My camera has a light meter, so can I use it as a lightmeter for shooting with...

68lbs

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Ok, so I ran out of characters in the title.

What it should have said was...

My 5D obviously has a built in light meter. Can I use it purely as a light meter for shooting with an unmetered camera. ie: if the 5D indicates correct exposure at 1/125 and f/9 would that be correct exposure for ANY camera?

So...

In theory, I could meter with my camera and calculate the length of exposure required for a pinhole camera if I knew the aperture size and film ISO.
 
Lee, that's exactly what my father used to do with his OM1 for me when I was using my old Ilford Sportsman which didn't have a meter. He'd meter and tell me the correct settings to use (I was 12 at the time :D)
 
PS...

If its 35mm you are using I got 8 rolls of Fuji slide film (36) ISO50 if you want them, will even pay postage myself to get shot of them.

Trev
 
Thanks for the offer... but it'll be 120 medium format B&W.
 
TrevDR said:
PS...

If its 35mm you are using I got 8 rolls of Fuji slide film (36) ISO50 if you want them, will even pay postage myself to get shot of them.

Trev
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I could take them off your hands - but I'd prefer to pay the postage, if that's ok?
 
Why not just get a light meter? There's loads on Ebay for less than £10 - some older and some newer.

I just bought a few for restoration - from 99p to £9 - some work perfectly, and others need a little work, but I chose older ones.

You can probably get a Weston EuroMaster for £10-£15
 
OutLore said:
Why not just get a light meter?
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TBH I thought they were expensive... at the moment my wallet seems to have developed a rather large leak and the last thing I need are more holes. I also have a shopping list of other things, so thought I was going to save quite a bit.
 
OutLore said:
Why not just get a light meter? There's loads on Ebay for less than £10 - some older and some newer.

I just bought a few for restoration - from 99p to £9 - some work perfectly, and others need a little work, but I chose older ones.

You can probably get a Weston EuroMaster for £10-£15
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:shake: I have bought 3 meters now, 2 westons and an unknown and all bl##dy three don't work.:'(
 
towershot said:
:shake: I have bought 3 meters now, 2 westons and an unknown and all bl##dy three don't work.:'(
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You need to message the sellers and ask specifically if they work. If the seller comes back to you with "I dont know anything about them...." etc etc then leave it - you might need to pay a little more for a working one. I don't mind them not working as I'm not going to use most of them ;)

Do the one's you've bought not work at all or are just inaccurate?
 
68lbs said:
TBH I thought they were expensive... at the moment my wallet seems to have developed a rather large leak and the last thing I need are more holes. I also have a shopping list of other things, so thought I was going to save quite a bit.
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They can be expensive if you buy a new style one - the Sekonics for example start at about £80 and go up to £350 IIRC, but they cover flash, are digital etc etc.

It depends on what you want to shoot - if it's not moving then I think an older meter would be fine...
 
OutLore said:
You need to message the sellers and ask specifically if they work. If the seller comes back to you with "I dont know anything about them...." etc etc then leave it - you might need to pay a little more for a working one. I don't mind them not working as I'm not going to use most of them ;)

Do the one's you've bought not work at all or are just inaccurate?
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It was sold as a worker,but when I told him it was not working,was told to send back for a refund.
Trouble was when I asked for an address I heard no more, so put up a neg deal .
 
towershot said:
It was sold as a worker,but when I told him it was not working,was told to send back for a refund.
Trouble was when I asked for an address I heard no more, so put up a neg deal .
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What make/models are they?

I tend to ask lots of questions of the seller in advance - if they sound like they don't know the answer then I leave it (unless it's ridiculously cheap).
 
OutLore said:
It depends on what you want to shoot - if it's not moving then I think an older meter would be fine...
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:lol::lol::lol::lol: What difference does whether it's moving or not make?

How will a newer light meter be any better for shooting something moving than an older one ? You push the button, take a reading transpose it to the camera and shoot away :bang::bang::bang:

You usually take an incident light reading or a reflected light reading from a known tone, if the light changes slightly adjust the aperture accordingly otherwise usually the initial reading will be fine, especially for moving subjects, you shouldn't need to meter for every shot if the light is similar, and the exposure latitude in monochrome film will allow a little variation.

Only time you really need to take multiple readings (and in this case you really need a spot meter for the best results) is if you try to utilise the zone system the way it was meant to be done, this requires the use of single plates of film or multiple MF backs with film in each designated for how you want the films processed (pushing or pulling to increase or decrease the DR in a negative as required on individual shots).
 
EdBray said:
:lol::lol::lol::lol: What difference does whether it's moving or not make?

How will a newer light meter be any better for shooting something moving than an older one ? You push the button, take a reading transpose it to the camera and shoot away :bang::bang::bang:
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:lol: I actually meant compared to using the other camera's meter - but then thinking about it, that wouldn't make any difference either, unless you are pretty quick at changing cameras...

Although, it would possibly be easier to use the camera meter, as you say for spot metering, on something moving - like an animal, car etc?
 
OutLore said:
:lol: I actually meant compared to using the other camera's meter - but then thinking about it, that wouldn't make any difference either, unless you are pretty quick at changing cameras...

Although, it would possibly be easier to use the camera meter, as you say for spot metering, on something moving - like an animal, car etc?
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I think it would be easier to use a proper spot meter. They have an eyepiece you sight through, so it's no extra bother, you press the button and there's your result instantly in huge print on the lightmeter itself.

At least on my meter it takes a reading and I can then change variables, so I can quickly see what the shutter speed would be at f/2 at ISO 400 instead of f/5.6 at ISO 125. Perhaps not a hard calculation to do mentally, but it's nice to take the guesswork out. If I wanted to do that on an SLR-as-a-meter I'd have to change the ISO sensitivity and f stop and take a new reading.
 
Blapto said:
I think it would be easier to use a proper spot meter. They have an eyepiece you sight through, so it's no extra bother, you press the button and there's your result instantly in huge print on the lightmeter itself.

At least on my meter it takes a reading and I can then change variables, so I can quickly see what the shutter speed would be at f/2 at ISO 400 instead of f/5.6 at ISO 125. Perhaps not a hard calculation to do mentally, but it's nice to take the guesswork out. If I wanted to do that on an SLR-as-a-meter I'd have to change the ISO sensitivity and f stop and take a new reading.
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Agreed... I guess it depends on cost etc...:shrug:
 
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