Down the Road

Photographs and stories by Jim Grey

Since 2007

Recommended reading

Jim Grey
11 comments on Recommended reading
1 minute

๐Ÿ’ป The Greatest Generation fought and won World War II, a singular, critical event the whole country rallied around. We face no less a critical time today, say Brett and Kate McKay, but because of a thousand smaller things. How do we muster the energy to fight? Read Sunday Firesides: Running on Fumes

Pantera
Polaroid OneStep 600, Polaroid 600 film (expired), 2015

๐Ÿ’ป Sweepstakes were a common marketing device in the 1960s and 70s. They still pop up occasionally today, but not nearly as often as then. Eric703 tells a little bit about the history and legal challenges associated with sweepstakes, and shares a bunch of sweepstakes where the grand prize was a car. Read Vintage Ads: Win A New Car! Enticing Promotions From The Golden Age Of Sweepstakes

๐Ÿ“ท Polaroid films have improved a lot since the Impossible Project days. Alex Luyckx looks at the latest color film for 600 cameras and considers its image quality and color rendition. Read Film Review Blog No. 86 โ€“ Polaroid Color 600

๐Ÿ“ท Nicholas Middleton shares his experience with a small shoe-mounted selenium light meter, the Kodak Kodalux L. It looks like the perfect meter to mount on an old camera that lacks a meter, or has a broken meter! Read Kodalux L lightmeter (second version)

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Comments

11 responses to “Recommended reading”

  1. Doug Vaughn Avatar
    Doug Vaughn

    Oh wow… those two yellow Pacers at the top of the sweepstakes post. Very interesting read, and I too remember pestering my parents to enter this or that contest. “Look, it only requires 3 cereal box tops.”

    I will make myself look like a dork, but in middle school, my friends and I called Pacers “upside down pregnant ducks.” Don’t ask me why… the mind of a 12 year old. We were all there once. Thanks for bringing back a memory.

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      Well, Pacers were weird looking!

      Reply
      1. Andy Umbo Avatar
        Andy Umbo

        For some rreason, Gremlins yes, Pacers no. I still know guys in Southest Wisconsin (home of AMC) that are working in restoring Gremlins.

        Reply
        1. Jim Grey Avatar
          Jim Grey

          Gremlins were hardy cars. I know someone who off-roaded his, stock.

          Reply
  2. Kodachromeguy Avatar
    Kodachromeguy

    I’m impressed that Nicholas’ Kodalux meter still works. It’s a mystery why some selenium still are reasonably accurate why many (most) have failed by now. Exposure to light does not make sense as the cause. The selenium does not run out of electrons or anything like that. It’s a pity that the Leicameter MC units are largely ruined now.

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      I know it doesn’t make logical sense that exposure to light kills selenium meters. But my experience with old selenium meters has been that those that have been shielded from light still work, and those that haven’t don’t. I don’t get it.

      Reply
      1. Andy Umbo Avatar
        Andy Umbo

        Even my beloved early 80’s Sekonic Studio Master seemed to lose its accuracy after about ten years. It has a user service-able screw for recallibrating on the back, and I would check it against my battery powered Minoltas. The sad thing about selenium meters were that they weren’t that accurate in subdued light, and it didn’t take me too long to realize that light levels that were “near” the point where you’d put the “high slide” in were never accurate. You’d get one reading with the high slide in, and a different one with the slide out, but both ways it “seemed” like it was working.

        Reply
        1. Kodachromeguy Avatar
          Kodachromeguy

          I found the same problem of inconsistency with the CDS cell Gossen Luna Pro. The needle’s position at the top of the low scale did not match the reading at the bottom of the high scale. A silicon cell Sekonic L-428 meter was much better in this respect. I do not recall if my CDS cell Leicameter MR-4s also had the problem of inconsistency at the transition from low to high scale.

          The best meters are the modern SBC units with a direct numerical ฦ’-stop and speed readout. You do not need to interpret the position of a needle. The Luna Pro SBC was also excellent because all you had to do was turn the dial until the needle was centered. But the latter was a big bulky unit.

          Reply
        2. Andy Umbo Avatar
          Andy Umbo

          Ditto…the last meter I bought was the Sekonic L-308 (some version of it), dead accurate both with continuous and strobe light. Even tho I have a very accurate Minolta Flashmeter III from the early 80’s, I feel the need to maybe buy another L-308 while they’re still hovering around 200 bucks. You can never have too many meters!

          Reply
        3. Kodachromeguy Avatar
          Kodachromeguy

          I occasionally see a Gossen Luna Pro Digital on the ‘Bay in the $60-$90 range, not a bad price. My experience is they are very reliable. I have 2 Luna Pro Digitals and a Sekonic L 318B, and all three are amazingly uniform from dark room light to brilliant sunshine. The Luna Pro Digitals fit in a shirt pocket. The older one is 20+ years old.

          Reply
        4. Andy Umbo Avatar
          Andy Umbo

          I have to say,l as a pro that shot for 50 years, used meters are something I never buy. Seems like a false economy. I’ve owned used everything else, but not meters and not my main cameras I relied on for work.

          Reply

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