Gossen LUNASIX User manual

Digitally signed by mike butkusmike            DN: cn=mike butkus,
                             o=orphancameras, ou=29,
                              email=mike@butkus.org, c=US
                                Date: 2017.12.06 21:54:06 -05'00'butkus

      @ aott"ty Chomber

                    Ridged Slide
                        for bottery testing


                     Toble of Footcondle (lux)
                          eq u ivo len ts

      @ Zuto Adiustment Screw

www.butkus.us

                        This  aIS the tU NAS lX
The nome LUNA SIX originotes in the world-fomous  fomily of exposure ond color-
 temperoture meters SIXTUS, SIXTOMAT, SIXON, SIXTRY, SIXTINO, SIXTICOLOR, eoch one
o development ond product of

                                         (a
                   G  O\\=))       f!     Erlongen (West Germony)

And IUNA SIX is the nome of this new componion of discriminoting photogrophers, becouse
it yields relioble meosurements oll the woy from foint moonlight to the very brightest
sunlight.

There hos never been onything like the LUNASIX!
With the LUNASIX, the former limitotions of light meosurement hove been removed.

Bosic Operoting lnstructions





Look up the ASA Exposure Index
of the film in use (you will find
it on the film box or film instruciion
sheet) ond turn the plexigloss film-
speed setling disc (15) by the roised
bors, until the ASA Index number
(or ASA Degree) is lined up ogoinst
the triongulor white morker in one
respective window.
You will find o detoiled ASA film-
speed toble in the technicol op-
pendix on poge 39.

2

www.butkus.us
    -\w @
                                                      t-E;\   r-r
                                                                                                                                  !(.3,.1.1..q..?..p.   . t. .1q 9rt                                                                             \ffiilffi                                                                                                    \21311151617  18 19202r t
Reflecled light Meosuremenl: Move the con-    Incidenl Light Meosuremenl: Turn the con-
verter slide (l) oll the woy to the right; this    verter slide (l) oll ihe woy to the lefr; now
centers the cleor window. The LUNASIX  is   the sphericol white diffuser is centered. The
reody when the converter slide hos clicked   LUNASIX is reody when the converter slide
into position. Point the LUNASIX foword the   hos clicked into position. The LUNASIX  is
subiect, os indicoted by the orrow in the    pointed from the subiect lowords the comero,
illustrotion.                                os indicoted by the orrow in the illustrotion.

LiqhttY   Me"tute-Jnt - (principle) =$iid$..{*{*b
             Press down the light grey ronge selector button (12) ond releose it ogoin os soon os the
              indicotor needle ia) ri"pr rouing. By releosing the button, you lock in ihe reoding for
             convenient reference.
                   lf, when you press the light grey button, the indicotor needle is deflected only slightly
             (below l2'on the scole), tole o new reoding by pressing.the block selector bution. You hove
          now switched the LUNASIX to the low ronge. Woit ogoin until the needle stops, ond lock in
             the reoding by releosing the selector button.
                    lf the lighi is so poor thot you connot observe the movement of the needle, simply hold
          Jown th-e block button for severol seconds. After releosing the button, you hove locked in
             the correct reoding, ond you con toke the LUNASIX to better light, or use o floshlight to
            reod the scole.
          Do not press down both selector bultons simuhqneously, os :t will cquse e;roneous reodinEs!
           As you press the block or light grey selector button, o corresponding indicoior signol  (ll)
            oppeors ot the right end of ihe upper or lower colibrotion of the indicoior scoles (3). Thus
           you con determine immediotely whether io toke your reoding on the upper (l to 12) or lower
                       (ll to 2l) indicotor scole.
              Atter toting the meosurement, simply turn the computer ring (8) until the obtoined reoding
                  is sel on the yellow lronsfer scole (16).
            The LUNASI* now gives you complete exposure informotion in combinotions of f-siops ond ex-
             posure times (6 ond 51, EV settings (17) or fromes per second for motion picture comeros  (13).

               4

www.butkus.us

You will find odditionol informotion obout intermediote volues in the technicol oppendix
on poge 38.
 LighrMe@cific"Q
 ln reflected light meosuremenl, the LUNASIX meosures the light reflected by obiects within
o cerioin oreo. The resultont reoding, therefore, depends not only on the intensity of the
 illuminotion, but olso on the color ond brightness of the obiects themselves. Thus, under
identicol illuminotion, ihe indicotor needle will be deflected less by dork obiects thon by
bright ones. In on over-oll meosurement the LUNASIX will reod the overoge brightness of
oll subiects in o scene.
 lf ihe scene conioins sirong controsts in brightness or color, it is preferoble to meosure thot
port of the scene which requires the most occurote exposure. In block-ond-white photog-
rophy this is usuolly o dorker oreo which is to show detoils in the finol print; in color
photogrophy, however, the lighter oreos ore usuolly fovored.
To meosure the importont oreos, get closer io the subiect but not so close thot your own
shodow or thot of ihe LUNASIX folls on the subiect. This method is colled: close-up
reoding.
In incident light meosuremenl - from the subieci towords the comero - the LUNASIXmeosures oll the light which folls on thot port of the subiect which foces the comero.
Noturolly, neither the color nor ihe brightness of the subiect itself is considered by this
meosurement.

With inoccessible subiects, toke fhe
incident light meqsurement of o
substiiute soot which receives the
some illuminotion os the subiect.
However, insteod of pointing the
LUNASIX iowords the comero, you
point it porollel to on imoginory
line from the obiect to the comero.
More obout this on poge 8-ll.





Testing the Bottery
With normol use, the Mollory mercury bottery supplied with the LUNASIX hos o life of
 l,/, to 2 yeors. Throughout  its  life, its output remoins constont;  it drops off only shortly
before full expirotion.

6

www.butkus.us

 You con test the condiiion of the mercury bottery ot ony time by pushing ihe ridged slide (19)
 in the direction of the orrow. During the test, the indicoior needle of the LUNASIX should
 point to the red check mork (10) on the indicotor scoles.
 To reploce the mercury bottery, unscrew the cover of the bottery chqmber (lB) - o coin will be useful for this. Moke sure fhol you use only Mollory "RM 625 R" or "PX !3" botteries in
rhe LUNASIX.
 Button-type boiteries of other mokes, becouse of their higher voltoge, will couse incorrecr
 reodings. After inserting o new bottery, therefore, immediotely moke the boltery test
described obove.
Mollory RM 625 R or PX l3 mercury botteries qre ovoiloble of comero shops, or send 50 cents
 (incl. postoge) to Kling Photo Corporotion,25T Pork Avenue South, New york 10, N.y.

Testing Zerc Position
To test the zero posiiion of the indicotor needle, firsf remove the bottery from the LUNASIX.
After the bottery hos been removed, press one of the ronge selector buttons (12). The
indicotor needle should now rest on the un-numbered check fine of the extreme left of the
indicotor scoles  (3).
To odiust the indicotor needle (4) to the zero check line, turn the zero odiustment screw (21)
on the underside of the LUNASIX, while keeping one of the selector buttons U2jpressed down.

Thinking qnd Meosuring

One thing the LUNASIX con not do:  lt connot think for you! Even the most odvonced
"electronic broin" is helpless without ihe scientist who phroses his problems so thot ihey
con be processed by the computer. The LUNASIX, too, onswers exposure questions oll the
more precisely,  if you osk more corefully! You will find this quite eosy once you become
fomilior with your LUNASIX.
Above oll, you musi know how your LUNASIX sees the world thot you wont to get on your film.
This world is mode up of mony ports, which differ considerobly in size, color ond brightness.
In the cose of reflected lighl meosuremenl, the LUNASIX collects, within o certoin ongle,
the light which is reflected from these mony individuol ports of the 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 ihis monner is perfectly correct. (Reflected Light Meosurement,
see qlso poge 5.)
Anything unusuol which you - os ottentive (!) observer - will eosily notice, moy not be
"seen" by the LUNASIX in quite the some monner. lf the scene includes o lorge very brighi
oreq - for from the "overoge" ihot the LUNASIX would normolly colculote with -  it will

B

www.butkus.us

 indicote o shorter exposure time thon it would for o lorge very dork oreo- But you wont to
see the very light, or very dork oreo in the finished picture ogoin os "very lighi" or "very
dork" - not os "grey" ! Whot to do? Your [udgment hos to guide the LUNASIX:  lf there ore
 extensive very bright or very dork oreos in the scene, steer the LUNASIX owoy from them
ond toke the meosurement from ihe "overoge/' ports of the scene. Keep in mind the

Meqsuring Areq of the LUNASIX
                                                                             ''5                                                       ih .f#* "'
You con see in the viewfinder, or on the groundgloss of your cqmero exoctly whot will be
included in your picture. The LUNASIX connot orienl  itself ! Of course, you'll wont to know
whot ports of q scene ore included in q reflecled lighr meosuremenr.
The comero, wiih your help, selects its "rectongle" or "squore"; ihe LUNASIX covers o
meosuring "circle". Whotever lies outside of these voriously shoped oreos remoins unseenl
But you con eosily estimote the size of the LUNASIX meosuring oreo by comporison with
the finder or groundgloss imoge. The illusfrotions on poge l0 show the relotion for 35mm
comerqs (24x36mm) with vorious focol length lenses, ond for 21 1.x21 1a" cqmeros, when reflected
light meosurements ore mode from ihe comero position.

www.butkus.us

 The smoll meosuring oreo is o porticulor odvontoge of the LUNASIX:  lt permits very
 occurote, corefully oimed meosurements. You con moke selective reodings of vorious ports
 of o scene or subiect more eosily thon with ordinory exposure meters.
 The lively Indicotor Needle of your LUNASIX tells you very cleorly whether o scene hos
 uniform distribution of brightness or not. Thot's especiolly importont for
Close-up Meosuremenls.
Wolk up to the importont pori of the scene ond observe - with seleclor button pressed
down - how the indicotor needle behoves. lf the importont port ond its surrounding oreo
hove the some brighiness, the needle will not move. Otherwise, the needle deflection will
chonge. By following this method, you con soon tell if you hove only the imporlont port of
the scene within the meosuring oreo of your LUNASIX.

  Incident light Meqsurement (see otso pose 3)

In this meosuring method, your LUNASlX "sees" only ihe light which folls on thot port of the
scene which is focing the comero - in other words: the port which will be photogrophed.
The result of this meosurement does not consider the color or brightness of the scene iiself.
Thus, incident light meosurement is ideol for the previous exomple with extensive very
brighi or very dqrk oreos -  it will give you perfect results.

Perfect Exposure
The correct exposure for ony scene thot con be photogrophed, con be determined with the
LUNASIX! But, when is o scene "perfectly" exposed? - Thoi's not olwoys so eosy to
onswer! For the omoteur, especiolly the beginner, ihe over-oll impression is usuolly decisive.
But soon the demonds become more stringent, especiolly when results ore compored.
"Perfect Exposure" normolly meons' The brightest portions of o color tronsporency, the
dorkest portions of o block-ond-white print, should still show some detoil!
In color  fl lm - which, qs you know, requires more criticol exposure - the lighter portions ofq scene usuolly determine the exposure. Therefore, keep qn eye on such lighter oreos qnd
preferobly expose o little shorter rother thon longer, to get more brilliont colors.
In "block-ond-white" however, the shodow portions which ore to hove some detoil in the
flnished print must be given consideroiion. Therefore, wotch the dorker qreos qnd expose
q little longer rother thon too little.
Most importont: Be criticol of your resulisl Anolyze your prinis ond color ironsporencies
for possible mistqkes or errors in iudgment. Leorn from your experience: Foilures properly
onolyzed will soon leod to consisient successesl
Remember thot, when there ore extreme controsts in o scene, the fllm moy not be oble to
cope with them! Don't blqme your LUNASIXI You will hove to compromise with the
limitotions 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 Subjects". About "exposure steps" see poge 40.
However, it is eosy to give Your [UNASIX your Personol Touch by hormonizing  it with the
toleronces oI your comerq/ your fovorite film, your developing methods (or those of your
finisher). Here is how'

t2

www.butkus.us

                    The Personql Touch
Do you reolly hove io expose very criticolly every time? There ore two qnswers to this
question:
tl) On block-ond-white negotive film you will gei good negotives olmost without exception
   ond wiihout  f uss.
(2) Reversol color film is more criticql. Deviotions from correct exposure will produce trons-
   porencies thot ore either too light or too dork; you moy olso get distortion of colors.
Now, you must remember thot the qccurote exposure informoiion which your LUNASIX gives
you mqy not even be fully utilized becouse oll sorts of "toleronces" must be reckoned with:
(o) The octuol sensitivity of o fllrn moy differ from the one indicoted on the film pockoge.
(b) The octuctl speeds of your comero moy differ from the vqlues engroved on the shutter.
(c) The octuol opertures rnoy differ from those engroved on your comero f-stop scole.
(d) The film development moy not olwoys be ideniicol.
(e) In oddition, purely subIective considerotions ond mottei-s of ioste enter into the evol-
   uqtion of the flnished print or slide.  lf you nroke severol exposures of the some scene
   or subiect with vorious exposure times, you will olmost never get complete ogreement
   omong different iudges os to which negotive orwhich slide received "perfect" exposure!

                                                                                                                                      r3

www.butkus.us

 Motion colls for o short exposure to prevent o blurred imoge. (Yourcomero instruction book
 or ony good photogrophic monuol will give you informotion obout "slowest permissible
 shutter speeds" for moving obiects). Needless to soy, sports pictures demond the shortest
 exposures (.t/25stol/160o sec.) ond normol motion con be siopped with medium speeds t/6oto
      sec.) while, for still scenes, the slower speeds (r/,0 to r/a sec.) ore odequote. Of .o'iit", lzso
 for the slow speeds, you'll need o good tripod or oiher comero support to ovoid lock of
shorpness due to comero shoke.
Deplh of Field. Since, usuolly, you will wont to hove neor ond distont obiects equolly shorp
 in your pictures, you'll hove to "close down" the lens. How much? The deoth-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 but-  it colls for o longer exposure!
The conflicting demonds of moiion 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 shutier speed of o leost                                                                r/6s sec. to stop motion in q scene ond, to get
odequote depth of field, you need q lens opening of f/5.6 or smoller. With the exposure
                                                                                                                   rTuo sec., orreoding shown opposite, you would only hove the choice between using f/B with
f/5.6 with  t/ e5 sec.
Occosionolly you must moke o compromise becouse existing light conditions moy qllow
using neither the ideol f-stop nor the ideol shutter speed. On the one hond you risk subiect
motion; on the other, less depth of fleld - provided  it is importqni to you to toke thepiclure oi oll   I

The LUNASIX qs qn Aid in Good Lighting

With effective lighting you con ochieve outstonding pictures, either by dromoticolly increos-
ing or lowering controsts. But controsts should not be overdone, becouse the film moy not
be oble to cope with them. Bolonce your !ighting with rhe LUNASIX: Toke o meosuremeni
of the key light, ond then of the - weoker - generol light. Now, simply compore the two
indicotor scole reodings (f-stops ond shutter speeds ore not involved in this method): For
block-ond-white film, the difference between the two reodings should not exceed 3 steps;
for color 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 - you orronge your lights so ihot you get ideniicql meter reodings ot different
oreos of the subiect ond bockground  (if ony). This type of lighting is usuolly preferred in
color photogrophy.





t6

t



    REVIEW OF SUBJECTS-:-                                                                    '

           The "Normol" Scene
             This includes neorly everyihing thot mokes o piciure worth foking. Decisive - for exposure
           meosurement -  is the evenness in ihe disiribution of illuminotion ond brightness. - Portroit
            or Londscope - Children ond Animols - Moods or Events.
          The normol scene hos neiiher very extensive bright nor porticulorly dork oreos; bright,
            middle, ond dork oreos ore present in o bolonced mixture, with no "meosurement intrusion"
            to be expected from the surrounding oreo.

                  t8

www.butkus.us





          Meosuring q normol scene  is,
              thus, on eosy motter, which you
        con occomplish quickly ond
              surely. You con use the reflected
         or incident light meosurement
          method; successful exposure  is
              oss u red.
         The sun behind your bock re-
           duces controsl ond usuolly pro-
           duces o normol scene.

lntruding Surround ings

This cotegory includes: Girl in
o white dress ogoinst o dork
bockground White morble
stotue with o bockground of
shoded shrubbery - View of o
bright londscope seen through
o gote or window,    but olso                     -the opposite:
Chimney sweep in the snow -
Bronches, Birds, Towers ogoinst
o bright sky.

20

www.butkus.us

.           Reflected Light Meosuremenl
         The subiect is in surroundings of sirongly controsting brightness. You ore not interested
            in detoiled reproduction of the environment but, possibly, it is included in the meosure-
          ment; the obtoined reoding would result in wrong exposure for the principol subject of
t          the picture.
                  lf possible, get closer to the moin subiect ond wotch the indicotor needle of your LUNASIX.
        As soon os its fluctuotion becomes very slight, you con be sure thot the meosuring oreo
               is free of intruding surroundings.
            Incident [ight Meosuremenl
            In this cose, it's the most elegont meosuring method becouse the controst surrounding the
            principol subiect connot offect the meosurement.
           For inoccessible  subiecls, use "Light Meosurement ot Substitute Locotion" (see poge 6).

        Seoscopes
,          This includes' Seoshore - Woves ond Breokers - Ships - Beoch scenes.
           Reflected Light Meosuremenl
           usuolly leods to good exposures, but you might inodvertently meosure the bright lighi
         obove the woter, or the white sond. With people in the foreground of beqch scenes
           close-up" meosurement would be preferoble (see poge 5 ond ll).  lt is olwoys simple
           to use the

                                                                                                                                                 2l

www.butkus.us

 Incident Light Meosuremenl
 lf the subieci is inoccessible, use the substitute method of meosuring (see poge 6).
Do not use the foster shutter speeds for close-up shots of woves or breokers; otherwise,
you get the displeosing "freeze effect" which mokes the swirling woter oppeor like ice
suspended in the qir. A smoll dose of motion blur is preferoble. For slow "rollers" in the
medium distonce, the correct shutter speed lies oroundr/ro s€c., while croshing "breokers"
demond tlrzs toIlzsoSeC. Use this informotion os o guide ond goin your own experience
 in obtoining the most pleosing eftect.

Bqck Lighting
con odd dromo ond q third dimension to your pictures. Depending on the illuminotion,
obiects ore outlined with shining contours - long shodows reoch toword the comerq -
folioge shimmers - silhouettes ore creoted.
Bock lighting moy light the subiects from the most vorious ongles; becouse of this voriety,
only generol suggestions for exposure meosurements con be mode. Besides, much will
depend on your own creotive oims.
Let's ossume your scene comprises q group of bock-lighted trees, with o bright londscope
beyond. lf, on the one hond, you meosure only the dork trees (by reflected or incident
meosuring method) ond on the other hond only the bright londscope (to get o reflected
light reoding, you might iust wolk to ihe left or right of the group of trees), you will get
two extreme reodings.  lf you expose correctly for the trees, you will hove o greotly over-
exposed bockground;  if you expose correctly for the bockground londscope, the trees will

                                                                                                  23