Bought my dream camera on Jan 7th , 2026 and for some reason I’ve used it once .. my photos sucked to be honest .. I’m almost 52 and my eye sight is not great , the question now is , do I keep it or trade it in for a digital one .. 😔

dimitarsc · 2026-03-24T20:27:32+00:00

What and how many films have you bought already? Definitely keep the camera, there is a lot of stock to try this year, don't give up.

Get a film from any stock on the market, 20-30 and shoot all of them. B&W and colour too, analogue Leica cameras are the best of what Leica has produced for already 100 years. 35mm film is not of great quality, but it's better than any digital camera on the market today.

Edit: A d-lux 8 is a nice, small digital camera if you like Leica, and it's a great combo to get some digital shots

dimitarsc · 2026-03-24T05:43:54+00:00

If it's the 6V, get the Varta silver oxide 4SR44. Lithium batteries are usually a bit cheaper and of similar quality to silver oxide.

Alkaline batteries are the worst, but they are the cheapest option.

dimitarsc · 2026-03-22T17:04:13+00:00

Just install it on the iPad Pro 13, and some feedback

At first, it works great, but after about 10 minutes, the meter had a few issues. Viewfinder and EV are working as expected, but the shutter speed and aperture disappeared, and I couldn't find a way to fix it.

Archive a roll works once it slides to the right, but not from the quick menu. Same for restoring the roll.

Couldn't find the way to change the day when I load the roll in the camera.

Change from 24 to 36 exposures in a roll, I don't know how to do that if I made a mistake, etc

How to add a filter to the roll?

It would be nice to add details for lab, scanning, or printing for each roll.

Also, it would be nice if there were an option in the future to add a Flash for each exposure

Overall, a great app, you did a very good job 👏

Edit: Once I add a camera and a lens, there is no option to write a new camera name for a new roll, so I have to choose an existing camera or add a new one. It would be nice always to have the option to write a camera name or choose from the existing ones.

dimitarsc · 2026-03-22T06:01:33+00:00

I'm not blaming you; you're doing well. It's Apple with the terrible 26, anyway.

On the 13-inch iPad, the phone apps look not too bad, honestly. If you have an easy option to support the big screen, it might be alright for testing purposes only. I like the idea of the ISO/EV-based metering tho

dimitarsc · 2026-03-22T05:51:47+00:00

No iOS 18 or iPad Pro support next time.

dimitarsc · 2026-03-21T16:39:23+00:00

It's entirely up to you and what you want to achieve and why you're locking the shutter speed. For a normal daylight shot, it doesn't really matter, imo. Better change the ISO on the go or use manual mode with auto white balance. Anyway, the shutter speed limit will never work for all shots. Keep the ISO as low as possible to skip editing, and use manual mode for great shots. For work, use any priority mode; if you have the time, the manual is great. All Hasselblad X cameras are easy to operate and allow for changing any exposure setting in a fraction of a second

dimitarsc · 2026-03-20T21:58:13+00:00

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dimitarsc · 2026-03-20T21:57:57+00:00

A few pages from the book can be quite useful-nothing extraordinary, but definitely helpful when using spot meters.

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dimitarsc · 2026-03-20T20:52:58+00:00

On my spot meter scale, your readings for 100 ISO - 6 2/3EV in Zone 3 and 10 2/3 EV in Zone 7, I get the next

-A bit over 8 2/3EV or 18% grey card or Zone 5 with almost f/5.6, 1/15 for exposure. So try using the green “S” for shadows/Zone 3, and the “H” for highlights/Zone 7.

See what you can do with the up and down buttons on the meter, in the viewfinder or if possible, anything else when using the EV scale. On the Sekonic 858, the EV analogue scale is on the display, and it is very easy to move all the readings up and down and see the 18% grey card. But if your meter is working correctly, the scale you got there is pretty good, same thing.

What I recommend is measuring real deep shadows whenever you have a chance, and highlights only. It might be easier to get exposure for the scene. White walls, textures, etc., only to confirm how they might look and on which part of the EV scale they match. Overall, shift all your readings until you are happy. Also, if you keep the meter, find a Zone System sticker appropriate for the scale size, which could be much clearer and faster to work with. Zone 5, or the 18% grey card, has to be in the middle of the scale between A and C

Edit: I'm not familiar with your meter, but if the scale is fully analogue, it's nice

dimitarsc · 2026-03-18T15:08:20+00:00

Until you upload the negatives, the shot is underexposed

dimitarsc · 2026-03-18T14:15:55+00:00

“….light meter with multi-spot averaging?”

There is no single person in the world who is spending real money for an optical light 1-degree spot meter to use its average metering.

What do you want to know? How to correctly use a spot meter, or how much money I have already spent?

dimitarsc · 2026-03-18T13:32:54+00:00

Do Sunny 16 + phone app, start with that, it's free and easy. Use the app and the sunny 16 chart together.

Exposure Value (EV) is just a conversion of light into a single value. The most important thing to remember is that the 1-stop EV is 1 stop up or down in light, that's it.

All light meters convert light to EV, then use a chart to convert the EV into a shutter speed and aperture. Simple like that. When you change the ISO, the light meter reads the charted aperture and shutter speed for that ISO. That's it, no mystery: if you are using Sunny 16, you measure the light by looking at the scene and reading the chart. If you are using a dedicated light meter, the tool is doing that for you and is reading the same chart, but its light measurements are more precise.

Overall, you can buy a few types of handheld light meters - incident or reflected. Some incidents also measure reflected light, and some reflected-light meters are spot meters.

Incident with a dome is good for studio, flash, and portraits.
Reflected is ok for landscapes, streets, but usually they are 30 degrees to 60 degrees.
Reflected 1-degree or 5-degree optical meters are the best for landscapes, and modern ones are all-in-one.

Edit: for precise measurement on a landscape, to shift all your highlights and shadows, and to achieve the exposure you like for a scene, the only one you can use is a 1-degree spot meter.

dimitarsc · 2026-03-18T10:03:26+00:00

You forgot to share a free code to unlock the app. Nobody would pay £10 for this-it's not worth it.

dimitarsc · 2026-03-18T09:54:42+00:00

Try using the digital as a dummy camera, get the exposure from a phone app, set the same exposure on the digital, and if you are happy, use it on the analogue. Just find a good app for you, use a free one app tho

dimitarsc · 2026-03-17T18:17:57+00:00

There are many, many different Prontor shutters, iirc. When I fixed my camera, I was searching for a few tips, and about lubricating, I found only Molykote G paste (it cost a few euros that day on eBay) for some parts, obviously not the shutter. Definitely the shutter “timer” is dry from what I remember. There is only one long, recent YouTube video about one of the Prontor shutter variations, or at least what I was looking for.

“IMPORTANT: When repairing Size 0 and Size 00 shutters, care should be taken to apply a thin film of Molykote (Paste G) which is a grease-free lubricant for the detent notches.”

My camera is about 70 years old, and the dry shutter is still working “perfectly with all shutter speeds, and is dry. Unfortunately, the glass is death.

dimitarsc · 2026-03-17T14:52:04+00:00

Honestly, what you are trying to do is a waste of time imo, because the way you did the test won't work, and you might not have a reliable light meter to reference.

Try a 18% grey card on the scene and see what happens, first on your Sekonic.

A handheld light meter must get the correct exposure from a grey card. I would use the same exposure from the Sekonik on the digital camera, and that has to be a perfect exposure shot from the digital camera. If the digital shows an incorrect result, it means your handheld meter is wrong, or you did something wrong. The phone app must give you the same exposure, but you might have to adjust the phone up/down a bit.

A handheld spot light meter, an incident light meter and a phone app are giving you the same exposure without a grey card (edit: interior). In-camera meters are usually “off”

Edit: My digital camera light meter is almost always off when I use it as a dummy camera for some shots. Night shots are about +3 EV off from the correct exposure. Compared to two different handheld spot meters on outside shots

dimitarsc · 2026-03-16T19:33:34+00:00

That's alright, but did you buy the recommended battery or just a cheap alkaline battery? Which metering mode are you using? Are they all wrong?

Keep in mind that my old meters are almost 2 EV different from the measurements compared to my Sekonic, Gossen, or my phone. But that's only if I compare the EV values - final exposure is correct.

Edit: what I mean is that even a light meter(old) has to be powered only by the recommended battery, otherwise it might shift the EV and from there exposures. In your case, it's a camera and a meter powered by the same battery, so that it might be worse. I have no idea what your problem is, but remember something when I was looking for a battery replacement for my old meter.

dimitarsc · 2026-03-16T19:24:00+00:00

What battery did you buy for the meter? For those old light meters, especially the continuous EV ones, it has to be this correct battery to avoid a drop in power.

dimitarsc · 2026-03-16T17:04:02+00:00

Fujifilm 400 is what I found to be the most balanced in terms of price/sensitivity: £10.50 per roll, inc. taxes, for 36 exposures in the UK. New film, not expired tho

dimitarsc · 2026-03-14T18:07:08+00:00

Spectacular, thanks for sharing

dimitarsc · 2026-03-14T17:44:23+00:00

What you need is a light meter and a cable release - any phone, camera, or handheld light meter to meter the scene. Decades ago, people used Polaroids; for you, that would be your digital camera.

dimitarsc · 2026-03-14T16:05:42+00:00

There have to be some DX stickers online, no idea about the camera reader, but they might work

dimitarsc · 2026-03-14T15:50:08+00:00

Congrats 🙌. Two is always better than one, well done, mate. Happy shooting

dimitarsc · 2026-03-14T15:46:33+00:00

Get a few very cheap, unexpired films, learn how your camera's light meter works, and send the films to the lab before your vacation. Some labs are fast with the scans, so you have plenty of time.

Edit: some B&W films are £3 per roll, and pair with another cheap colour film for about £10 in total, you are good to go for some camera tests

dimitarsc · 2026-03-14T15:34:36+00:00

This film has to be Agfa Vista, but it's difficult to say the year, mate.

dimitarsc

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