Sekonic L-758, L-558 or L-508 ??

Hello Every senior, I'm looking for a new light meter, which have both

incident and reflective spot function. I'm planned to purchase the L-558

(because cannot find the L-508 new one now) However, I found that the new

model L-758 will be coming next month. I cannot make a decision between these

three ones. Would anyone can advise me that which one is the best choice?

 

Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

 

Regards, hajime

I'm in the market for the same kind of meter and had pretty much settled on the 558. I had no idea there was a new model on the way, what extra will the L-758 do?

bought the 508 years ago when new...love it....

I recently bought a L-558R. What a great meter. It is incredibly accurate and has enough modes to do way more than I ever need to do. I don't know about the other modes, but 558 offers several flash metering options in addition to incident and spot reflective. I don't currently use radio control but that will be a handy feature in the future. Only negative (if you can call this a negative) is that there doesn't appear to be any discounts available... everyone is selling it for the same price.

I bought a used L-508 years ago and still love it.

FWIW, I have the L-358 and the L-558 (both with the Pocket Wizard transmitters) and I am happy with both of these meters.

I just looked at an online description of the L-758. It has unique features that may or may not be needed or useful to you. They seem to help the meter better match the sensitivity of a particular digital sensor at each possible ISO setting. One can upload profiles of some kind etc from a computer to the meter. If you can wait then my guess is that the price of the L-558 can only go down (or stay the same?) when the L758 is introduced. If not then the L-558 is up to date and recommended.

Thanks for every kindly attention. Personally, I tend to L-508 because have the zoom but can't find the new one now (or 2nd hand but same price with L-558 new one) Yes, I think that the L-758 may have some extra function I don't use. So I think I will wait a moment to watch the price status.

 

Thanks, hajime

Hi:

 

I have a somewhat related ... well ...

 

I have a question that is mostly unrelated to this discussion, but many of you seem very conversant with the Sekonic 558 so I'll ask it here. I tried sending these two questions to the manufacturer but never got a reply.

 

First question - Is it possible to change the default settings on the meter. For instance, it provides measurements at f/stops of f/16 and f/22. I own a camera that has neither f/stop. It has, instead, f/18 and f/25. Can I somehow adjust the Sekonic to display and meter to those settings?

 

Second question - When I am in shutter priority mode there is both a large display and a scale showing the correct aperture setting for each shutter speed. On my Sekonic, the large display and the scale do not always agree (or disagree for that matter). For instance, sometimes the large display will indicate a f-stop of f/8 and the scale will indicate an f-stop of f/11. The range of difference is never more than one f-stop leading me to believe this isn't a fault, but a feature. I just can't figure it out.

 

Thanks,

 

Craig

The <a href="http://www.sekonic.com/support/support_10.asp">Sekonic Support & Forums </a> page should be able to answer most of your questions. They used to have Tech Support monitor the forums and answer questions.

Hello - I second (third...) the L-508. Have had it new when it first came out, based on my previous Sekonic meter experiences. Does what I need it to do flawlessly.

 

Regards,

 

Darla

Thanks, Hellar, I did post and get my answers!

 

Craig

I've owned a 508 for a while and thought it was great. It was stolen recently, and am in the position of wanting to replace it. One thing both the 558 and 758 offer over the 508 is the ability to have 9 readings in memory as opposed to 3. I'm in the habit of averaging multiple spots on order to bias exposure on my T-90, so having this on a handheld would be great. I also shoot both digital and film, so I think the 758 is going to be my choice, even though I could replace my 508 with a used one quite affordably.

 

I know this is kind of an old thread, I wonder if anyone has experience with the 758 by now?

 

 

Ken

Hi Ken,

 

I had a 508 and sold it to get a 758. I mostly wanted the LCD in the viewfinder. Overall, I don't find a huge difference between the two. I did find that both need to be calibrated.

Thanks Paul -

 

I'm curious, do you find yourself using the camera or film profile feature at all? Do you think it's useful?

 

Ken

Hajime, I'm in the market for a meter myself, and one of the big differences between 508 and 558/758 is that the 508's spot meter doesn't have a viewfinder display. In other words, while you're spot-metering, you don't know what it's metering unless you turn it and look at the main display. This is annoying if you like to move the spot-meter around an entire scene to get readings and then average in your mind.