Buying a NEW light meter tomorrow

colyn · 10-26-2006

I've budgeted $300-500 for a new light meter and plan to buy tomorrow.
Any suggestions on a good incident/reflected meter?

I'm not buying used..

woodphoto · 10-26-2006

I have been usig the Sekonic L-508 for years and it never let me down. It has both spot and incedent as well as being weatherproof-which I've used on occasion.
I think the new one is the L-558R, and around $500.

colyn · 10-26-2006

KEH has a new L-558R for $499 so it would be at the top of my budget. Looks like a good meter.

BrianShaw · 10-26-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by colyn

KEH has a new L-558R for $499 so it would be at the top of my budget. Looks like a good meter.

That is a really nice meter with more functionality than one can imagine -- spot reflected, incident, flash (corded and not), multiple flash; it will also do averaging of spot and incident measures. The radio feature is indispensible when using PocketWizard system. Only drawback is the inability to do a 30 degree reflected metering. The only reflective metering is the one-degree spot... which is great for large-format work but not the quickest metering technique for other applications.

One interesting thing is the price. No matter how much I searched I could not beat the $499 price. There's a guy on eBay (Hong Kong, I think) that offers at a slightly lower price, but I wasn't too sure of his deal.

E_Aiken · 10-26-2006

I've got an L558R and a little Sekonic incident meter. The 558 is amazingly powerful, but it's a real bruiser to carry around - the little incident meter works perfectly for my rangefinder shooting and is much easier to pack in my tiny Leica kit satchel.

Harry Lime · 10-26-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by colyn

I've budgeted $300-500 for a new light meter and plan to buy tomorrow.
Any suggestions on a good incident/reflected meter?

I'm not buying used..

Sekonic L-308S
Small, very rugged, splash proof and relatively cheap (about $150).
Incident and reflective. Clip on flat dome to measure light ratios.
Support for flash metering.
Awesome meter, lots of bang for your buck

Sekonic L-508C
Spot and incident. Does everything but make coffee. My only complaint is that
there is no readout in the spot-meter viewfinder. Not a deal breaker and
newer models (600 series?)have added that feature.
(The 'C' model is geared towards cinematography.)

woodphoto · 10-26-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

Sekonic L-308S
Small, very rugged, splash proof and relatively cheap (about $150).
Incident and reflective. Clip on flat dome to measure light ratios.
Support for flash metering.
Awesome meter, lots of bang for your buck

Sekonic L-508C
Spot and incident. Does everything but make coffee. My only complaint is that
there is no readout in the spot-meter viewfinder. Not a deal breaker and
newer models (600 series?)have added that feature.
(The 'C' model is geared towards cinematography.)

The 308s is at adorama for only $189.....

Kyle · 10-26-2006

Love my 308s, it does everything I need it to do!

Terao · 10-27-2006

To step away from the Sekonic love-in

I'd recommend the Gossen Starlite. Smaller than the Sekonics and also includes a zone system mode which I find more intuitive to use than a standard meter.

http://www.gossen-photo.de/english/foto_produkte.html

ghost · 10-27-2006

more love for the sekonixxx.

rover · 10-27-2006

$500 is a whole bunch of $$$ for a light meter. Do you really need a $500 meter?

colyn · 10-27-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by rover

$500 is a whole bunch of $$$ for a light meter. Do you really need a $500 meter?

$500 is the max I plan to spend. In reality more like $300 was what I was thinking.

sbug · 10-27-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by colyn

$500 is the max I plan to spend. In reality more like $300 was what I was thinking.

Wow, either number is much higher than I would budget. I spent $160 yesterday on a Gossen Digisix. It will do all I need but perhaps not all you need.

Nando · 10-27-2006

I took a class on using the Zone-System. We used Pentaxes in the class - both the old ones and the newer digital ones. So I started looking for a nice digital 1-5 degree spot-meter. I wanted a Pentax Digital but I found that even used ones went for over $300 sometimes if they were in great condition. I bought a new Sekonic L-558 with a combined Incident/Spot Meter for $350 USD from HKSupplies on e-Bay. Unlike the R version found in here, it doesn't come with that wireless radio module but you can add it on later, I think. I don't need that feature and I didn't want to pay a premium for it so the regular L-558 is perfect. I only had it for about three weeks but it works very well and I enjoy using it. Despite taking the class on the zone-system, I'm using the incident meter more than the spot meter. I'm glad that I got this one instead of a dedicated spot-meter because of that reason. The light meter arrived in Canada very quickly. Here's a link. When I bought it, he had 30 available I believe. Now he's down to nine.
ebay link

I have no association with the seller except for having a good buying experience with him.

richard_l · 10-27-2006

Colyn, unless you really need a spot, the Sekonic L-308 is excellent. The Gossens are accurate too, but the one I had used an expensive battery; it was hard to read the exposure parameters; and it kept getting knocked out of the default mode. Moreover, it did not turn off, so battery life was rather limited unless you kept it inside a lightproof pouch.

Richard

colyn · 10-27-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by richard_l

Colyn, unless you really need a spot, the Sekonic L-308 is excellent. The Gossens are accurate too, but the one I had used an expensive battery; it was hard to read the exposure parameters; and it kept getting knocked out of the default mode. Moreover, it did not turn off, so battery life was rather limited unless you kept it inside a lightproof pouch.

Richard

This one of the options I have been looking at.

Flyfisher Tom · 10-27-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

Sekonic L-308S
Small, very rugged, splash proof and relatively cheap (about $150).
Incident and reflective. Clip on flat dome to measure light ratios.
Support for flash metering.
Awesome meter, lots of bang for your buck

I agree with Harry, the Sekonic L-308S is an incredible meter for the price, has auto-power off, and takes regular AA batteries.

stephen_lumsden · 10-27-2006

Hi

I have a 308s also and its good if you do not require spot metering and small enough to hang around you neck without noticing.

rgds

Stephen

colyn · 10-27-2006

Update to my original post.
I picked up a Sekonic Flash master L-358 meter today. It actually fell below my $300 price and does both flash and ambient light measurement.
What sold me was the large easy to read readout.

Bryce · 10-27-2006

A bit late I guess, but I bought a used Gossen Luna Star F for $200 and have never been sorry. It functions as an area,5 degree spot, or incident meter as well as a flash meter in any mode. It even calculates fill ratio, and uses standard 9 volt batteries.
No idea what it would cost new; I bought it after a long and frustrating look at other models; when I saw it and tried it, it was an instant sale. One of the best investments in equipment I've made.

FrankS · 10-27-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryce

A bit late I guess, but I bought a used Gossen Luna Star F for $200 and have never been sorry. It functions as an area,5 degree spot, or incident meter as well as a flash meter in any mode. It even calculates fill ratio, and uses standard 9 volt batteries.
No idea what it would cost new; I bought it after a long and frustrating look at other models; when I saw it and tried it, it was an instant sale. One of the best investments in equipment I've made.

I wish these meters were at least 20% smaller.

I had one of these, still do actually, but after a walk in the woods one day, I left it on the car roof while I drove away. I saw it falling in the rearview mirror and bouncing several times on the road. I stopped to pick up the peices. It still reads light but the whole main dial is broken off.

Bryce · 10-27-2006

Frank-
That's tragic. You should post that in the "ultimate sacrifice" thread.
Gossen's lineup is so confusing... My meter is a digital model.

egpj · 10-27-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by colyn

Update to my original post.
I picked up a Sekonic Flash master L-358 meter today. It actually fell below my $300 price and does both flash and ambient light measurement.
What sold me was the large easy to read readout.

I think you will like the 358. I bought that one recently to try and make my kit a little more compact (was using an L558). It fits nicely in a L2 Alice and leaves a good amount of room to spare.

colyn · 10-27-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by egpj

I think you will like the 358. I bought that one recently to try and make my kit a little more compact (was using an L558). It fits nicely in a L2 Alice and leaves a good amount of room to spare.

The size was also a selling point since it will go in my Leica bag.

ZeissFan · 10-27-2006

I use two light meters -- each about 50% of the time.

The first is the Sekonic L-508. A great meter, very accurate, very versatile and somewhat expensive when I first bought it.

The other is an older Zeiss Ikon Ikophot T. It takes a 9-volt battery. It uses the CdS cell, and it offers reflective and incident metering. It also is very accurate, and I've been pleased with the results. The Ikophot T is actually my everyday meter, because the Sekonic is too large to tote with my backpack.

But buying a good, reliable meter is a wise investment. Think of it as a long-term purchase with the goal of not having to replace it within your lifetime.

Don't bandaid your purchase -- that is, buy "almost" what you want, because it won't meet your needs and then you'll eventually end up buying the meter you really wanted. That's a waste of money. This applies to most things in photography ... and sometimes in life too.