[rollei_list] Re: Lightmeters and Estimated Photography
- From: "Richard Knoppow" <dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2005 17:33:01 -0700
----- Original Message -----
From: "Marc James Small" <msmall@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, April 29, 2005 5:01 PM
Subject: [rollei_list] Lightmeters and Estimated Photography
> At 03:44 PM 4/29/05 -0700, Richard Knoppow wrote:
>
>> I think there was another photoelectric meter before
>> the=20
>>Weston but it was the first popular one and the first
>>to=20
>>have a reliable film speed service.=20
>
>> I have often used the meter in my Nikon F when
>> shooting=20
>>LF because it has a well defined area of sensitivity
>>and=20
>>I've found it to be very reliable. I've also found the=20
>>built-in meter in my Rolleiflex 2.8E to be reliable.
>
> Shame on you, Richard.
>
> Both Gossen and Metrawatt in Europe were producing
> photoelectric meters at
> the same time as Weston. While Weston produced the first
> branded hand-held
> meter, it was Metrawatt of Nurnberg which produced the
> first clip-on meter
> for the Leitz camera, a rather rare 1939 product. =20
>
> But, in the end, any photographer who cannot properly
> evaluate a sunlit
> scene and determine the exposure from his own head needs
> to rethink the
> process. Using another camera to determine the exposure
> is less a
> confession of weakness: it is an acknowledgement of a
> failure to
> comprehend the mixture of light and subject which allows
> us to take
> pictures. An undue reliance on a lightmeter indicates a
> failure of
> understanding.
>
> Marc
>
> msmall@xxxxxxxxxxxx=20
> Cha robh b=E0s fir gun ghr=E0s fir!
>
> NEW FAX NUMBER: +540-343-8505
>
I no longer remember where the first photoelectric meter
was made, perhaps Germany, but it dated from the very early
1930's. There were other photoelectric meters on the market
by the time the Weston hand held meter came on sale but it
was Weston's film speed service and good design that
established it as a standard. Henney and Dudley, in
_Handbook of Photography_ c.1939 show the characteristics of
13 meters including three German made ones and one English
meter (Avo). This was reprinted from an article in _Photo
Technique_ Vol.1 No.1 June, 1939. This was a short lived
magazine published by McGraw-Hill and intended for the
professional-industrial photographic market. I have about
two numbers, they are extremely rare. Eventually it was
merged into "American Photography" ruining both magazines.
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
---
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