Choosing a Light Meter in the Year 2009

<p>I am interested in the various members opinions here on PN as regards to choosing a stand alone light meter to use with the following cameras..A Pentax MX 35mm film camera ( I own), a Pentax 67II 120 film camera (I hope to own by June), and a Pentax K10D digital camera (I own)..I have never owned a light meter separate from the camera..My primary intended use will be to use a light meter to obtain better photographs (more consistent results) of indoor and outdoor subjects using the two film cameras when loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400 ISO film..I do not know if there is any advantage to using a separate light meter with the K10D, but I thought I would put it in the question just for the hell of it..</p>

<p>I am interested in light meters costing less than $250.00, new or used..If one could give their reasons for suggesting a particular meter it would be appreciated..Ease of use and easily obtainable batteries that do not require fancy machinations to get an older meter to work with modern batteries are also considerations..</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for responding..</p>

<p>You could probably just use the K10D as your meter for all the cameras, but presumably you want the stand-alone meter so you don't have to carry around multiple bodies.<br>

I use a Sekonic L-508 with my Mamiya RB67, but even used this is outside of your stated price range (by about $60, based on current prices at KEH). However, it is weather resistant and has all the functionality you could ask for for years to come. It is powered by a single AA battery, and has a memory function so you can average two readings (in this case your K10D would be a win, since it's meter undoubtedly provides averaging over the entire sensor, while the L-508 is going to give you spot and incident readings only. I cannot recommend the L-508 highly enough.<br>

I also have a Gossen DigiSix, which is a wonderful little meter that fits in the palm of your hand (or can mount in your camera's hot-shoe) and also offers incident or reflective metering. It is powered by a CR2032 battery, which are readily available at the drug store. In addition to the ambient metering it includes a count-down timer / alarm and a thermometer. These can be had for around $125 new, but you don't get any spot meter capability.<br>

Peace,<br>

-tree</p>

<p>I use the little Gossen Digisix (there's also a slightly more expensive version that does flash metering) because it's very small, accurate, &, like most handheld meters, takes both reflected & incident readings. I also use & collect mostly unmetered cameras. Sekonic has an equivalent model(s) to the Digisix & many people prefer their meters over the Gossens because of the different user interface/ergonomics, etc.</p>

<p>I am new to the world of light meters myself. I recently purchased a Gossen Digisix, and I am having really good results with it. It can act as a reflective meter or an ambient meter, has a digital readout coupled with an analog wheel. When you meter, you get an EV number on the digital display, you then use the analog wheels to convert this aperture and shutter speed. It sounds more cumbersome than it is, in practice you hit the button, rotate the ring to whatever number you get, and then read off your range of f stop and aperture values. <br>

I picked up the Digisix because I needed something:<br>

small - most of the time I carry it in my pocket in the included zipper case, when I'm using it I hang it from the lanyard around my neck. Very handy. <br>

has temperature and timer functions - I shoot polaroids and these two functions are very useful to me. <br>

Reflective or ambient - once again, matched the type of shooting I do. <br>

Uses a readily available CR2032 lithium battery, about $3 at my local store. <br>

Relatively inexpensive - it's one of the less expensive (new) meters</p>

<p>I have not had the battery draining issues others have reported, although I do keep a spare battery in my camera bag (I keep a spare of every type of battery I need in my bag). It does have a plastic feel, but seems sufficiently rugged for what I'm using it for. <br>

The downsides:<br>

no flash metering - wasn't an issue for me, I'll probably buy a larger studio type meter for flash exposures if/when I need it. <br>

May have an issue in very low light levels - once again, not a big issue to me. The display could be backlit though.<br>

hot-shoe adapter is sold seperately, costs around $15. It's so small you'd think they'd have thrown this piece of plastic in the box!<br>

ISO setting can be a bit tedious - you have to step through the full range to change, and you can only go up. 99% of the time I'm shooting ISO 400 B&W film so that's not a problem for me, if you change film speed often it could get tedious. (I don't use it with my digital camera, I change the ISO on that more often, and use it for my color work)<br>

Buttons are easy to bump accidentally - not a big deal other than you may pull it out of your pocket and find it displaying the time, requiring a couple of button presses to fix. <br>

That's what I have and why I purchased it. If your type of shooting matches mine (90% outdoors in sunlight, need something light/compact, etc) I'd heartily recommend it. If you're hard on your gear or you need flash functions, you might want to step up to a more full featured, larger, unit. I've read that the Digiflash (version of the Digisix that includes flash functionality) has issues under fluorescent lights, just so you know. </p>

<p>I think the only way you can really know for sure what you are doing is to learn to use a spot meter. Otherwise you are required to judge from experience how close to right any given light meter is depending on the overall balance of bright and dark elements in a scene. It might however be easier to develop the experience to use an averaging meter than learn to use a spot meter. Personally I would feel very hampered without my Pentax 1º spot meter. If I had to buy another I would get a used analog variety off ebay for less than your budget.</p>

Spot metering is only really needed for the Zone system, which you can't fully implement with rollfilm and 35mm. After all, what good does knowing the brightness range of your subject do you, unless you can adjust your film contrast to suit?<p><p>

A good incident light meter will give you the best all-round results without getting too hung-up about the entire process of light-metering. Personally, I like the Quantum calculite -X or XP. The meter is accurate, very sensitive, compact in size, takes cheap A76 cells, has a long battery life and holds a meter reading indefinitely. Also unfortunately no longer made, but occasionally available second hand.<p><p>

The Minolta Autometer series are good too, but more bulky and they eat through PX28 batteries in no time.<p><p>

The prices of new meters are just silly. When you can get a complete camera with perfectly good TTL metering for less than a separate meter (and in some cases in a smaller size), then something's amiss with the market.

<p>Add a vote for the Minolta Auto Meter III or III F. The latter duplicates the III and adds flash metering.</p>

<p>The III sells used anywhere from $45 - $75 on the auction site. The III F sells for $60 - 100+ routinely.</p>

<p>They work fine for me, are compact and easy to use, seem dead on and use an available 28L 6V lithium battery.</p>

<p>Many folks pass these up and I have no idea why. I've been using them since about 1988.</p>

<p>Jim M.</p>

<p><em>"Spot metering is only really needed for the Zone system, which you can't fully implement with rollfilm and 35mm. After all, what good does knowing the brightness range of your subject do you, unless you can adjust your film contrast to suit?"</em><br>

<em></em><br>

This isn't right. You can reduce the brightness range with grads or a polariser depending on the location and nature of the brightest objects. You can use fill flash to lighten the shadows. You can change your composition to de-emphasize or eliminate the brightest or darkest areas. You can use another body or film back with a film type with wider dynamic range. You can decide not to make the photograph because the exposure doesn't work well. Spot metering has utility way outside the minority sport of LF/zone system combinations. </p>

<p>But if I shot Tri X all the time instead of only some of the time , would I have gone through the learning curve of spot-metering? Probably not, for the dynamic range means that you don't have to be quite so precise as you do for example with much colour slide material. And in this case avoiding spot meters gets within the OP's budget without landing him with an old and maybe beaten up example. Wide angle reflective and incident meters often come together in a package , so you get the opportunity to use them both and see what works best in different circumstances. The fact that you do indoor work and so can get to your subject to measure the light falling on it might push me in the direction of incident. The Sekonic 358 seems well regarded, though I'm sure the Gossen is also very good. <br>

I don't know your digital slr at all, but after years of using a hand-held meter for all my film work, I rarely find it necessary to use a hand-held meter with my Dslr.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>You might try the the Sekonic 398, which has been around for decades, doesn't require a battery, and is capable of reflective or incident light readings. They cost $200 new, but I found one on eBay for $60.</p>

<p>I got a new Gossen LunaPro on ebay for $30, works great but no flash, but I don't need that. It has a spot attachment that I haven't tried yet with film but it matches a Sekonic spot meter pretty closely.</p>

<p>I have a Seikonic 308 that was under $200.00. It reads reflected/incident/flash. Very small meter and runs on 1 AA battery. For incident reading you just slide on the dome. Walk up to your subject and face where you will be shooting from. Take a reading and then go back and shoot with those. If you are using filters then you have to compensate for that. If you are shooting a scenic then a spot meter would be the way to go. </p>

<p>I carry a Gossen Digisix sometimes (for a couple of old RB-67 primarily.) The biggest advantage of this model is that it's small, just a bit larger than a car key fob. However, the user interface is very awkward. It's one of these things that tries to do too much with too few buttons. Also, the battery drains after a couple of months used or not. It's not that the button cells are expensive, but that the meter won't be ready to use when you need it.</p>

<p>Now, I also almost always have a Canon A720 compact digicam always with me. It turns out that this makes for a much, much better ambient light meter than anything I've used before. This camera is already fairly small, but the SD models are even more compact and lighter.</p>

<p>The key is to download install the CHDK patch. This provides live histograms (including separted R,G,B graphs if you prefer) and configurable zebra. The zebra, specifically, is excellent for spotting potential blown highlights on narrow dynamic range films like Velvia.</p>

<p>A spot meter allows you to know exactly what amount of exposure it will take to get the shadow detail you envision. It will also tell you when a scene is beyond the contrast range of the film and you can decide if you can still make the picture work. It is too much trouble for most people to learn but it is the only way you can measure for sure what is going to happen on your film.</p>

<p>I don't agree with spot metering is only good for the Zone System. With the L-508, I can get the shadow reading, then the highlight. Then, let the meter average for the 2. Or, for B&W, use the shadow reading, then close down 2 stops. For color, use the highlight reading, then open up 2 stops. An incident meter is better for color than any normal refective one. It's a lot easier to use, too. With the incident, you don't need to be at the subject, either. If your subject is facing the sun, then aim the dome at the sun. Even if the subject is a building 100 yards away. Same if the subject is in the shade.</p>

<p>I should add that in my last post, as long as the Incident meter has the same lighting as the subject, then you don't have to be at the subject. I would rather use an incident meter, than a general handheld reflective one, anyday.</p>

<p>Hi Bruce,<br>

My favorite meter is the Pentax digital spot meter though they seem to sell for about $350 used on ebay these days.<br>

Really, if you're going to really meter accurately, a reflective meter is the meter of choice and a spot meter is really the best way to go. I can't explain here briefly how to really use the meter, but you certainly don't need to be custom processing your film to require the use of a spot meter. The zone system concepts apply to roll film and even slide film, but just in a more limited way. The spot meter will allow you to know, without doubt, how each piece of your image will expose as long as you have good control of the film development.</p>

<p>An incident meter can be helpful (I own those also) but you'll learn the most with a spot meter. And a spot meter can become an incident meter by simply aiming the meter at an 18% grey card placed in the light you want to measure.</p>

<p>If you can't afford a spot meter, and get a "wide angle" meter instead, you'll have to walk up close to your subjects to read the different parts of the image. It's ok for portraits, but kind of not practical for landscapes.</p>

<p>Last year I bought a Sekonic L758d brandnew through a reliable salesman in Hong Kong for 280 euro incl. shipping. This is a great meter as it has a built in spotmeter. Thus no need to buy expensive parts later on and as it is built in, no part that might get lost. Sinve I shoot much slides, I like to have a spotmeter.</p>

<p>I use the Sekonic L-508 and can't imagine needing another meter ever. (Although I always carry my old Gossen Super Pilot as a backup just in case)<br>

I use it in incident mode most of the time, but it comes in very handy for reflected reading also, especially if I'm in a shadow I can't get out of and the subject is in the sun.<br>

It is good to learn how to evaluate what elements in a scene might be an "average" zone 5 tone, then you can very selectively find that object in the scene and meter off that. One way to teach yourself this is to practice taking an incident reading (dome pointed at camera), then aim the spot meter at the various elements of a scene until you find one that matches the incident reading. That element is reflecting an "average" amount of light. You can teach yourself what a zone 5 looks like. And also learn what typical elements reflect zone 5 anyway - green grass for instance.</p>

<p>I purchased a Gossen Luna Star F2 back in 1995 when they cost about $350 new from a big NYC dealer. That was about $300 more than I had to spend at the time. However, after 14 years of use, I consider it to be the single best photo accessory investment that I ever made.<br>

At various times, I've used the flash meter, the Cine setting, even the 5-degree "spot" attachment for zone system purposes.<br>

It's a brilliant, versatile, and durable piece of equipment.</p>

<p>I loved my Gossen Digiflash. Accurate, lite and tiny. So lite and tiny that I lost it. So I bought another. Lost that one too. I'm debating whether I should buy a third.</p>

<p>I just got my hands on a nice older Minolta Flash Meter IV. Great meter, does everything I need and more. Comes standard with incident cone, although I also have the reflective metering attachment. It's a little bulky and large, but incident metering is much much more consistant than TTL metering.</p>

<p>Getting back into working with non-auto exposure cameras and finding my old meters were dead, degraded and/or used mercury batteries, I bought a Gossen Digisix. I've been pretty happy with it. It feels like a cheap piece of plastic, but it works well and seems adequately rugged. The user interface for setting it up is, as others have said, a bit tedious, but once set up, you just push a button and read the display; it even holds the last reading. It comes with a fitted padded case and a lanyard.<br>

Now that I've gotten more seriously into this arcane art, I've decided spot metering might be useful. So I just recently acquired a Sekonic L-508 via ePrey. I haven't really digested all the features yet, but I can't currently envision needing anything it can't do. It even does flash metering, though I seldom use flash. It also supports having two film speeds preset which I know I will occasionally find handy.<br>

I expect the Digisix with its small size will remain my choice for casual walking-around shooting.<br>

DaveT</p>

 

I've been using the Minolta Auto IV F for quite a while. Meters flash or ambient and is very easy to use. Digital readouts and a single AA battery, under $200 easily. I had a lot of choices but am happy with this one. Rick H.

<p>Thanks to all that answered..You have given me much to consider..</p>

<p>The Gossen Starlite is the all-in-one meter. I've had one for about 2 years, it will do everything - flash, spot meter (1 degree or 5), incident, footcandle meter. It can be setup for the zone system to show zone placement - too many features to describe.</p>

<p>I've had a Weston Master V, two Gossen Luna Pro's, a Soligor spot meter, Pentax digital spot meter, and a Gossen UltraPro - the Starlite is by far the best.</p>

<p>The Pentax digital spot meter has one unique feature that can be used with transparency film - and that is the IRE scale (used for television lighting). It was originally setup for tube video cameras and has a 10-step scale that compresses at the highlight end (just like film). If you read the shadow area with detail and the highlight area with detail and check where each falls on the IRE scale it will give you a really good idea of how the scene will be rendered on transparency film.</p>