 

[compur]

Here's a cool and informative web page on vintage meters:
James's Light Meter Collection

 

[Derrel]

I had a GE JUST like the one above, but it conked out...it was my very first-ever meter. Bought it at a flea market in Rickreall, Oregon in 1975, about two months after I took up photography, and it died not too long after, perhaps a year.

 

[minicoop1985]

These seem to be everywhere, and I've yet to find one that wasn't working:
View attachment 81352

I have one of these too somewhere. Odd system but it works.

 

[MartinCrabtree]

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