I'm going to assume that the dumbest question is the one that is never asked so I'm going to ask to try to help myself understand, so bear with me.
Using a Minolta AutoMeter VF, If i have it set to AMBI, and the ISO is set to 200, and the shutter speed is 60 and i meter outside and i get a reading of 8.0 with a small 9 beside it and the "hash" mark above the reading is in the middle of 11, does that mean tha i am suppose to set my F-stop to f-11 or shoot at f-8.0?
Thanks for your reply.
Mike

I don't have that meter but I think it's F8.0 & 9/10. So, you're 1/10 of a stop away from F11.

So all things being considered, set it at F/11?

mallen2 wrote:
So all things being considered, set it at F/11?
That would be the closest using 1/3 stops, or f/10 would be very slightly overexposing.

Most studio lights now have 1/10 stops intervals, so that is the way that most light meters now display; although many meters can be switched from tenths to thirds.

Brian A

Thanks,
I know you know what you are talking about, it's going to take a little while for the info to sink in and me to get comfortable with it.
thanks.........mike

Presuming you have the Minolta Auto Meter IV-F, the owner's manual is available here.

a reading of 8.0 with a small 9 beside it does mean f/8+9/10 or just a smidge shy of f/11. Presuming you're metering correctly, shooting at f/11 under the circumstances you describe should be fine.

Henry Posner
henryp@bhphoto.com
B&H Photo-Video

Hi,
I have the Auto Meter VF and the manual.
Not theIV-F

mallen2 wrote:
Thanks,
I know you know what you are talking about, it's going to take a little while for the info to sink in and me to get comfortable with it.
thanks.........mike
Full stops are f/1, f/1.4, f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, etc. Most cameras display discrete intervals of one third stops. So between f/8 and f/11, you have f/9 (= f/8 + 1/3) and f/10 (= f/8 + 2/3). Some cameras allow you to change the display so that it only shows half stops, and there may be a few that allow you to only display whole stops. And although most lighting equipment can be adjusted in increments of 1/10 stop, I know of no camera that does that.

So your meter is showing f8 + 9/10, or just a tenth of a stop lower than f/11. F/11 is the closest exposure you can set on your camera to match a light meter reading of f/8 + 9/10.

Brian A

OK thanks...........mike

mallen2 wrote:
Hi,
I have the Auto Meter VF and the manual.
Not theIV-F


The IVf and the Vf are largely the same. The most significant difference (for those users with cameras that have fractional EV shutter speed values), is that the IVf only has 1/2EV shutter speeds, while the Vf has choice of 1/2EV or 1/3EV increments.