Lightmeter Howto

Introduction

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The photographic light meter

Fig. 1 - The analog meter
Fig. 1 - The analog meter

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Reflected readings

Fig. 2 - Reflected readings are taken through the clear glass

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Incident readings

Fig. 3 - Incident readings are taken through the white dome

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Taking readings

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Setup

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Checking the battery

Fig. 4 - Battery check confirms that the meter is in operable condition

Before we continue, check the battery of your meter. Allways check the battery level on your beter before you start using it. Using an analog meter with a less than fresh battery can cause your exposures to go haywire. Generally speaking, too low battery voltage will give you an over exposed picture and a too high a voltage (Such as using alkaline cells in an older meter designed for mercury cells) will give you an under exposed picture.

Setting the film speed

Fig. 5 - The inner dial sets the film speed

Next on our todo list is to set the ISO to that of our film (or whatever we may be using in the case of digital). On most analog meters this is done by twisting the inner dial on the meter (fig. 5) to whatever ISO we're using, in this case ISO 400 (fig. 6). It should be noted that on older meters, it says ASA instead of ISO, but they're virtually interchangable.

Fig. 6 - Film speed set correctly

That should be it, now it's time to take the actual measurements to ensure proper exposures.

The measurement

Fig. 7 - measurement.jpg

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Fig. 8 - button-press.jpg

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Fig. 9 - meter-reading.jpg

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Fig. 10 - scale-reading.jpg

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Fig. 11 - dial-reading.jpg

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Fig. 12 - White Queen

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