The Gossen Luna Pro F

I love old handheld light meters. I rarely use them in my workflow, as most of my film cameras have built-in meters, but I love them just the same and will grab one when I shoot my meter-less Nikon F. I have a small collection; a couple of Westons, three Sekonics, a Minolta, a Gossen Pilot and now this Luna Pro F.

Gossen has been making light meters since the 1930s. My Luna Pro F is from the early 1980s. Most of the light meters available new today feature digital readouts. I’ve always been partial to the good old analog dial readouts. Problem is, some of the old analog light meters can be science projects to use and hard to read. I like simple…and that’s what attracted me to this meter. The Luna Pro F is powered by a 9-volt battery—the same kind you’ll find in a battery-powered smoke detector. Some of the earlier Gossen meters were powered by 1.35v Mercury batteries. The meter can take reflected, incident or flash readings.

The Luna Pro F is unique as it’s a null or zero-point measurement instrument. I have found it to be one of the easiest to use and most intuitive exposure meters I have ever tried. Here is how it works:

Decide which kind of reading you are taking. In this case, I am taking a reflected reading. To do this, move the spherical diffuser to the side. If I were taking an incident reading, the diffuser would be in the center.

Point the meter at your subject and press the power button.

The needle will move left or right.

Now turn the dial until the needle points to zero.

Then, simply look at the dial and select your choice of shutter speed and aperture.

If you want to under expose or over expose, move the dial so the needle points one under or one over or whatever you would like. There is also a scale for cameras that use the exposure value (EV) system as well as one for motion picture film. A button below the power switch allows you to take a reading off of your flash.

Yes, I know…a smartphone light meter app can do the same thing and faster…but it’s not as much fun. If you are looking for a good analog meter that’s easy to use and presents exposure information clearly, I highly recommend the Gossen Luna Pro F. Now I have to go put some film in the Nikon F.