Gossen Lunasix Electronic User manual

Quid< Referenceto fhe IU NAS lX

                                       poge
   Quick Referenceto lhe LUNASIX.  2 ... 7
   Thinkingond Meosuring                I ...l7
   Reviewof Subiects            . . . . . .   l 8 . . . 3 6
    (seepoge 47)
   Technicol Appendix              .. . . . 37 ...45
   Color-Finder                                 . .. . 46 ...47

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Correct position
                                     of the 2 botteries
                             Cotoortment  for botteries               @

                           K n u r l e d p l o t e f o r
                              checkingthe botteries


                             T o b l e o f c o l i b r o t i o n v o l u e s
                                        in Lux ond footcond les


             @  Zurosettingscrew





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lntroductionto the tUNASIX

The LUNA     is the lotestin the line of "SlX" Exposureond ColourTemperotureMeters-
the SIXTUS,SIXTOMAT,SIXON,SIXTRY,SIXTINOond SIXTICOLOR- mode by the world-
fomousmonufocturers



                            G                      f\    Erlongen


LUNASIXis ihe nome given to this finest of  oll Expoiure Melers becouse the        SIX
con meosurerelioblyony light from the polest moonlight to ihe brightest sunlight.
At lost, here is on ExposureMeter to breok through oll the borriers formerly restricting
exposuremeosurement.

Quick Referenceto the LU N AS IX





  S"ffing *"  flrn           ind"l1                "tpor*"
Turn the cleor plosticdisc (15)bv
meonsof the ribs until the index
numberof your film oppeorsin ihe
DIN or ASA window (7114)ond the
white orrow pointsto thot window.
Youwill find o DIN/ASAConversion
Toble on poge 39.

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ReflectedLight: Move the slide (1) ot the front    Incidenl light: Move the slide (l) to the left-
of the meter io the right-hond side until  it   hond side until it clicks into position with the
clicks into position, ond the LUNASIX is now   white incident sphere now in the middle. The
reody to operote. Point the LUNASIX towords   LUNASIX is pointed from the subiect towords
the subiect os the orrow shows in the illus-   ihe comero os ihe orrow shows in the illus-
trotion.                                            trotion.

Meqsuring
Pressthe lower hump of the tumbleswitch(12)ond releoseit os soon os the pointer (4) hos
come to rest. Now lhe pointer (4) is locked ond the reoding con be ioken.
Should the pointer register less thon the scole volue l2 when fhe lower hump of the tumble
switch (12) is pressed, then press ihe upper hump of ihe tumble switch. Wiih  this operotion
you switch in ihe low-light ronge. Woit ogoin until the poinier (4) hos come to rest ond stop
the scole volue while releosingthe swiich.
!f the illuminotion is so weok thot you ore unoble to see the reoding thot hos been recorded,
press the fumble switch for o few seconds. When you releose it, you ore oble to reqd ihe
result elsewhereunder betfer light conditions.
When pressing lhe upper hump of the tumble switch, the volues 1to12 oppeor in the upper
cui-out of the scole, the upper scole divisions belong to  it. When pressing the lower hump
of the tumble swifch, the volues 12io22 oppeor in the lower cut-out of the scole, the lower
scole divisions belong to this.  lf you releose the tumble switch the correct row of figures
remoins to be see,n,i.e. those figures which belcng to the before switched-in meosuring ronge.
Your LUNASIX shows olwoys lhe correct reodings.
Tronsfer this reoding to the yellow scole (16) by iurning the knurled setting ring (8) until
the indicoted volue oppeors opposile the white mork.
Now you con reod the result -  o row of combinotions of opertures ond times (6 ond 5)
exposurevolues (17)or fromes per second for cine (13).See olso poge 38.

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I Meosurement- in deroil   I

With the reflected light method the LUNASIX occepts the reflected light from subiects within
o ce,rfoinongle. Thus ihe meosurementdepends not only on ihe intensityof the illuminotion
bui olso on ihe colours ond the individuol brighlnessof the subiecl itself.
With identicol illuminotion the pointer's deflection is greoter with light subiects thon with
dork subiects. The exposure meler odds together the different single detoils of light ond
converts them to lhe overoge volue.

 lf there ore exlreme controsts of illuminoiion ond colour, it is odvisoble to meosure the
importont portions of the scene to be photogrophed. In block-ond-whitephotogrophy, tor
exomple, core should be token lo ensure odequote detoil in the dork ports, ond in colour
photogrophy odequote detoil in the light poris.
Come close to the subiect but not so neor thot either your own shodow or ihot of the
LUNASIX folls on the subiect. This method is colled the close-up meosurement.
With ihe incident method - from the subiect towords the comero -  the LUNASIX occepts
oll the light folling on the subiect focing the comero. Here, the colour of the subiect or its
individuol brightnessis not token into considerotion.

With  subiects thot ore  difficult to
reoch, the incident method connot
be used in ils normol form - from
subiect to exposure meter. In these
coses you opply the incident light
method to o ploce wiih similor illu-
minotion  (Light Meosurement ot
Substitute Locotion). Look  for  o
ploce which receives light identicol
to the moin subieci. When meosur-ing, do  not  point  the LUNASIX                   dl
towords the comero but porollel to
the imoginory line between the sub-
iect ond the comero.      A


See olso poge 8 ... ll.

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Checkingthe Botteries

With normol use of the LUNASIX, the 2 Mollory mercury botteries supplied with  it hove life
of obout lUz lo 2 yeors. Check the condition of the botteries from time to time, os follows:
push the knurled plote (19) in the direction of the orrow without pressing the tumble switch
 (t2). lf the poinler (4) does not move to the red mqrk (10), the botteries must be reploced.
Open the bottery comportment (18)wiih o coin.
Check the new botteries olso os described qbove.

 Tero Point Control

When checking the pointer zero control, lhe boileries musl be token from their comportment.
Then press the tumble switch (12) up or down ond the pointer should come to rest on the
block mork ot the left-hond side of the scole (3).
lf not, the pointer (4) must be sel to the block mork by furning the zero-point control screw
(21)on the underneoth side of the LUNASIX. While this is being done, the tumble switch
must, of course, be pressed os otherwise the pointer would be locked.

THINKING AND MEASURING

It is necessoryto soy ot the beginning thot the LUNASIX connot think for you. Even the
finest electronic broin is helpless wiihout the scientist who converts the problems to be
solved so thot they con be processedby the computer. Similorly with the LUNASIX, which
onswersthe exposure questionsput to  it os preciselyos you osk ihem.
This is not o  difficult problem ond  it becomes eosily understondoble once you become
fomiliqr with your LUNASIX.
LUNASIX sees the world you wont to photogroph. This world consists of mony ports which
differ considerobly in size, colour ond brightness.Inthecoseof reflected light meosurement,
LUNASIX collects,within o certoin ongle, light which is reflected from the mony individuol
ports of ihe scene; it odds up oll the light ond strikes on overoge for which it indicotes o
suitoble exposure time. And normolly the exposure indicoted in this monner is perfectly
correct (reflected light meosurement- see olso poge 5).
Unusuol feotures which you - os on ottentive observer -  will notice, moy not be seen by the
LUNASIX in quite the some monner.  lf the scene includes o lorge, very bright oreo -  for
from the overoge thot the LUNASIX would normolly colculote for -  it will indicoie o shorter

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exposure time thon  ii woulcj for o lorge, very dork oreo.  But you wont to see the very light
  or very dork in the finished picture os very light or very dork, just os you did in the octuol
  scene; you will not wont to see them os "grey". Whoi  is io be done? Your iudgement musl
  guide the LUNASIX; for  if there ore extensivevery dork or very bright oreos in the scene,
  do not point the LUNASIX directly ot them, but toke overoge ports of the scene. Poy oiten-
  tion to the

 MeosuringAreq of the LUNASIX

 You con see in the view finder, or on the groundgloss screen of your comero, exoctly whot
  will be included in your picture. The LUNASIX connot orieniote itself! Of course you will
  wont to know whot porls of the scene ore included in the reflecied light meosurement.
 The comero, with your help, selects its "rectongle" or "squore"l the LUNASIX covers o
' meosuring "circle". Whotever lies outside these vorious shoped oreos remoins unseen,bul
  you con eosily estimote fhe size of the LUNASIX meosurement oreo by comporison with the
  finder or groundgloss imoge. The illustroiionsshow the relotionship beiween them for both
 35mm comeros (24x36mm) with vorious focol length lenses, ond for 2'/rx2r/t" comeros,
 when reflected light meosurementsore mode from the comero position.

T h e m e o s u r i n go r e o o f  t h e L U N A S I Xc o r r e s p o n d st o o   l i g h t o c c e p t o n c eo n g l e o f 3 0 n

           For 35mmcomeros(24x 36 mm)                      For211+x 21/+"comeros





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This smoll meosuringoreq is o poriiculorodvontogeof the LUNASIX. lt permitsvery
occurote,corefullyoimed meosurements.You con moke selectivereodingsof voriousports
of o sceneor o subiectfor more eosilython with ordinoryexposuremeie'rs.
The sensitiveIndicotorNeedle of the LUNASIXtells you very cleorly whethero scenehos
uniformdistributionof brightnessor not.
With close-upmeqsuremenls,for exomple,you con wolk up to the importontpori of the
sceneond observe- with presseddown tumble swiich - how the needle behoves.lf the
importontport ond the surroundingoreo hove ihe identicolbrightness,the needlewill not
move. Otherwise,the needlepositionwill chonge.
By following this method,you con soon tell if you hove only the importontport of the scene
withinthe meosuringoreo of your LUNASIX.

 Inci                     enl

$/ith tfut5.+peisuringmethod, your LUNASIX "sees" only the light which folls on thot port of
the scene which is focing the comero -  in other words the porl which will be photogrophed.
The result of this meosurementdoes not toke into occount the colour or brightness of ihe
scene itself. Thus, incident light meosurementis ideol for the previous exomple with exten-
sive very bright or very dqrk oreos -  it will give you perfeci results.
                                                                                                         \, ,t
                                                                                                                                                                                         l l

[q=.,perf=a"E*p*urel
The correct exposure for ony scene thot con be photogrophed con be determined with the
LUNASIX! But-when  is o scene "perfectly" exposed?Thot is not olwoys so eosy to onswer.
For ihe omoteur, especiolly the beginner, the overoll impression is usuolly decisive. But
soon one's demonds become more siringent,especiollywhen resultsore compored. "Perfecf
exposure" normolly meons thot the brightest portions of o colour tronsporency ond the
dorkest poriions of o block-ond-whiteprint should show some detoil!
With colour film - which, os you know, requires more criiicol exposure - the lighier portions
of o scene usuolly determine the exposure. Therefore, keep on eye on such lighter oreos
ond preferobly expose o little shorier rolher thon longer, to get more brilliont colours.
ln block-ond-white, however, the shodowy portions which ore to hove some detoil in the
finished print must be given considerolion. Therefore, wotch the dorker oreos ond expose
o little longer rother thon ioo little.
Most importoni: Be criticol of your results. Anolyze your prints ond your colour tronspoi.en-
cies for possible mistokes or errors in judgement. Leorn from your experience: Foilure
properly onolyzed will soon leod to consistentsuccess!
Rememberthot when there ore extreme controsts in o scene, the film moy not be oble'to
cope with them. Do not blome the LUNASIX! You will hove to compromise with ihe limi-
totions of the film by exposing o step more or less thon indicoted by the LUNASIX. You
will reod more obout this in the "Review of Subiects". Aboui "exposure steps" see poge 40.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                    ;.il

The PersonqlTouch
    you reolly hove to expose very criticolly every time? There ore two possible onswers to ?9
 this question:
 (1) On block-ond-whitenegotive film you will get good negotives olmost without exception
   ond without fuss.
 (2) Reversol colour film is more criticol. Deviotions from correct exposure will produce
   .  tronsporenciesf hot ore either too light or too dork; you moy olso get distortion of colours.
Now, you must remember thot lhe occurote exposuie infoimotio-n which your LUNASIX
gives you moy not even be fully utilized becouse oll sorts of "toleronces" must be reckoned
w i t h :
(o) The octuol sensitivityof o film moy difier from the one indicoted on the film pockoge.
(b) The octuol shutter speeds of your comero moy differ from the volues engroved on ih"
   shutter.
(c) The actuol lens openings moy differ from the volues engroved on your comero f-stop
   scoIe.
(d) The film development moy not olwoys be identicol.
(e) In oddition, purely subiective considerotionsond motters of toste enter into the evolu-
   otion of the finished print or slide.
lf you moke severol exposures of the some scene or subiect with vorious exposure times,
you will olmosi never get co-mpleteogreement omong- difierent judges os to wnicn n"goiiuu
or which slide received "perfect" exposure!

ft
           However, you con odopt your LUNASIX exposure reodings to the cho,rocierof your comero/
            your fovourite film, your type of processing, your proiector -  in other words to your per-
              sonql louch.
          Use o reversol colour film; select severol "normol" scenes (see poge 18, "Normol Scene");
             loke cqreful reflected ond incident light meosurements ond shootl But - eoch time moke o
             series of 5 exposures; in oddition to the one of the indicoied exposure time, moke one eoch
               of o full step ond one-holf siep more ond less thon indicoted by LUNASIX. Moke complete
            notes of  the reodings ond  of ony  speciol conditions. When you hove your  finished
             tronsporencies, select the ones which, in your iudgement, ore "perfect" ond compore them
              with your notes concerning exposure meosurements,etc.
                        lf they're right - ond in most coses they will be - everything is fine. Otherwise, determine
            by how much you need to increose or decreose future exposure reodings to get the besi
              results. With this odiustment you hove then goined Your Personol Touch.

        Shq       for Motion qnd De    of Field                                                                                        ' 1
              After you hove token o light meosurement, the computer scoles of your LUNASIXmoy lind
            up something like this: -
           time         1/s         1/rs          llzo         1/co        1/rts          1 lzso        1/soo       1/tooo
                      tt         t2     1 6     1 1           I        5.6      4       2.8     2

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                                                                                      ,#fu,iirJ-'..r-.                                                                                                                         :,,1,;{

Eight combinotions of which you moy r"eollyuse only one! Now, which combinotion might
be "the best"? The LUNASIX hos done its best by giving you os mony equivoleni poirs so
thot you moy select o reolly suitoble one. After oll, o properly exposed picture must olso
be in shorp focus - which meons ihot you hove to ignore some operture (f-stop) settings ond
some shutter speeds.
Motion colls for o short exposure to prevent o blurred imoge. (Your comero instruction
book or ony good photogrophic monuol will give you informotion obouf "slowest permis-
sible shutter speeds" for moving obiects.) Needless to soy, sports pictures demond the
shortest exposures (l/zsolol/rooosec.)ond normol motion con be stopped with medium speeds
(t/coto l/zso)while, for still scenes,the slower speeds (1/roio 1/+sec.) ore odequote. Of course,
for the slow speeds, you'll need o good tripod or other comero support to ovoid lock of
shorpnessdue to comero shoke.
Depth of Field. Since, usuolly, you will wont io hove neor ond distont obiects equolly shorp
in your piclures, you'll hove to "close down" the lens. How much? The depth-of-field scole
of your lens, or o seporote depth-of-field toble, will tell you. A smoller lens opening gives
you the desired greoter depth bui-   it colls for o longer exposure.
The conflicting demonds of motion ond depth of  field reduce the choice of f-stops ond
shutter speeds to such on extent thot, generolly, only o few possible choices remoin. Let's
soy you need o shutter speed of of leost 1/eos€c. to stop motion in o scene ond, to get
odequote depth of field, you need o lens opening of f/5.6 or smoller. With the exposure
reoding shown obove, you would only hove the choice between using f/8 with t/oosec., or
f/5.6 wiih  t/rzs s€c.

                                                                                l5

Occosionolly you must moke o compromise becouse existing light conditions moy ollow
        using neither lhe ideol f-siop nor the ideol shutter speed. On the one hond you risk subiect
         motion; on the other, less depth of field.

      The LUNASIXds on Aid in Good liqhtin

        With eftective lighting you con ochieve outstonding pictures,either by dromoticolly increos-
         ing or lowering controsts. But controstsshould not be overdone, becouse the film moy nol
        be oble to cope with them.
        Bqlonce your lighring with the LUNASIX: Toke o meosurement of the key light, ond then of
        the - weoker - generol light. Now, simply compore ihe two indicotor scole reodings (f-stops
       ond shutter speeds ore not involved in this method): For block-ond-white film, the difference
       beiween ihe iwo reodings should not exceed 3 steps; for colour film 2 steps ot the most.
               lf you wont to ochieve soft lighting with  little or no controst - os in high-key subiects or
       copy work - orronge your lights so thot you get identicol meter reodings ot different oreos
          of the subiect ond bockground (if ony). This type of lighting is usuolly preferred in colouri
        photogrophy.



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*!",a;iri{lai*gr;*.          ;                                                                                  L .         .   : . . r                                                              *r$tr

REVIEWOF SUBJECTS


 The "Normol" Scene
 This includesneorly everythingthot mokeso picturewor-thtoking. Decisive- for exposure
" meosuremeni-  is the evennessin the distributionof illuminotionond brightness.- Portroit.
  or Londscope- Childrenond Animols- Moods or Events.
 The normol scene hos neither very extensivebright nor porticulorlydork oreos; bright,
 middle,ond dork oreosore presentin o boloncedmixture,with no "meos-ure,menlintrusion"
  to be expectedfrom the surroundingoreo.
    l 8

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Meosuring o normol scene is,
thus, on eosy molter, which you
con occomplishquicklyond sure-
ly. You con use lhe  reflected
or  incident light meosuremenl
melhod: successful exposure is
o ssu red.
The sun behind your bock re-
duces controst ond usuolly pro-
duces o normol scene.

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