Handheld Meter Recommendations

[eric_reid]

I know this topic has been discussed somewhat (usually w/re to non-metered Ms), but what are your opinions on getting a good meter and learning to use it as part of building a better technical foundation? In addition to shooting lots of film, I'd like to do whatever's possible to increase technical proficiency so that it approaches "second nature" and allows more creative possiblities with less pure luck involved! In your opinion, would learning a handheld meter help build skills for someone with a M6TTL?

 

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If so, what do you recommend. I'd like to only buy once - so I wouldn't mind spending (a bit) more to get a meter that would serve most common purposes. What do you think of the Gossen Luna-Pro analog vs. digital models?

 

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As always, thanks for the advice!

[furcafe]

I have a 5-year old Gossen Luna-Pro F (which I don't believe has

changed in design very much) & it's a fine meter (I also prefer the

analog readout). The only downside, other than its chunky

proportions, is that you have to point the top of the meter towards

the light source to take incident readings (rather than having the

incident dome on the front like the Sekonics).

[jackflesher]

IMO, learning how to use a hh meter will definately build skills with

the M6TTL. Using the meter in the M6 is just like using a wider-than-

normal spot meter, so I would suggest getting a spot meter and learn

how to use it -- and IMO the one to get is the Pentax digital. Having

the ability to take incident readings is also valuable, but not

always practical in many situations, as the meter needs to be in the

same light the subject is in. The spot meter on the other hand can

work from a mile away -- you just need to know how to use it and

interpret its readings.

[ralph_barker]

I've had a bunch of meters starting with the Weston Master V, several

Gossens, but my favorite is the Sekonic L-508, 1°-5° zoom spot plus

incident, both ambient and flash. The tighter spot will let you read

multiple small areas, and then interpret that to the exposure you want

to set to record the most from the scene. I use a simplified Zone

system with the spot readings, assuming normal development of the 35mm

film.

 

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Working with both the hand-held spot and the meter in the M6 TTL will

allow you to gain a better understanding of how best to use the M6

meter on its own, and when not to.

[Aoresteen]

I've used handheld meters since 1975. The one I like best is my

Sekonic L508. It is fantastic. Once you use one you will wonder how

you did without it before. Spot meter, incident meter, flash mete

sync cord, no sync cord, it does them all. Best of all it uses one

AA battery.

[frank_horn]

Eric- I second what Chris Chen said about getting a meter that you

can hold vertically, but can point the sensor at the subject. I have

a Gossen Multi-Pro that has served me well. It also does flash.If I

had TTL metering, I think I'd meter off a gray card a lot (if I had

time). I am a big proponent of incident light metering. This Multi-

Pro has to be pointed at the subject. (Probably is why it is

discontinued) As I said in an earlier post, a good meter would be

adjustable for the speeds your camera tests out at, not what your

shutter speed dial says. I haven't heard of such a programmable

meter. If I only had $500 to spend on a camera outfit, fully $350

would go for a good hand held meter!

[nesrani]

I have a fancy incident/reflected/flash meter (Sekonic something or

other, don't ask me to go and find the model number) and I've

virtually never used it. I think the M6 meter is wonderful, you just

need to practice with it a bit. I get 99% perfect exposures with this

camera, in fact I never got such consistent results when using an SLR

with spot meter. As I've said elsewhere, shooting slide is the best

way to learn metering as there's no appeal against the results,

whereas neg exposure is always arguable to some extent, IMO.

 

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Apart from anything else, getting another variable into the process

will just slow you down and confuse you. A flashmeter has its uses,

certainly, but the M6 meter covers the majority of situations

excellently well.

[kaiblanke]

Eric,

<p>

having a non-metered M2 I use an appropriate hand-held meter, the

Gossen Sixtron. This one is a quite cheap analog meter with incident

readings and is working very well. Since I don't have a M6 to

compare, I cannot tell the difference, but using incident light

metering one sets the meter accurately and doesn't bother with

readings when shooting the same objects. However, you develop a

feeling for the different light levels of a szene which helps you

with the composition. I won't miss my incident meter now.

<p>

That said I get about the same numbers of mismetered shots as with

built-in meters. But everytime I get slides back I know it was

definitely me who did something wrong and don't blame it on the

camera. And since it is me who made the fault, I sometimes even learn

from it.

<p>

If I were you I'd get a fairly cheap incident / reflective light

meter (something analog about us$ 50) and start working with it, then

you'll see best if you like it or not. If not, you didn't spend a

fortune, if yes, it didn't cost you too much and analog meters aren't

that bad; in fact I prefer a needle over those flickering displays in

tricky szenes.

<p>

Kai

[raymond_tai]

Which type of meter you should get depends on the usage. If you are

into studio work then a model with flash metering will be important.

Then you should decide whether a simple incident meter will be enough

or a more precise spot meter. I have been using the same Minolta

Spotmeter F for over ten years and recently bought the Sekonic L-308

incident meter for traveling. The Sekonic L-508 seems to have

everything and the new L-608 is more of the same but has digital read

out at the viewfinder. If I need a new meter right now I would go

for the Sekonic L-408. It is a small incident meter with digital

readout and a 5 degree spotmeter built-in and it will take flash

readings.

 

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To really appreciate your new meter, you should learn to use the

sunny 16 rule and guess-timate exposure. Relying blindly on any

meter is not wise.

[richard_ilomaki7]

Eric:

 

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Handlheld meter or built-in, the real trick is to carry a small-3x5in

neutral gray card on your key chain and take reflected readings off

that when held in the same light as the subject.

 

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Go to a plumbing supply shop and look at their samples of Formica

counter tops or a furniture store for the same stuff and pick a light-

mid grey sample coupon and they may give you one from an old bunch.

It likley has a hole in it already as they are on chains.

 

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This is a standard reference for all your shots. In B&W it gives you

a standard reflectance and with colour it gives you a standard gray

for correct colour balancing.

 

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In colour neg work, take a shot of the card at the beginning of each

different sequence of shots under different lighting and the final

print filtration can be adujsted to give you the correct grey, then

everything else will fall into place. Slides really can't benefit as

much from this unless you do your own processing and printing. Most

pro labs will however adjust the colour to your preference and if you

show them the grey card, thay can make Cibachrome or Frontier prints

to match.

 

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This comes from the late Bob Mitchell, a real wizard at B&W and colour

printing who helped develop some of the most useful devices for

standardizing amateur printing and photography.

 

Any of the meters mentioned will be great with this technique.

 

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cheers

[mike dixon]

I'm a satisfied Sekonic 408 user. It's tough and weatherproof, and it

uses a single AA battery. I sometimes wish I had the zoom spot meter

of the 508, but considering the difference in cost and size, I'm in no

hurry to upgrade.

[andy_piper2]

I use a Sekonic L318B. It is the size of deck of playing cards, and has

a large digital readout, but also a small 1/2 stop analog bar scale

across the bottom of the LCD - in case you prefer that. It comes with

incident dome and reflected (4o degree) tips, and as a separate

accessory a 5 degree spot eyepiece 'telescope'. Runs off a single AA

battery. I've found it to be excellent, pocketable, and a life-saver

with my unmetered M4-2/P bodies.

 

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It does NOT have flash capability. For that you need to move up to the

larger Sekonics or a Minolta of some kind.

 

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Definitely a hand-held INCIDENT meter is one of the most accurate ways

to measure in many situations because it is not influenced by light or

dark subjects - it's like having a gray card without having to carry

around the gray card. It's the standard for motion pictures. BUT an

incident falls down when the subject is far away and in different

light, i.e. where you can't put the meter in the same light as the

subject. It also can't handle subjects where the light IS the subject

(sunsets and some night photography).

 

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Generally I agree with all the other suggestions here. I prefer the

Sekonic over the Gossens because it has both digital and analog

readouts and because it's a tad more compact. But you'll just have to

weigh your needs - if you need flash capability, for example, or the

ultra-narrow 1-degree spot, you'll have to get something a little less

portable.

[peter_olsson]

I'm another Sekonic 408 user. I like this meter, I use the flash

function almost daily this time of the year. A flash meter is great

since it makes it much easier to use bounced flash and get the

exposure right. In practice, the 5 degree spot is tight enough for

99% of all real life picture taking. For the last % I have to take a

few steps closer to the subject.

[stefan www.randlkofer.co]

another happy 408 user!

the buttons are a bit stiff in the beginning, but you get used to it.

it is cheaper than the 508, but also thinner, which makes me carry it

in my back pocket. 5° is a bit too wide, but usually fine enough. i

smashed it around a bit, even dropped it in a puddle once, still

works perfectly. if i would get another meter i would go for the

small seconic one, i think it is called 308. it is really small, of

course no spot attachment, but it also does flash and you can get it

pretty cheaply second hand. i saw it once for GBP 70 and me stupid

didn't buy it....

[jeffpolaski]

Using a handheld meter builds your photography skills no matter what

camera you use. Personally, I prefer the analog type, since I can see

the entire dial at one glance and make decisions about aperture and

depth of field. I used a Gossen Luna Pro back in 1970, and rwecently

found a used Luna Pro S. I chose this because it has a Zone System

scale, which is useful even with 35mm photography. It turned out to

have a couple problems, so I sent it to Gossen USA and they fixed and

tuned it. Gossen stood behind their product even when it was an old,

used, second-hand purchase.

[dan_brown4]

I recommend the Gossen Luna Pro Digital F.

 

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Good low light perfromance, does flash if needed, ambient and

reflected. Uses a single AA battery. Very high quality. Compact

and slim so it fits in shirt pocket or case with each. Light weight.

To me its perfect.

[steve_wiley]

I've used the Minolta Autometer IV for the last eight years and it's

never failed me. I'm not sure why, but the Minolta is the industry

standard in commercial photography. As long as you

occasionally get it calibrated, any meter will do the job. I would

agree with Andy in getting an incident meter, being that you

already have a reflected meter built into your camera.

[bill_henick]

Hi Eric,

After doing some research I ended up with a Gossen Starlite.

Good for incident 1 and 5 degree spot as well as flash. Very easy to

use.

Can I recommend a book? I think it's called " The Zone System

for 35mm Photography". I'm not assuming that you don't already know

the information in the book, but it helped me a lot both with in -

camera and hand held meters.

[jackflesher]

FWIW: On the Sekonic 508 do-everything meter -- A friend of mine

bought one when it first came out as he thought it would be the

pentultimate solution to metering for large format. Well, he was

sorely disappointed in its spot performance, it being as much as two

and one half stops different than my trusted Pentax digital at low

light levels -- and my meter proved to provide the correct exposure.

His worked competently in the other modes, and in the spot mode at

normal daylight levels of light, however he promptly sold it.

[david_mark]

Make sure that you adjust your hand-held meter to give, in

appropriate circumstances, the same reading as the meter in your M6.

If your new meter is a spot meter this can be trickier than you

think. The best subject for meter calibration would be something

like a matt surface painted wall in very even light. Open shade on a

sunny day would probably be best, but overcast often produces very

even light. Sweep your spot meter across the surface to confirm that

there is no or little variation in surface reflectance. Then take a

reading from the center of the area that you will meter with the

Leica. Note the reading. Now meter with the M6. Note the variation

between the two readings. There will almost certainly be some

variation, and it may be substantial. Don't panic; there is nothing

wrong with either meter. I think it is possible that Leica uses a

different meter calibration standard that that used by the Japanese

meter manufacturers. Aside from that, it is often the case that even

identical meters will show a 1/3 stop variation from sample to

sample. The point is, if you are going to be switching back and

forth between the in camera meter and the HH, you want to be sure

that they will give the same reading in a given light condition.

 

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The easiest way to calibrate the HH to your M6 is to adjust the ISO

of your HH meter until it and the M6 give identical readings.

 

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Once you have done this, you can be confident that any differences

between meter readings will be due to the size of the area being

averaged. (Spot meters are averaging meters, too; they just average

a very small area, rather than the rather large area averaged by the

in-camera meter of the Leica.) You can now use your spot meter to

learn under what lighting circumstances the M6's in-camera meter will

be misled into recommending a less than ideal exposure.

[eliot]

Eric

 

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I have the Gossen Luna Pro (analog version) made in West Germany

(that gives you an idea of its vintage). This is a terrific meter,

very easy to use. It meters a conical area corresponding to about 30

degrees, or a little more than that of a 90 mm lens. I use this as a

gold standard, to calibrate my Leicameters (MR4s), which should agree

with the Gossen meter to within one-half stop or less.

 

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This is certainly not a spotmeter, but I have a plastic attachment

that converts the Gossen Luna Pro meter to allow 5 degree or 15

degree metering angle, which is not bad. Also, the Gossen meter has

a sliding white dome that converts it from reflective to incident

metering.

 

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The all purpose Sekonic meter that gives you 1-5 degrees is probably

the ultimate hand held meter, but I find this older analog meter to

be extremely reliable and well made.

[street photography by dimi]

I have a digital Minolta IVF light meter and it is perfect!

 

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<a href="http://www.photoart.gr/kioseoglou/indx.html">Street

Photography by Dimitris Kioseoglou</a>

[squareframe]

I thought the Sekonic 508 would be the perfect light meter. it is

not. the underexposure calibration issue is easily worked around, and

there are some limitations with the flash meter that I had to buy the

Minolta V flash meter to accomplish my tasks with. the biggest

problem I have had is the incident/reflective mode switch is not

always obvious and too many times I thought I was taking an incident

reading only to find I was spot-metering out into deep space or the

trees. there is a mode indicator, but I am amazed at how many times

this has tripped me up. I have almost, several times now, either

taped over the incident globe or the viewfinder eyepiece. one or the

other, but not both. for me, working with multiple cameras with

multiple metering requirements, it just doesn't work well.

[godfrey]

I use two hand held meters: a Sekonic L208 and L328. The

L208 is small and handy, analog readout like a Gossen Pilot II,

but it's more sensitive. I use it most of the time in casual picture

taking, and mostly in reflected light mode. The L328 is a more

"systems" oriented meter, primarily incident reading type with

digital readout. I use it mostly when I'm doing flash or need

sensitivity beyond the L208's range. I have the 10 degree

reflected light spotmeter for it too. Works great.

 

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My favorite meter, however, is a Gossen Luna Pro F. It has the

most intuitive analog readout, is very very sensitive, and does

both reflected and incident light metering modes. My only

complaint with it is that it's kinda bulky.

[tom_bryant]

Gossen Luna Pro.