Cheap light meters?

[Asha]

Had one of the Polaris ones. It worked OK for flash but the only thing you had to bear in mind was that the shutter speed increments were not as numerous as modern cameras (it went from 1/75, to 1/125 and then 1/200 and nothing in between those). No 1/100 or 1/160 for example. Never had the spot attachment for it, although having used a separate attachment on a Sekonic meter, they have not always proved reliable (integrated ones seem to work better). That could just be my experience or a defective unit though.

If the scene or film ( slide) dictated such a critical metering where a half stop or so would make a huge difference ,then if taking the reading at say 1/75 and 1/125 offered f/10and f/8 respectively then dividing in half would give the aperture at F/9.....just basic maths.

 

[drsilver]

I've heard Kodak developed its film speeds by taking pictures of the sky. It's always 18% gray in Rochester.

 

[Asha]

I've heard Kodak developed its film speeds by taking pictures of the sky. It's always 18% gray in Rochester.

Everyone looks at me stupid when I tell them that the skies here ( France) are always a beautiful tone of grey cos in colour they are (most of the time) blue, but I see everything in monochrome

 

[excalibur2]

Don’t you be mentioning Kodak ..... they probably set their film speeds in a similar manner to how they have set their film price increase ....... lucky dip draw!

...and sunny 16? New York is the same latitude as Madrid

 

[Asha]

I've almost only ever used incident measurement, especially with slide film, but an article I read in the last couple of days put a new spin on it, if you like. It argued the merits of flat incident modifiers vs domed modifiers. Apparently flat covers are more accurate in the sense that the acceptance angle is smaller than a domed cover and the metering tends not to be influenced by side light. This is particularly important to film makers where exposures have to be very, very precise. That's not to say a domed incident attachment wouldn't be appropriate in some circumstances. Sekonic light meters have interchangeable incident light modifiers, a school friend of mine had to buy a Sekonic studio meter when he studied at the London School of Film Technique, so there can't be a better recommendation for exploiting the characteristics of different modifiers. My baby Sekonic 308 has a clip on flat modifier, I wasn't sure why until I read the article.

Referring back to the flat covers for incident readings, as I thought it’s designed for document.
Here’s the relevant destruction page

 

[PeterSpencer]

Thanks Asha. I am unable to find my meter's instructions so that has cleared the matter up for me, except that I find references to flat modifiers lke this one...

For tighter Contrast Levels or for Flat Surfaces
When you don’t want light from other sources contaminating your reading, you can retract the dome (not all meters have this option). In all other respects, it’s the same as the second method otherwise. There’s only one advantage to retracting the dome – isolation. This is most useful in scenarios where you want to measure flat surfaces like walls or chroma keys, etc. Unlike heads or three dimensional objects, walls and backgrounds are flat.

The suggestion above does refer to flat surfaces as you pointed out.