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Author Topic: Light meter Ivan Plamondon Film Handler Posts: 42 From: Welland, Ontario, Canada Registered: May 2013 posted 01-27-2014 12:08 PM                     Can anyone suggest a decent low cost light meter?  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-27-2014 04:17 PM                     Harkness makes a screen brightness checker that's ok. You should really compare it to a real light meter before you use it just to verify where it reads.  |  IP: Logged Ivan Plamondon Film Handler Posts: 42 From: Welland, Ontario, Canada Registered: May 2013 posted 01-27-2014 04:38 PM                     Thanks Mark  |  IP: Logged Ivan Plamondon Film Handler Posts: 42 From: Welland, Ontario, Canada Registered: May 2013 posted 01-28-2014 09:04 AM                     Harkness is still a bit too pricey for our theatre.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-28-2014 10:47 AM                     It's probably the least expensive option available thats made for the job. Even a used Spectra Screen Brightness meter in working condition will set ya back more than the new Harkness.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-28-2014 11:25 AM                        Just the calibration on the Spectra SC-600 is in excess of $200, but it is a very nice unit. You don't want to see the price for a new one, though.  |  IP: Logged Paul Mayer Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under! Posts: 3836 From: Albuquerque, NM Registered: Feb 2000 posted 01-28-2014 01:50 PM                        I suppose one will not like the price of the meter I was recently using at Callahan and Christie: the Photo Research Cinebrate. Specifically designed for use with digital cinema projectors, it reads screen luminance and color coordinates. New, it's priced at under $10,000 USD. Still cheaper than a calibrated, used Minolta... http://www.photoresearch.com/current/cinebrate.asp  |  IP: Logged Ivan Plamondon Film Handler Posts: 42 From: Welland, Ontario, Canada Registered: May 2013 posted 01-28-2014 02:09 PM                     I guess the Harkness unit doesn't seem so bad at $750. Still way out of our price range however.  |  IP: Logged Carsten Kurz Film God Posts: 4340 From: Cologne, NRW, Germany Registered: Aug 2009 posted 01-28-2014 02:50 PM                     I think the Harkness digital screen checker can be bought from other suppliers as well. I also remember there were offers for collective purchases. Cinema Technology Magazine had an article on the digital screen checker in a past issue. If you want to go cheaper, a second hand photographic spot meter can used as well after some training. - Carsten  |  IP: Logged Ivan Plamondon Film Handler Posts: 42 From: Welland, Ontario, Canada Registered: May 2013 posted 01-29-2014 09:17 AM                     Carsten, can you steer me towards a few brands of spot meters? We utilize 7kW Superior lamps.  |  IP: Logged Carsten Kurz Film God Posts: 4340 From: Cologne, NRW, Germany Registered: Aug 2009 posted 01-29-2014 04:12 PM                     Depends a bit on what you are actually after. A proper screen light meter will give you familiar units like fL or cd/sqm. A photographic spot meter will usually have a coarser readout, as photographic units are usually f-stops or EV, with 1/2 or 1/3 divisions at best. You will need to do some easy calculations to get fL out of these numbers, and the error may be large. In fact, you could even use an existing SLR or DSLR with a spot meter. Check e.g. Minolta Spot Meters on ebay. You could even use an incident light meter - always depending on what you are trying to achieve. If you have a proper measurement from an installer and don't change screen, relative measurements are possible. However, this is the Large Format Forum, so I assume you want this for film projection - you can not be sure that any of these cheaper alternatives do well with the 48Hz flicker of film projectors. My incident light meter does well with it, my SLR does not. Both do well with digital projectors. - Carsten  |  IP: Logged Ivan Plamondon Film Handler Posts: 42 From: Welland, Ontario, Canada Registered: May 2013 posted 01-30-2014 10:45 AM                     You are correct Carsten. Trying to measure light from a 7kW Superior lamp projected on a 60 by 80 foot screen. Our system is a 70 mm 24 frames per second GT IMAX rolling loop projector.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-30-2014 01:00 PM                     I'll second the Minolta idea. I use a Minolta color space meter and it's been very good. For plain old white light measurements on the fly I use my Spectra FL spot meter is what I use, I also have a Spectra that measures candellas. Mark  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 01-30-2014 01:41 PM                     Is it possible to rent something like a high quality cinema screen light meter for a couple days, or does that piece of gear usually include a human technician, airfare, hotel lodging, etc.?  |  IP: Logged Carsten Kurz Film God Posts: 4340 From: Cologne, NRW, Germany Registered: Aug 2009 posted 01-30-2014 02:28 PM                     Forgive me ;-) - shouldn't a place with an IMAX GT projector and a 60*80ft screen be able to afford 750US$ for a light meter? I may be able to test a few dedicated spot meters on a 35mm machine soon. - Carsten  |  IP: Logged

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