Ive got one to use on my 1935 Leica III. Works absolutely perfectly for me and I get some great photographs. Will it be the best light meter ever? No. But for the price I think it’s great.
There's probably nothing wrong with the light meter... but it's not a matrix meter. If you want to meter for the ground, you need to point it toward the ground. With simple meters like this I tend to point it low enough that the sky isn't in view and then meter the sky to find out how contrasty the scene is. When you meter with both in the scene, you never know if you're gonna get a good average or if the sky is going to flood the photo-cell and giving a reading that will lead to underexposure.
Nice review ! As you mentioned that you normally use the phone app for metering the light, I will really appreciate that you make a video talking about the app you are using and demonstrating some of your works~
If you're a pedestrian shooter who just wants a useable image, then this is probably great for you. The meter uses average metering to get the correct exposure but if you wanted finer details to be measured you'd still have to use the phone app for the spot meter unless you spend a fortune on a real spotmeter. I was gonna rip into the lightmeter but i saw it was only $50 on sale right now? Great deal, you should get it.
Great vid, came at the perfect time for me. I've had my eye on a light meter now that I'm stepping into film photography, and had been split between a fairly priced, used, Sekonic, and this device. Thanks!
Even with cameras with okish built-in averaging meters it's always worth tilting the camera towards the ground/away from the brightest part of the frame, and picking an exposure between that and the one you get pointed directly at your subject. After awhile you get a feel for whether the exposure values seem plausible or not :D
Have the V1 and did not find it accurate and did not trust it for Colour film, so I ended up reverting to whipping out a Digital camera and taking a reading from that and transferring settings to the film camera. Shame they never modified the batter compartment where it uses those two screws that are easily stripped with a bit of use.
They should but a thread lock over the cold shoe mount, camera like my tlrs dont like to hold things in them anymore. So a way to lock it on would be nice like some camera flashes
If you had read the manual, and pointed it slightly towards the ground, you would've gotten better results. Now it's partially metering the sky, which will always cause underexposure. I like the video, but now it's not really a fair assessment, as you're just using it wrong. Should be fair to point out.
I have the V1 and it's okay, but since I bought it I've acquired a couple of Sekonics and there's really no comparison, and you can get used Sekonics for a decent price.
Yeah I have a Sekonic I use mostly for when working with flash, and also recently picked up a Pentax Spotmeter which I'm excited to try out. Thanks for the comment!
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Ive got one to use on my 1935 Leica III. Works absolutely perfectly for me and I get some great photographs. Will it be the best light meter ever? No. But for the price I think it’s great.
There's probably nothing wrong with the light meter... but it's not a matrix meter. If you want to meter for the ground, you need to point it toward the ground. With simple meters like this I tend to point it low enough that the sky isn't in view and then meter the sky to find out how contrasty the scene is. When you meter with both in the scene, you never know if you're gonna get a good average or if the sky is going to flood the photo-cell and giving a reading that will lead to underexposure.
Yep - definitely agreed that it's worthwhile to point this down slightly when metering to avoid getting the sky in the reading. Thanks for the tip!
It actually says to do this in the supplied manual of the meter! Read the manual!
Nice review ! As you mentioned that you normally use the phone app for metering the light, I will really appreciate that you make a video talking about the app you are using and demonstrating some of your works~
If you're a pedestrian shooter who just wants a useable image, then this is probably great for you. The meter uses average metering to get the correct exposure but if you wanted finer details to be measured you'd still have to use the phone app for the spot meter unless you spend a fortune on a real spotmeter. I was gonna rip into the lightmeter but i saw it was only $50 on sale right now? Great deal, you should get it.
Agreed! It's definitely a budget option and not a lot available at a lower price. But it for sure takes an adjustment period. Thanks for the comment!
Great vid, came at the perfect time for me. I've had my eye on a light meter now that I'm stepping into film photography, and had been split between a fairly priced, used, Sekonic, and this device. Thanks!
I can say I’ve had no issues with this light meter. For the price I think it’s great.
Really insightful
Even with cameras with okish built-in averaging meters it's always worth tilting the camera towards the ground/away from the brightest part of the frame, and picking an exposure between that and the one you get pointed directly at your subject. After awhile you get a feel for whether the exposure values seem plausible or not :D
Definitely something I learned as I shot this video! Appreciate the comment.
Have the V1 and did not find it accurate and did not trust it for Colour film, so I ended up reverting to whipping out a Digital camera and taking a reading from that and transferring settings to the film camera. Shame they never modified the batter compartment where it uses those two screws that are easily stripped with a bit of use.
They should but a thread lock over the cold shoe mount, camera like my tlrs dont like to hold things in them anymore. So a way to lock it on would be nice like some camera flashes
I have the first version and annoyingly it doesn't turn off and eats batteries. I gave up and bought a Sekonic L 308.
If you had read the manual, and pointed it slightly towards the ground, you would've gotten better results. Now it's partially metering the sky, which will always cause underexposure. I like the video, but now it's not really a fair assessment, as you're just using it wrong. Should be fair to point out.
I have the V1 and it's okay, but since I bought it I've acquired a couple of Sekonics and there's really no comparison, and you can get used Sekonics for a decent price.
Yeah I have a Sekonic I use mostly for when working with flash, and also recently picked up a Pentax Spotmeter which I'm excited to try out. Thanks for the comment!
I just want one to fiddle with man. Maybe an old one. I don't need it, I just think they kind of of cool.
You would have better results just metering the grass or pavement.
Surprised there was no camera shake at those speeds with the mirror slapping.
Something I've somehow never really had an issue with when shooting with the Pentax, it's certainly a hefty slap though!
Maybe the only thing I’d buy from these guys haha, everything else is a shameless copy
This is a shameless copy of a voigtlander light meter.