Light Meter Suggestions

SoulfulRecover · Jun 21, 2018

Considering a light meter but I'm not entirely sure what I should be looking at. I'd be using it for the 4x5 and I have about a $300 budget. I'd much rather spend half that but just an idea of what I can work with. I shoot portraits, mostly ambient light but I do have strobes. Any thoughts?

tirediron · Jun 21, 2018

I love my Minolta Flash V!

MartinCrabtree · Jun 21, 2018

I'm always on a budget. I have a Weston Master III/Invercone for incident metering. For flash metering Quantum Calcuflash2. Got them both from the auction site. Had the Weston rebuilt by George Milton of Quality Light Metric and the Quantum is within half a stop of the in camera in the D90. I rarely use the Quantum due to accurate in camera meters but use the Weston often because of the incident feature.

Gary A. · Jun 21, 2018

Gary loves his Sekonic L-758dr, spot, ambient, flash and incident.

Derrel · Jun 21, 2018

The Weston Master series are ancient...and have the finest, most broad, precise analog dials ever made

erfect for use with view lenses and apertures like f/45 or f/64!! Very much the epitome of mechanical meter readouts. My Master 3 is dead now.

For flash metering, Sekonic or Minolta, used, is the way to go I think. Yes the readouts are limited, and digital, and you don't have 50 different f-stop and shutter combinations visible at one time, the way you do with the Weston Master series, but for flash metering hard to beat a Minolta or Sekonic incident flash meter. Technically what I'm speaking about are called combination meters, meaning they can do ambient and flash-pop metering,but hardly anybody uses that correct term these days and we just say flash meter but I'm really talking about a combination meter something less elaborate then like the Minolta high-end orvthe Sekonic high-end. On eBay I see decent meters going for a $95-$125 all the time, and that's all you need to spend.

cgw · Jun 21, 2018

Just avoid relics like Westons. Sekonics work for me. The little 308 is a great affordable all-rounder--ambient/reflected and flash in a deck of cards-size package. Upscale models like the 508/558/608 do spot metering as well with no clip-on doodads.

smoke665 · Jun 21, 2018

Love my 308 Sekonic Light Meter: L-308S-U Flashmate Exposure Meter - Overview It's a bare bones, no frills, meter that does a great job, as an incident meter, but the ability to take a spot reading on reflective is limited.

Vtec44 · Jun 21, 2018

I have a Sekonic L358. It's reliable and cheap. I don't believe they make them new anymore but you can get them used for around $200.

Christie Photo · Jun 21, 2018

I've used a Gossen Luna Pro for decades. I imagine you can find one for just under $100.

I remember having a conversation with a friend about 30 years ago... he was saying his new digital meter (maybe a Minolta) was accurate within 1/6 of a stop. I chuckled and "confessed" that I was up all night worrying that the job I shot the day before was off by 1/6 of a stop.

Have fun!

-Pete

tirediron · Jun 21, 2018

Gary A. said:
Gary loves his Sekonic L-758dr, spot, ambient, flash and incident.

I've got a 758 as well; I really like the fact that it has a PW trigger built in, but for straight studio work, the Minolta is my 'go-to' meter.

Jamesaz · Jun 21, 2018

I have a minolta V. It works well. One thing I like about it is that if you hold the 'read' button down and move it around it keeps reading, giving a feel for how the light is falling in the scene (or at least on the meter). Maybe other meters do this also but I don't know about that.

SoulfulRecover · Jun 21, 2018

I found a Sekonic L 308s-u locally for ~$150. Wont spot meter but it does incident, reflective and flash metering

Gary A. · Jun 21, 2018

For me. spot is pretty important.

pendennis · Jun 21, 2018

I own several, most notably a Pentax Digital Spot, modified by Zone VI. I also own two Soligor Digital Spot meters, one modified by Zone VI. I also have a Sekonic L508, and a Gossen Luna Pro SBC.

The Sekonic is a fine general purpose meter for spot, reflected, incident, and flash purposes.

Of the Gossens for general use, I recommend the Luna Pro SBC. It uses standard 9v batteries, and its Silicon Blue Cell is superior to the Cds cell it replaced on the older Luna Pro meters. The older Luna Pro's require some type of substitute for the old PX13 and 625 mercury cells. You can fit silver cells in the meters, but you need to adjust the meter for the increased voltage. There are some folks out there who can modify the Luna Pros for use of silver oxide cells, but that's a bit of an outlay.

I use the spot meters most of all when shooting medium and large format. All three of the spot meters are within 1/3 EV of each other. Close enough. The Zone VI modifications aren't of as much use to me, since I don't shoot a lot of B&W film.

cgw · Jun 22, 2018

SoulfulRecover said:
I found a Sekonic L 308s-u locally for ~$150. Wont spot meter but it does incident, reflective and flash metering

Should have mentioned that the 308 runs on cheap available-anywhere AAs. A huge advantage if you've ever tried to locate a lithium cell outside a major city.