Nifty Fifty wrote:
What are the drawbacks of using a light meter? A small Digisix, for example, weighs practically nothing, so you can wear it around your neck all the time.
Have fun with the Autocord!
I am loath to carry any extra gear. I love my gear to be as small as possible. As in, even little rangefinder lenses, I constantly want to be smaller. But I may cave and start carrying an external light meter. Would you recommend the Digisix over a KEKS?
Do those meters work as spot meters? I have never used an accessory Light Meter and I’m just used to the various in camera modes. My Minolta XG-1 has an evaluative meter that takes the whole scene and I find it to be less useful than the sunny 16 rule mostly. My Ikon has a spot meter which I find to be extremely useful. The autocord has no meter, so I’m learning meters -less. But, there is something fun and challenging about looking at a scene for a minute or two before you shoot it just trying to understand the light.
As far as the straps, yes I do the same thing with my other cameras for stability. But I need some thinner strap to connect to my autocord!
nehemiahphoto wrote:
I am loath to carry any extra gear. I love my gear to be as small as possible. As in, even little rangefinder lenses, I constantly want to be smaller. But I may cave and start carrying an external light meter. Would you recommend the Digisix over a KEKS?
Do those meters work as spot meters? I have never used an accessory Light Meter and I’m just used to the various in camera modes. My Minolta XG-1 has an evaluative meter that takes the whole scene and I find it to be less useful than the sunny 16 rule mostly. My Ikon has a spot meter which I find to be extremely useful. The autocord has no meter, so I’m learning meters -less. But, there is something fun and challenging about looking at a scene for a minute or two before you shoot it just trying to understand the light.
As far as the straps, yes I do the same thing with my other cameras for stability. But I need some thinner strap to connect to my autocord!...Show more →
Digisix is a good choice. It provides both incident and reflective readings. It's hybrid between analog and digital. It reads the scene and then you set the wheel to the reading. Unlike other digital meters, you can see all of the setting options on the wheel. It easily fits in a pocket. Plus it has not only a timer but a thermometer, too!
Kirkland Signature / Tour of Scotland / Single Malt Scotch Whisky Collection. It was on sale for $29.99 at Costco, so I bought two. One to give away and one to try myself.
Nikon FM2n, AI Nikkor 50mm f/1.8S, Kentmere Pan 400, developed in LegacyPro L110 at 1:31 for 5.5 minutes.
nehemiahphoto wrote:
I am loath to carry any extra gear. I love my gear to be as small as possible. As in, even little rangefinder lenses, I constantly want to be smaller.
I understand that and basically agree, but in my opinion, a precisely exposed negative or slide is essential in analog photography. And a necklace with a 40g pendant really makes no difference.
nehemiahphoto wrote:
But I may cave and start carrying an external light meter. Would you recommend the Digisix over a KEKS?
I've never bothered with newfangled stuff like KEKS and I don't like clip-on solutions either. Gossen meters are very accurate and reliable, and they're robust. I briefly owned a Sekonic L-208 Twinmate, but I found it impractical and quite sensitive to sidelight. I think it was also less sensitive, but I don't really remember anymore; it was too long ago. My favorite Gossen meter was and still is the Profisix, but it's anything but small and light. However, in terms of handling, it's an absolute dream.
nehemiahphoto wrote:
Do those meters work as spot meters?
No, but they don't just do object metering, they also do incident light metering. Personally, except when I needed to be quick, I always used a dedicated spot meter because I tested my films using the zone system, allowing me to determine contrast and exposure with pinpoint accuracy. I had a Pentax Digital Spot Meter. With the zone scale attached, it's simply brilliant. Compact, fast, and extremely precise, and you can immediately see which brightness value corresponds to which zone.
So this is what my storm gear looked like. The 3.5F does have a great coupled light meter built in, but a spotti is still a spotti. Sturmgepäck by Werner Wurst, on Flickr
nehemiahphoto wrote:
I have never used an accessory Light Meter and I’m just used to the various in camera modes. My Minolta XG-1 has an evaluative meter that takes the whole scene and I find it to be less useful than the sunny 16 rule mostly.
I can hardly believe it, but I'm not familiar with your camera. Perhaps there's a defect. As I said, I personally prefer external metering with a handheld light meter. I had a Rolleiflex 6003 for many years with a very good light meter, including spot metering, but I practically never used it because I found external metering more convenient and reliable. But I am me, and you have your own preferences, and everyone's different. And if you're scanning the negatives anyway, precise exposure is less important than if you're enlarging the negatives yourself. Ultimately, everyone has to decide for himselves what's important to him.
nehemiahphoto wrote:
I am loath to carry any extra gear. I love my gear to be as small as possible. As in, even little rangefinder lenses, I constantly want to be smaller. But I may cave and start carrying an external light meter. Would you recommend the Digisix over a KEKS?
Do those meters work as spot meters? I have never used an accessory Light Meter and I’m just used to the various in camera modes. My Minolta XG-1 has an evaluative meter that takes the whole scene and I find it to be less useful than the sunny 16 rule mostly. My Ikon has a spot meter which I find to be extremely useful. The autocord has no meter, so I’m learning meters -less. But, there is something fun and challenging about looking at a scene for a minute or two before you shoot it just trying to understand the light.
As far as the straps, yes I do the same thing with my other cameras for stability. But I need some thinner strap to connect to my autocord!...Show more →
Following on the meter discussion, there are some handheld options that have it all (reflected, incident, spot & flash). I use a Sekonic L-408, 95% of the time in incident mode, and the other 5% using the 5 degree spot for things like clouds lit by sunset, etc.
I have a few cameras without meters that I bought it for, but now I use it most of the time no matter what camera. Using a single meter means never having to adjust to the vagaries of built-in meters/modes, and using incident ensures the meter is unaffected by the subject and thus more consistent/accurate. As far as I know there aren't any cameras with built in incident metering.
I don't meter every shot, just check the lightest and darkest exposures periodically (e.g. sun/shade), and shoot in that range adjusting for subject and intent. This process has also helped me start to 'see' the amount of light and remember the corresponding exposure, making me more accurate without a meter too.
I've had 2 of the first edition digisix and like them for their size, but they only lasted about 3 years then died. Maybe abuse had to do with it. They were cheap, so no foul. The newer "Digisix 2" may last longer?
I have a Sekonic L-308 now that does what it is supposed but in a larger package.
taildraggin wrote:
I've had 2 of the first edition digisix and like them for their size, but they only lasted about 3 years then died. Maybe abuse had to do with it.
Are you sure it wasn't just the battery that was dead? 😄
Mine once fell so awkwardly that the rotating ring got a hairline crack. The manufacturer replaced it for free, even though I'd bought it used and therefore had neither a warranty nor a receipt or anything like that.
Der Selenbelichtungsmesser meiner mittlerweile über 60 Jahre alten 3,5F geht heute noch genau. Das war noch Qualität!
PS: In my opinion, the Digisix and Digisix2 are technically identical. Only the color scheme is different.
Nifty Fifty wrote:
The Rolleiflex TLR cameras with built-in light meters also support incident metering and it works perfectly.
To add to that: The above only applies to models with a selenium light meter. Newer models from the GX series onwards have TTL metering through the viewfinder lens. This, of course, only allows for reflected light metering.
One to give away and one to try myself.
