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Author Topic: What is everyone using for a light meter ! John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 11-13-2003 07:35 PM                        That fps calibration on the Sekonic is for when it is being used as a meter for motion picture cameras --- it factors in the exposure time to calculate the lens stop. As mentioned in my article, any spot meter that measures reflected light accurately can be used if it is calibrated against an "official" screen luminance meter like the Minolta LS-100. But many meters intended for photography can at best read light within 1/3 of a stop --- in other words, they can barely show the difference between 12, 16, and 20 footlamberts, much less have an accuracy of +/- 1 footlambert. And the calibration of a "non-standard" meter would only apply to the particular conditions you calibrated it to, e.g., a two-blade shutter (48 interruptions per second) and approximately 5400K color temperature.  |  IP: Logged Paul H. Rayton Expert Film Handler Posts: 210 From: Los Angeles, CA , USA Registered: Aug 2003 posted 11-13-2003 07:48 PM                    I have a "Spectra", which I use at my theatre, but the way I got it saved some money.... At the suggestion of a dealer, I purchased a Pentax meter, and then took it out to Spectra and paid them the "conversion" fee to have it set up for reading specifically foot-Lamberts. This saved me a few hundred $$, but may not be practical for those not residing in the Los Angeles area. At that time (about 8 years ago), Spectra did not impress me so negatively. I have recently seen more people carrying around the Minolta meter. But you probably can't take a similar dollar-saving shortcut, since it is built and set for reading screen luminance by the same company. No "financial shortcut". The only problem with sharing a somewhat fragile device among several locations and different people is the "rental car" syndrome: "It's not mine, so I don't really have to take particular care of it." Even studio-owned light meters here locally are sometimes showing signs of wear and tear, and some techs will trust my own personal meter rather than the multi-user studio meters. But some meter is better than no meter!  |  IP: Logged Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 11-13-2003 08:34 PM                     Can anyone provide list prices or even "ballpark" cost for some of these products? In particular, I'm interested in the USL PSA-200. I checked the Ultra-Stereo website and they don't list a price.  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-13-2003 09:16 PM                     This is from Verns website http://www.cin-tronics.com/News_letter.htm and there is an article on the problems with that meter The FPS is for camera exposure settings  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-13-2003 11:12 PM                     We have three now...the Spectra Cine-Spot that reads in fL and f-cd. It is great for measuring screen gain. It also reads down to .01fL for contrast measurments. Its biggest drawback is that it is an unlit LCD screen...kinda rough in a dark environment. We now have the USL PSA light meter system. This is an excellent tool. It allows for precise alignment and also for near perfect balance between the projectors in a mulitple projector installation. Ours will do both 2-wing and 3-wing shutters. It also will measure Jitter, Weave and lamp stability. Another advantage of it for us is that you can save a report so you can provide documentation to the customer. It only reads down to .1 fL so it isn't useful for contrast measurments but it does most everything else. It also tops out at 40 or so fL without using Netrual-Density filters...not a real problem since we target for 16fL The latest edition to our light meter arsenal is the USL Color Meter. This will read out down to .001fL. As the name implies it also measures the color of the light in X and Y coordinates and also lists the equivalent "temperture" in Kelvin. All of the above have their place and all are excellent in their own way...if I could have only one...it would probably be the PSA. Steve  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 11-14-2003 01:17 AM                        What about this Minolta light meter? And here is a question about the USL system: why is the version for 3-blade shutters more expensive than for 2-blade shutters? Isn`t it just a software feature to switch between the two types of shutters? Does it work with XP?  |  IP: Logged John Walsh Film God Posts: 2490 From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way Registered: Oct 1999 posted 11-14-2003 08:05 AM                     I have a quote on my desk for the Minolta LS-100/LS-110. Either model is $3145.00. They do leasing, and an extended warranty is $450.00.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-14-2003 09:05 AM                     The 3-wing and jump/weave stuff is indeed an additional expense and it is also just a software difference. However, how do you charge for the extra time and expense to develop those software versions (and keep them supported on future software upgrades) without having to charge everyone for them? How many people deal with 3-wing shutters?. Dolby wanted to charge to activate the Dolby-E decoder within a CP-650...think about it...the processing and software already reside within the processor...they just wanted to charge you to activate it. This idea of charging for software isn't a new thing...check out Microsoft! As to the CP-650...this is a past-tense thing...Very few CP-650 installations ever would want the Dolby-E decoding since it is strictly a pre-broadcast medium. The ability to perform that function goes away with version 2.2 or 2.3. The processing space is going to be used elsewhere. I do some rather off-the-beaten-path installations and I only have two CP-650s that are Dolby-E capable...they are at a university with a film program that supports both film and video. Manny...as to your request...here are the LIST prices for the PSA: Standard 48Hz model: $3,995.00 48/72Hz model: $4,395.00 Jitter Weave Upgrade to either: $425.00 Steve [ 11-14-2003, 04:21 PM: Message edited by: Steve Guttag ]  |  IP: Logged Erick Akers Arse Kicker Posts: 201 From: Dallas, TX, USA Registered: May 2001 posted 11-14-2003 03:24 PM                     I just picked up a Spectra for $230.00 U.S., and it works great!!! Unless you absolutly need one now, it pays to shop around. I doubt anyone would dissagree that I got a hell of a deal!!!  |  IP: Logged John Hawkinson Film God Posts: 2273 From: Cambridge, MA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 11-14-2003 03:53 PM                     The LS-110 and the LS-100 are the same price? What's the difference? We've been using an LS-110 since there's one conveniently available...I just assumed the 110 was as good as the 100 for cinema use. Is that a bad assumption? --jhawk  |  IP: Logged John Walsh Film God Posts: 2490 From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way Registered: Oct 1999 posted 11-14-2003 11:03 PM                     The info on the LS-100 is here And the LS-110 is here  |  IP: Logged John Hawkinson Film God Posts: 2273 From: Cambridge, MA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 11-15-2003 12:36 AM                     Thanks, John; I was looking for a comparison with respect to suitability for cinema usage, though. I guess the difference is the LS-110 has a 1/3-degree angle. I would hope that's not a problem, but was hoping someone (John P.?) could comment. --jhawk  |  IP: Logged

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