Light Meters ....

[Novaman]

As a newbie , I am concidering the purchase of a light meter... there are various Sekonic models and then there is the Minolta Auto Meter IV ...I don't want to invest a ton of money if I don't get the use out of it ..so I am seeing the Minolta on ebay alot cheaper than the Sekonic models ...are the Minolta meters worth looking at ..or should I spend the extra for a Sekonic model ??

 

[KmH]

Camera light meters can only measure reflected light.

It is often advantagous to meter both incident and strobed light with a hand-held, indicating posts #2 and #3 are made by someone ill-informed and likely inexperienced.

As long as the Minolta can do the type of metering you want to do, go for it. You can also find the digital Sekonic L-308s at reasonable used prices.

 

[dxqcanada2 1]

Minolta light meters were some of the best flash meters ... most studio photographers that I new used one.
The Sekonic users that I knew were ambient light shooters, so they didn't need the flash metering part.

eBay pricing is a reflection of the current value based on demand and availability ... so there are probably many photographers that are getting rid of their stuff and saturating eBay with Minoltas.

 

[D-B-J]

I want one too. So i'm gonna chill and listen if that's ok.

Regards,
Jake

 

[tirediron]

I have two meters an old Luna Pro F analogue meter and a Minolta Flash V; both are excellent meters. The Luna does incident, flash and reflected metering very well. The Minoltas however will probably do far more than you could ever want. As mentioned, flash, ambient and reflected metering, remote flash triggering, memories, optional spot metering and incident domes... If you can grab one of those, I would definitely go for it!

 

[dxqcanada2 1]

I think posts 2 and 3 were deleted.

 

[djacobox372]

Reflected light meters won't really give you anything you don't already have with your camera meter.

A incident light meter might be useful.

I personally only use a light meter when using a camera that doesn't have one.