Yashica 2 and a quarter... but no light meter!

[J A Mortram]

Any advice or thoughts on a good light meter to use with a Yashica 2 and a quarter?

Huge thanks!

Jim

[yelvertoft]

Same sort as any other sort of camera I expect Jim. The kind of camera you use is not tied to the hand-held meter you want to use with it.

I use a Gossen Digipro F, but I know others that use Sekonic L-308S and also Polaris Digital meters. They are all perfectly good stuff.

[andy153]

I agree with Duncan, Jim. I use a Sekonic L-308S, plus an old Weston Master V which still works perfectly well.

[J A Mortram]

Thanks a lot guys!... I'll bear your advice in mind : )

Jim

[Don Hoey]

Another catch up job.

For now you are better using your D200 meter and spending your cash on film and processing. However sooner or later you will probably want a separate meter to save carting the D200 as a meter.

Given that used may also be a consideration it maybe worth mentioning the various metering cell types and positives/negatives.


Selenium Cell. This type does not need a battery as voltage is created when the cell is exposed to light. This cell was used in loads of meters and probably the most well known is the Weston.
Plus point - no battery required
Negative - Not as sensitive as CDS. The Weston for example can only measure down to 3EV. I believe that when stored they should be cased or kept dark to increase the life of the cell. Maybe wrong but my Weston cell died surprisingly early on, and given the cost of repair I moved to CDS then later Silicone Blue.

CDS Cell. This type does require battery power usually button cell type. Depending on the cost new these these can vary in low light sensitivity from 3EV to -4EV
Plus - certain models are very sensitive in low light.
Negative - Earlier meters used 1.35v mercury batteries which are no longer available. Meter may need to be recalibrated to take the now common 1.5v. Definate check before you buy. But I do know Gossen make an adaptor to take SR44 1.5v batteries for the Lunasix3s (not cheap but Park Camera have it at £30 including first set of batteries, so something to be budgeted for if buying one). Apart from the battery issue I can heartily recommend the Lunasix 3S as I had one until our burglar took a liking to it many years ago.

Silicon Blue Cell. Again this takes batteries and being a more modern unit takes available batteries. Silicon blue is responsive enough to measure flash, so some of these are ambient and flash meters. No negatives I can think of. In fact some meters like my Profisix are able to take a whole range of different meter heads.

Analogue display or digital.
It's all down to personal preference. Mine is for analogue, hence I went that route with the Profisix. I have taken a pic of my meters ( including the dead Weston for visual reference ), and although at first glance the Gossen face may look daunting, it is dead easy to understand. It just looks complex at first glance as you are viewing all available info at once. The small full manual is only 44 pages front to back including tech specs and the accessory range so a lot easier than understanding a new DSLR.

Don