Light meters

[kinoflo]

THE PERILS OF LIGHT METER DECADENCE.
Or " How I should have trusted my instincts and gone for the seperates"

I am afraid to say that, after much deliberation, I went for a L-508cine meter. No sooner had I ordered than I was told it was out of stock in the wholesalers and they were waiting on a new shipment. Wow! Must be popular. Once the package finally arrived I carefully checked both its spot and incident metering after reading disturbing messages on a similar board that claim the spot metering can be as much as 1-1+1/2 stops out from the incident meter. Everything seemed fine so I took my beloved home. One day later a major gliche surfaced causeing the meter to " hang" (very much like a crashing computer) when trying to change mode. It would then switch itself off and, when switched on again, wouldn't respond at all. The best case is that this is a one off and that I just, unfortunately, ended up with a dud. However, even this shakes my confidence in this relatively new meter. If this CAN happen at all then it will always prey on the back of my mind. I am considering, after taking my corpse meter back for a refund, switching to two seperates (probably minolta or spectre and sekonic or minolta spots)
Am I being too hard on those chaps at Sekonic? Suggestions?

[eddie]

I expect that its just a one off dud...but....
The lightmeter I have is wildly different between spot and incident. If you can afford two lightmeters then do that.

[kinoflo]

I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing similar problems to the ones that I have read about. Don't mean to be patronizing, but your readings were very different even when the spot was taken from a grey card?
If so then Sekonic have a lot to answear for. What use is a meter that can't meter.
Bunch of chumps!

Cheers Eddie

[eddie]

I put it down to having a very cheap lightmeter.

[kinoflo]

I spoke to a few guys at KJP and they said that the way to go would be minolta. I am also interested in finding out more about Spectra meters. Do you know anywhere in the UK that deals in them?

[director666]

hey, I know this might cound a stupid question but the best way to find out is to ask, how does itr all work in terms of the light meter - to the camera settings - to the lights that are there... i just need more infor basically on how to light a film well and properly

any help would be much appreciated

Gav

[Jon Taylor]

I take it your meter is still under warranty, take it back for a replacement, then with the new one do some exposure tests on a manual SLR with slide film. This will soon determine the accuracy of your meter, as slide film has such low latitude. The spotmeter readings on your 18% greycard should be + or - 1/3 stop max. Any more than that should cause alarm bells to ring - and recalibration is needed.

I have tried the L508 Cine and thought it was a neat design, but my personal gripe would be the fact that you need to take your eye away from the spotmeter viewfinder to read the LCD display on the side, if you are making several readings, this could prove to be slower to use than a through the lens display.

I use a Cinemeter II and a Minolta Spotmeter F and have found this combination perfect for me as the Minolta is calibrated to the Cinemeter. The Minolta does not have a cine scale and is fixed for 1/50th which requires a little maths if you are over or under cranking, but the Minolta makes up for this by its size and weight.

A lighting camerawoman friend paid nearly ?400 for a Sekonic spotmeter and that died after 3 months, so maybe Sekonic have a problem with their quality control.

If you are after a Spectra try a supplier in the U.S. as usually there is a considerable saving from buying equipment like this from the states. When I bought my Cinemeter II, there was a ?165 price difference btween buying from the U.S. and in the U.K. Try a company called Media Lighting and Supply in Florida.

Jon.

[kinoflo]

Thanks Jon,
That sounds like the best way to go. I'll check out those sites. Is there a large import duty on goods from the states?
Tanks again.

[Jon Taylor]

If you ask the retailer in the U.S. to remove the meter from it's original box (therefore the goods are not in retail condition and get them to fill in the goods value declaration for about $35, then you will not need to pay duties. Spend the money you have just saved on a reliable shipping method, to ensure safe arrival, as any insurance included in U.S Mail would only be for $35, as declared.

Jon.