(newbie) Lightmeters and lenses

[RedHawk]

Hi all,

I'm using an old Pentax K1000 camera, with it's standard(?) 1:2 55mm lens. Sadly I can't get the battery out of the lightmeter (I've tried everything, the man at the shop tried everything reasonable-it's stuck unless I want to rip the thing apart) so I bought a cheap lightmeter of eBay. It's a Jonan Junior with a little dial etc.

http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/5518/jjwu5.th.jpg


I know nothing about exposure values and the like, and I'm just concerned that this little lightmeter might be being "economical with the truth" - to be fair I have no idea, so I want to check.

Below is what I do- I have no manual, so don;t know if this is correct- any advice would be welcomed!!

The lightmeter itself has some weird lumpy glass on the front, which I point at what I want to take a picture of from where the camera will be. I then line up
green arrow with the red needle and read off the f number (goes from 1 - 64) and the time (goes from 30s - 1/8000s). This seems a bit excessive to me as my camera only goes up to 22 on f numbers and as slow as 1 second, not 30 seconds.

From in my room, which is fairly light during the day, on an overcast day the lightmeter suggests a shutter speed of 1/15 and an f number of 8 (EV 9.5, asa 200 as is the film in my camera) for a shot of inside, and pointing outside (west at 5pm in Britain) F16, speed 60, EV 14.

Do these sound about right? What do I do if I want a picture of something and the meter gives me a value I cannot use?

Also, could you suggest (roughly) what F numbers and speeds should be used for: Inside, outside (sunny), outside (cloudy), outside(sunrise/set) please. I'm assuming these are fairly universal, but like I said I have no idea what I'm doing really!

On the subject of lenses,

Could you explain to me (in physical terms) what the lens range means - the 50mm bit? I have a scientific mind and like to know exactly what is 50mm away from what!

One last question! I'm on a tiny budget (this photography lark might just be a fad for ten minutes) so I'm using eBay to hunt for bits n pieces, and I was thinking about getting some more lenses- A wide angle one for beach shots ( I live on the coast and there is a very nice coastline here), and a zoom of some sort to get good shots of birds on the birdtable without having to have the camera pressed up to them (surprisingly they fly off...). Would these be useful compared with what I've already got, and am I thinking along the right lines? And what's the difference between a macro zoom lens and a zoom lens?

Sorry to ask so many questions, but the man who owned my camera before me died many years ago, taking his knowledge with him...

James

EDIT: Fixed image

[Dotty.c]

ok here is the answer to a couple of your questions........the light meter you have is designed for ambient light outside.

F. stops and shutter speeds work side by side to control the picture, F stops control the apature which controls light, it also control how much of the picture is in focus ( the depth of field) the higher the number the more depth in focus. So no it's not possible to give you the answers to sunrise, sunsets etc.

I would suggest studing some basic 35mm photography books, you will get all the information you need on controling your pictures and such like.

[chaz]

Firstly does the lumpy bit as you call it slide out of the way, if it does then it is a diffuser or invercone.

When using a light meter with invercone, you hold the meter close to the subject with cone facing light source, this is called incedence light metering.

When using a light meter with invercone slid out of the way or removed, the meter is pointed at subject, this is called reflected light metering.

If the lumpy glass or diffuser/invercone is permanently attached to your meter, then use it as described, as an incedence light meter.

Hope this helps, Chaz.

[Dotty.c]

Firstly does the lumpy bit as you call it slide out of the way, if it does then it is a diffuser or invercone.

When using a light meter with invercone, you hold the meter close to the subject with cone facing light source, this is called incedence light metering.

When using a light meter with invercone slid out of the way or removed, the meter is pointed at subject, this is called reflected light metering.

If the lumpy glass or diffuser/invercone is permanently attached to your meter, then use it as described, as an incedence light meter.

Hope this helps, Chaz.

I have 1 of these meters and nothing move's except the dial, you have a viewing glass in which you should be able to see the subject.

[RedHawk]

Cheers! The lumps don't move FYI. Right it's stopped raining so I'm off the beach before tea with camera.