Kodalux L lightmeter (second version)

Kodak Kodalux L lightmeter and case

One of the peculiarities of the (admittedly niche) popularity of film photography and the perceived value of older film cameras in recent years (and the attendant high prices of secondhand equipment-especially when certain cameras gain a fashionable cache) is the emergence of a new class of shoe-mounted lightmeters. A decade or so ago, this might have seemed an unlikely proposition, but thanks to new manufacturing techniques, there are now a number of meters, largely deriving their design principles from the Voigtländer VC Meter I and II from the early 2000s.

For many years, I've used a hand-held Weston Master II whenever I've needed a lightmeter, although I do also use the 'sunny 16' rule relatively frequently, especially if I'm just taking snapshots when I'm not too concerned with critical accuracy in exposure. One of the features I've really appreciated about the Weston Master II is how low the ISO settings go, down to 2 ISO, useful for exposing photographic paper for paper negatives, and for the Kodak High Resolution Aerial Duplicating film, which I have been using at 2 ISO. However, when taking photographs in December, I dropped my lightmeter on the stone flags surrounding the Pole Hill obelisk on the day of the winter solstice-and it stopped working (it might simple be that the meter needle is stuck, but I have been wary so far in disassembling the Weston Master).

Kodalux L meter - showing diffuser

Looking for a new lightmeter as a consequence, I did consider the new shoe-mounted meters alluded to earlier, but searching for secondhand lightmeters online, I found the Kodak Kodalux L, and was able to pick one up pretty cheaply, around half the price of the cheaper of the new meters currently available. There are two models of the Kodalux L, with the second model being notably smaller than the first, and this made it the preferable choice.

Being a 1950s meter, the Kodalux L is powered by a selenium cell, covered with a typical honeycomb-glass. As I've written in previous posts, selenium cells do attract some negative opinions expressed online, but in my own personal experience, with numerous cameras (and the Weston Master II), I don't think I've actually encountered a non-working selenium cell, and, in general, they have been accurate enough for my preferred photographic medium, black and white negative film. The main caveat is that in low-enough light levels, selenium cells are simply not sensitive enough, but this would generally mean night photography. In addition, the design of most selenium cell meters would make them incompatible with a zone-exposure approach.

Kodalux L with case

The Kodalux L is a prime example of the precision of German manufacturing before their camera industry was supplanted by Japan: the meter measures slightly under 3cm high, including the shoe fitting, 3cm wide and 3.5cm deep. The meter is largely constructed from metal, with a plastic base, embossed with 'MADE IN GERMANY (WEST)'. My meter came with its dedicated 'ever-ready' case (approximately 4x4x5.5cm, with a couple of loops to fit to a thin strap), which has a accessory shoe fitting for use mounted in the case itself. Equally, it can be used mounted on the accessory or 'cold' shoe on a camera. Although branded Kodak (although the meter itself doesn't have the band name Kodak on it, but the case does), the Kodalux L was manufactured for Kodak by Gossen. The first model Kodalux meter is simply a rebranded Sixti; the second Kodalux appears to be a unique model, similar to the Gossen Sixtino or Pilot meter, but with significant differences. Gossen provided the lightmeters to the Kodak Retina and Retinette: the meter dials on some of these cameras appear almost identical to that of the Kodalux.

Kodalux L meter - top view

Use of the meter is simple: a white meter needle responds to light hitting the cell, and, with the correct ISO set, a milled ring or dial is turned to align a yellow pointer to the needle. One can then read the appropriate aperture/shutter speed combinations around the edge of this ring. Being familiar with manual and mechanical meters, I found it immediately instinctive to use; I did find a scan of the manual, which was useful when it came to calibrating the meter. Setting the meter, there is an inner disc, which turns with a stud, which has a window each side displaying film speed in DIN on one side and ASA (ISO) on the other. The ASA ranges from 5 to 1300, a good top film speed for its time. The ASA settings are picked out in what are largely obsolete numbers, at least at the faster end of the scale 160-320-650-1300, but these are divided with marks at thirds in between, so 400 ISO is one mark above 320 for example. Apertures run from 2 to 22; with shutter speeds from 500 down to 4 whole seconds, with whole seconds subtlety picked out in green. For its size, apertures are given in whole values, no half-settings, but one can extrapolate these. Aligning the yellow pointer to the white needle also gives a light value (LV) number in a window at the top of the disc, running from 2 to 18 in red numbers (this window is wide enough to show three readings, and, although it's easy to add or subtract 1 from the reading, this might possibly give a quick reference for over- and underexposure compensation. The meter also has a diffusing cover for incident reading, which slides from one side like a roll-top desk with a tiny metal catch.

Kodalux L showing zero setting screw

When I first got the Kodalux L, the meter did seem to be a little off in its readings. comparing it to readings from my digital camera and the readings from my Canon A-1. From the manual, there is a description of how to zero the meter. This involves completely covering the selenium cell: if correctly set, the needle should point to a blue dot at the far left of the meter window; if not, there is a small screw in the centre of the back of the meter which can be adjusted using a small screwdriver. There are other blue dots in the window, but the manual states that these are used for setting during assembly and "have no significance on exposure readings." I carefully adjusted the setting screw, and the meter now appears to read close to the other meters I have been comparing it to. I subsequently used the meter for filming 16mm (see 'Homage') and with some medium format, including in Dresden. In use, I usually keep the lightmeter inside its case, using it handheld, but, for the purposes of illustrating this post, I photographed the Kodalux L on the contemporaneous Kodak Retina IIa, an appropriately stylistic match.

Kodalux L mounted on Kodak Retina IIa

Sources/further reading:

Kodalux L manual

Kodalux light meters on Retina Rescue

Discussion of the Kodalux L on Photo.net

Forum discussion in German

Silberra S25 Limited Edition - single roll review

Silberra S25 Limited Edition

Silberra S25 is limited edition black & white photographic film. Extra fine grain, moderate contrast and high resolution of the image are the main typical qualities of S25 film. Initial batch of S25 consists of 400 rolls and, possibly, the overall quantity of the batch will be extended up to 800 rolls.

Silberra S25 perfectly suits architectural and landscape photography; due to its great photographic latitude S25 film shall perform nicely at bright scenes also preserving impressive level of detalisation through shadows without significant loss in highlights.

Silberra S25 has high sensibilization level which makes it possible to use S25 for IR-photography with corresponding IR-filter (we recommend to use filters at wavelength shorter than 725nm for optimal result).

I have previously posted a couple of 'single roll' reviews of film stocks, which came from being gifted some films I might not ordinarily have used, or might not use again, and although I prefer to work with an emulsion for a few rolls at least, to get a feel for how it might respond in different exposure situations and approaches to development, this single roll review came about through realising I might not use another roll of Silberra S25 black and white film. As the description above (from Silberra's website) states, at the lower limit, there may have only been 400 rolls of film made, or 800 in total if production was 'extended'. I wasn't aware of this at the time, if so I might have picked up more than one roll. I believe I picked it up from the Photographer's Gallery shop, before the current pandemic, with the intention of using it to photograph some text, thinking that its 25 ISO speed would mean that the grain would be fine enough for the purpose I had in mind; I didn't use it for that, but took it with me to Dresden in the Spring, and shot it with the Kiev-4 over a couple of days.

Understandably, there's not much on line about Silberra S25, and with just the one roll, I simply rated it at 25 ISO, and didn't really think that much about how I was to use the film. The film cassette is a plastic reusable one, but it is DX coded, and also has check-boxes for exposure at 12, 25, and 50 ISO, indicating that it does have sufficient latitude for this to be worth the manufacturers including on the label. Silberra's webpage has a small development chart, presumably all times listed are for box speed, although this isn't stated. I used Adox Rodinal, and the time/dilution given (at 20ºC) is for 6 minutes at 1+100. This seems a high dilution for 'standard' development, but, again thanks to having just a single roll, I used the published time and dilution. (There is also R09 listed for 30 seconds less than Rodinal, where one might have expected this to be the same: I have used both Foma's version of R09 and Compard's R09, and treated these both as any named version of Rodinal).

Kiev-4 (Helios 103 lens) and Silberra S25 film

When developed, the negatives looked relatively high in contrast, with a clear base and no edge markings whatsoever. The film dried very flat and appeared to show a small amount of 'light-piping': the film base appears to be polyester and not tri-acetate (it doesn't tear and needs cutting). Ideally, I would have made prints in the darkroom from the negatives, but the results on this post are all from scans from a desktop scanner. The scans have almost no discernible grain, and no doubt show up the limitations of the desktop scanner rather than the ultimate resolution of the film itself. I'd shot the film outside, half in bright sunny weather one afternoon, ideal for it relatively slow speed of 25, with the other half shot early on a sunny morning, which was more challenging in terms of exposure, thanks to the low angle of the sunlight creating a very wide range of contrast between brightly lit surfaces and deep shadow with little in-fill from reflected light. Some of these latter frames (as below) struggled to record shadow detail without losing detail in the highlights, which didn't quite match the assertion that "due to its great photographic latitude S25 film shall perform nicely at bright scenes also preserving impressive level of detalisation[sic] through shadows without significant loss in highlights".

Kiev-4 (Helios 103 lens) and Silberra S25 film

It would have been instructive to see how scenes lit with well-diffused light, such as on an overcast day, might have been recorded, but almost every single frame I shot with the film was sunlight and shadows. The nearest equivalent was one photograph of a sign in a gallery window, below, illuminated by light reflecting off the pavement and surrounding buildings, almost certainly the one negative with the narrowest exposure range (this, incidentally, showed that my original intention for the film–photographing text–would have been an entirely appropriate use).

Kiev-4 (Helios 103 lens) and Silberra S25 film

Not having an IR filter I was unable to verify the film's 'high sensibilization level': given the suggestion for the use of an infra-red filter, this must mean extended red sensitivity. For some frames I might have used a light yellow filter, regardless, the tonality of the sky in some frames possibly indicates a more balanced spectral sensitivity than standard panchromatic film. My general impressions are that Silberra S25 has the feel of some kind of technical film–for me, how it handled and how it responded to exposure was very reminiscent Kodak Technical Pan–with both the positives and drawbacks of that discontinued emulsion. Given the very limited production run, it would be interesting, if it was possible to quantify, how many rolls of Silberra S25 are still out there, yet to be exposed: it's still listed on the Photographer's Gallery shop online, but sold out.

Further information:

Silberra product page for S25 Limited Edition