Pentax ES II + Fujifilm X-T3 + Weimar Light Meter
This post could be subtitled “how not to shoot with a film camera” or maybe “how to look like you don’t know what you’re doing”.
As I’m still trying to decide on which camera I’m going to retain as my main film camera and I don’t have any additional images to add yet, I thought I would write about my experience when testing the Pentax ES II recently.
As I wasn’t confident that the internal light meter was working accurately, I used a separate handheld meter. There’s an interesting post here written by Moshe Samuel, about using the particular light meter I have. I also took my Fujifilm X-T3 to get some comparison shots and to double-check the exposure settings given by the light meter.
The process of taking a shot became quite convoluted:
- Put on my reading glasses
- Set the light meter ISO dial to 400 (before every shot as it wasn’t lockable and would move easily)
- Check the meter reading
- Align the reading to choose an aperture/shutter speed combination
- Remove my reading glasses
- Frame the shot with the Fuji to double-check the exposure settings
- Take a shot with the Fuji to compare later
- Put on my reading glasses
- Set the same aperture/shutter speed on the Pentax
- Remove my reading glasses
- Focus and take the shot
- Put on my reading glasses
- Take out my phone and write some notes to record the exposure settings
- Remove my reading glasses and put my phone away
- Wander around looking for the next shot and repeat!
I had the Pentax on a shoulder strap across my body, the Fuji on a wrist strap on my right hand and the light meter cord wrapped around my left wrist, with my Glasses and phone inside a breast pocket. Due to the cold, I was wearing a beanie hat which meant I couldn’t push my glasses up on my head and also needed to use both hands to put them on otherwise the arms would catch on my hat. I also had to let the Fuji and the light meter dangle from my wrists when doing so. I probably looked quite clumsy and confused to anyone who might have been watching!
Anyway, the test was successful in that I now know the camera works fine in manual mode. Here are a few samples from the ES II and the X-T3:
