Can an old light meter become too sensitive?

Jon Kincaid

Jon Kincaid

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I know that this seems like a daft question but just in case I'm missing something I thought I'd better ask.

I have three old handheld light meters that give vastly differing results. Two of them are barely responding to light which I can understand but one (a Gossen Bix 3) seems to be too sensitive if anything. Is that possible?

Mind you, I am measuring it against light meter apps on an iPhone. So that probably doesn't help.

I'm new to all this so any advice anyone can give would be gratefully received.
 
I always thought they became less sensitive with time.
 
I've not come across any that have been consistently over sensitive, they typically become slow over time so will read a stop or two under, however this is no big problem providing the error is consistent.

Old meters that have " lost the plot" for want of a better expression tend to be erratic with their readings and perhaps could be over sensitive. These meters have simply become unreliable as in the same luminosity they will offer completely different readings.

Your Gossen sounds like it may have gone that way, but it's worth regularly trying it and see if it remains consistent ...if it does, use it!
 
Maybe the Gossen has loosened up and acting like it was when new... assuming when you say "sensitive" it's reading accurately and quickly in different light conditions.
 
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I'll try it when we next get a sunny day and see how close it is to sunny 16 and take it from there I guess. I think I trust it more than I do the apps on the phone to be honest!
 
sounds like my F2 meter in that it jumps about a lot but will settle to a fairly accurate value. I plan on getting it back to Mr Sover Wong this summer for a full overhaul :-)
 
Mr Bump said:
sounds like my F2 meter in that it jumps about a lot but will settle to a fairly accurate value. I plan on getting it back to Mr Sover Wong this summer for a full overhaul :)
Click to expand...

That might simply be dirty contacts ......The EM is prone to doing that when the contacts are dirty or oxidized but of course being Aperture priority, if it doesn't settle then the shot is stuffed unlike the F2 where you have full control of the shutter speed
 
Asha said:
That might simply be dirty contacts ......The EM is prone to doing that when the contacts are dirty or oxidized but of course being Aperture priority, if it doesn't settle then the shot is stuffed unlike the F2 where you have full control of the shutter speed
Click to expand...

I think you are right as it seems to be when wiggling the button.
Its such a great camera tho and with the F1.4 its a keeper for me
 
Sorry to contribute to derailing the thread, but the F2 has the dreaded ring resistor problem....same as the Nikkormats...the result is that the meter needle or LED display gets jumpy as you adjust the aperture/shutter speed. It's not the meters becoming inaccurate per se, it's just that the resistor gets dirty and worn, so doesn't respond correctly to you adjusting shutter speed/aperture. It's about the only thing that's not fantastic about the F2. Sover should be able to sort it out...he even has his own home-made replacement part for some of the models with a lifetime guarantee: http://soverf2repair.webs.com/DP12_ring_resistor.htm

Some of the older F2 meters have CdS cells which like other old meters don't always respond quickly to changes in light and become less effective over time. Sover can replace them too: http://soverf2repair.webs.com/Cds.htm

I'd thoroughly recommend him for making your F2 like new (or in the case of the ring resistor and one or two of his other mods, arguably better than new). He's not cheap, but he's good value IMO.
 
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