Minolta IV F Light Meter

I admit—I am a bit obsessed with vintage light meters. I think I have a dozen or so. Several old Westons, three or four Gossens and a couple of Sekonics. On top of the old ones, I have several light meters that are currently in production. I don’t use them all that often because most of my cameras have built-in meters. I have them because I like them and most of the vintage meters aren’t all the expensive to collect.

Minolta IV F with reflective and spot meter attachments

My recent addition to the light meter collection is a 1990s era Minolta IV F. I found this one in a local camera shop, complete with its original box, paperwork and accessories. I was aware of the IV F because, back when these meters were new, I had several pro photographer friends who shot weddings and did product photography and this Minolta was their meter of choice. They are still highly regarded today. Since I had just picked up a Nikon F2 with a meter-less prism, I mentally justified the $100 asking price for the Minolta and took it home with me.

The IV F without the accessories measures incident light—you hold the meter near your subject and point it towards the camera. The photo above shows the meter set up to read incident light with the white spherical diffuser in place. If you remove that and replace it with the black plastic disc to the right, you can take reflected meter readings—the kind the TTL meter in your camera gives you. Install the five degree spot finder and the IV F becomes a spot meter. There is also a spot viewfinder for a ten degree field of view. You can also measure flash light with or without a synch cord.

The electronics in light meters of this era are not all that sophisticated so unless it’s been abused, most of them still work just fine. I am about half way through a roll of Kodak Tri-X in my F2, trying the meter in both incident and reflected modes, comparing the readings to my iPhone app and a Sekonic L-308 Flashmate and all agree for the most part. Like many photographers, I spend most of my time taking reflected meter readings—using the TTL meter in the camera and then setting it accordingly or letting the camera make exposure decisions for me, so I am still learning the nuances of taking incident readings—but it’s fun! Photo results from this first roll coming soon.

While I like fiddling with all of the light meters in my collection, the Minolta IV F is the first one I have really bonded with in actual use. It’s lightweight, feels good in your hand, it’s easy to change settings and the display is nice and big so I don’t have to put my reading glasses on to see it. The meter takes one easy-to-find AA battery. I also like the Minolta because it reminds me of a couple of photographer friends who have long since passed. I can see why they loved this meter.

I see these meters on eBay for $75-$125 without the reflective and spot meter attachments, so my $100 purchase with everything was a good buy. If you are looking for a solid handheld meter, I recommend the Minolta IV F.