external light meter recommendations?

[mathis]

hi all,

i can proudly announce that i just bought a 4008zmII with an angenieux 1:1,9/8-64 AND a 1:1,2/6-80mm AND a fisheye lens AND a working DIY battery pack AND a charger. :twisted:
all seems to be in a working condition, but i´ll let it check at bavaria anyway.

now here´s my question: can anybody recommend a decent and handy light meter? maybe one with some additional functions for easy calculation of aperture versus fps and shutter angle?

i think something like that (http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... gory=10598) would be overdone, but the features are *very* promising... :mrgreen:

thanks for your recommendations,
bests,
- m

[studiocarter]

Weston Master Universal Exposure Meter Model 715

Weston Master II Model 735 Universal Exposure Meter

Weston Master II Cine Exposure Meter Model 736 (not my favorite)


the 715 instruction booklet is on this site.

[utilityskate]

I've done a bit of investigation on the Sekonic meters, they seem to me to be the best and I think alot of industry types use these, but of course the price is a bit hefty. The Cine specific models e.g. 508C or 608C (as opposed to without the 'C') are normally a bit more expensive than the regular models but have the extra conveniences such as allowing you to change the shutter angle. You can investigate more about those meters on http://www.sekonic.com.

I've been borrowing a 508 model from my friend for a while and compared that to some other meters. I found that this one is really well thought out, there aren't more buttons than are necessary and the whole thing is really user friendly. For example, most adjustments are made using the same dial but by pressing another button. The main difference between 508C and 608C is the remote radio capability and the built in spot meter display so you don't need to look up from the eye piece to the main display. Personally, for a lower price, I'd rather just deal with those two slight 'inconveniences' and go with the 508C.

[studiocarter]

Westons sell for $5 each at camera shows and if you get one that works, well, my films are properly exposed.

[mathis]

thank you both!

any experience anyone with gossen meters?

[jessh]

I just got a sekonic L-358, this is their newest model meter that doesn't include a spot meter. It cost about $200, and I personalyl think it is a great little meter. I spent a lot of time trying to decide if I should get a decent analog meter or go ahead and buy a nicer digital one. I found that in order to get a quality analog meter with the features I wanted I would most likely spend atleast a $100, and since I planned on replacing it with a nice digital one down the line I figured I might as well just get the digital since it has a bunch of other features I wanted. The main drawback to the L-358 is that it is not a cine model so it only offers fps settings for 180degree shutters, all this really means is that you have to do a bit more work youself(really not much), The Analog meters with cine settings have this exact same problem, as well as almost all meters I have seen that don't have insanely high price tags.

There is a gossen digital light meter that you can get for about $100, it is very simple and very small, which could be an advantage depending on what you need.

~Jess

[Lucas Lightfeat]

Jessh

Important for most of us to remember is that the meter doesn't know that most Super8 cameras (ie Non Beaulieus and Leicas) have a light splitting prism that takes some light from the image to the viewfinder. My Nizo 6080 has a shutter angle of 220 degrees, but because of the prism it's effectively as though the shutter were 202.5 degs. When I film at 25fps, the exposure time is 1/44.4 of a second , very very near the 1/48 of a second line for cine on my sekonic analogue meter, (which as you say assumes 24fps with 180 deg shutter.)

I am buying a grey card though, so I can use the camera's meter as a spot meter for more accuracy on faces, and to compare results between the two. I think a grey card is an important purchase.

Lucas

[jean]

coming from photography, I'm a little clueless about the shutterangle everyone's talking about. 8O When using an external meter, I was using it as I do with my photogear, after looking up the shutter speed specific to the fps.

I'm using a bolex d8l, and beaulieu - don't hey work like still cameras, without any shutterangle to take into account :?:

jean

[utilityskate]

Jean,

Have a look at these links regarding shutter angle.

http://www.8mm.filmshooting.com/scripts ... php?t=1048

http://www.gregssandbox.com/gtech/movievideo/angle.htm

You can visualize the concept of shutter angle and a cine camera shutter by thinking of a circular disk with two pies cut out of each end. This disc / shutter spins round, blocking or passing light as the film moves through the camera, allowing each frame of film to get a snapshot of the subject.

When you say that you are looking up the shutter speed specific to the fps, if this is from a table that came with your camera, then it will likely have taken into account the cameras shutter angle already.

[mattias]

don't hey work like still cameras, without any shutterangle to take into account

yeah, just like you don't have to bother with shutter time with still cameras. :-) (it's basically another name for the same thing, see above)

anyway, i use a seconic studio deluxe II. it's that old classic analog one with the calculator wheel. they are around $100 new and a little less used. they don't use batteries, they are very accurate and easy to read, and they will last a million years...

/matt

[jean]

..ahhh :idea: thanks for the info!