Incorrect light meter reading

MartinH32

MartinH32

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Martin
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I was forced into using a spare light meter last weekend (managed to drop and break my main one) and every single photograph metered with the light meter has come out under exposed. All have been corrected as I shoot in RAW.
So yesterday I took both cameras and the light meter outside and did some tests. Shooting at 200ISO on the D700's (I used both cameras to test to check I didn't have an issue with just one camera) I had to meter on the l-308s at 100ISO to get correct results. Setting the light meter to 200ISO resulted in under exposure.
Has anyone else had this problem with the Sekonic 308?
 
Have you calibrated it?
 
Bummer :(
 
My 308 under exposes too by about 1/2 a stop I reckon, maybe a full stop (hard to judge with negatives). Once you know how far out it is you just make a note and compensate accordingly. Annoying but not devastating.
 
I guess it depends what you're calibrating it too though. Canons and Nikons will meter scenes differently and despite the box speed certain films have different native speeds. Even if you could calibrate the 308 you're only calibrating it to the system you use. If you lend it to someone with different gear or pick up a different camera yourself then the calibration may be irrelevant.:shrug:
 
Kev M said:
I guess it depends what you're calibrating it too though. Canons and Nikons will meter scenes differently and despite the box speed certain films have different native speeds. Even if you could calibrate the 308 you're only calibrating it to the system you use. If you lend it to someone with different gear or pick up a different camera yourself then the calibration may be irrelevant.:shrug:
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So true.
I'm expecting a grey card turning up in the post today so I can test the d700's against this and then I know how much I have to compensate!
 
Hope I'm not teaching to suck eggs but don't forget that if you're taking a reflective reading then the angle of view of the D700 is unlikely to be the same as the 308 so that may give different result. Can't remember what the A.O.V. of the 308 is but you might struggle to use it against a grey card.

Another test you might want to try is to take an incident reading of a scene, adjust the camera to give you the shot you want on the histogram/screen and then take that as the difference.
 
Kev M said:
Hope I'm not teaching to suck eggs but don't forget that if you're taking a reflective reading then the angle of view of the D700 is unlikely to be the same as the 308 so that may give different result. Can't remember what the A.O.V. of the 308 is but you might struggle to use it against a grey card.

Another test you might want to try is to take an incident reading of a scene, adjust the camera to give you the shot you want on the histogram/screen and then take that as the difference.
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No you're not :)
I want to use the grey card to test the metering on the camera (although I know it's reflective against the ambient reading of the 308).
 
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