Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/01/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 12:01 AM 01/19/2001 -0800, Damien wrote: >My first and only meter is the Luna Pro F. This meter with it's null >metering system, enables me to easily compute zones. Are the digital >meters able to do this also? As the *very* happy new owner of a Luna Pro Digital, I'll say "yes." The Luna Pro Digital does not have any kind of calculator dial or zone system scale. But it has a feature that makes it just as handy for much zone-ish stuff. It's called "contrast measurement." In normal operation with the Luna Pro Digital, you take a reading by briefly pressing the Measure button. The appropriate f-number appears almost instantly, paired with whatever shutter speed you've previously selected. The reading displays in BIG digits, with a smaller number representing *tenths* of a stop. Also, a little bar shows up in the appropriate place on an f-stop "bar graph" at the bottom of the display, rounded to the nearest half stop. Once you take the reading, you can press the up/down buttons to display other shutter speeds, and the number and bar change accordingly. To make a contrast measurement, you hold down the Measure button and point the meter at the important parts of the scene. The numbers show the values read at the instant the button was pressed. But the bars on the f-stop scale now show the range between the lowest and highest illumination read, with the bar representing the current measurement blinking. Release the button, and everything stays on the display (except the blink) until you press the Measure button again. As with normal operation, you can now select other shutter speeds, and f-stop numbers and bar graph change accordingly. This effectively gives you a "three-point" display if you measure your most important mid-tone as you press the button, and then go for your brightest important highlight and your deepest important shadow. You see the entire range on the f-stop scale bars, and your mid-tone value on the numbers. At this point, you can start thinking about placement and plus/minus development stuff. You may want to take three or more separate measurements in very complex scenes, or with slow slide film where you'd rather have the numbers' greater precision for all readings, rather than the half-stop rounding of the "bar graph." In general, I'm finding the digital meter different from the analog meter, but never worse and usually better. No more fiddling with dials. No more waiting for the pointer to stabilize. No more "squinterpolating" to read 1/3-stop dots on the calculator dial. I may miss watching the moving pointer of my old LunaSix 3. With "high tech" you sometimes lose "high touch." But the gain in speed and ease of measurement seems well worth it. I'm sure other digital meters have somthing akin to the "contrast measurement" feature discussed above. But I didn't necessarily find this in the specs on manufacturer and camera store web sites. I had to actually go into a store, read the manuals and play with the meters. Thank you, Glazer's Camera! And thanks again to everyone on the list who sent me light meter advice this past week. - --Peter Klein Seattle, WA