Handheld light meters?

[mark_kent2]

<p>I have been looking at buying a light meter for old medium format cameras which is accurate and fairly small and also fairly inexpensive but decent.<br>

Any recommendations?<br>

Thank you.</p>

<p>Mark</p>

[brett_rogers]

<p>Minolta made a range of excellent and reliable meters which are easily procured at reasonable prices. But it does depend on the type of metering you want to do. Spot meters are generally more expensive and also bulkier. I'm used to and comfortable with incident readings most of the time although the Minoltas, for instance, offered accessories to enable partial reflective readings as well as standard incident with the stock diffuser dome. If you're based in the US check out what KEH have to offer, they used to turn over quite a few s/h meters, likely still do.</p>

[steve_parrott]

<p>Here is the meter I use. $171 new. It is small, light, simple to use, and dead on accurate.</p>

<p>http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/93222-REG/Shepherd_Polaris_SPD100_Polaris_Digital_Meter.html</p>

 

[JosvanEekelen]

<p>Sekonic L308S Flashmate. A littel more expensive than the Polaris mentioned above.</p>

[JosvanEekelen]

<p>double post</p>

[jim_momary]

<p>If you are buying used, the most "modern" would have SPDs (silicon photo-diodes). Before that were CdS (cadmium sulfide) and before that selenium meters. I'd personally skip selenium, as they are pretty old and possibly going off accuracy. CdS meters are a bit sluggish in response to fast changing light, but still quite workable.<br>

Whatever you choose, determine that they use an easy to find battery.<br>

I have a couple of Minoltas, III and IIIF. I like them but they use a PX28 battery (4LR44) and are slightly hoggish on eating batteries.<br>

Jim</p>

[Robin Smith]

<p>I always liked the Weston Euromasters - a selenium cell, but a very large and sensitive. When I last looked a few years ago you could still get them new (?). They also happen to be beautiful. The only one I have left is an excellent Sekonic zoom spot meter, but it's functional only and gets through the batteries surprisingly quickly.</p>

[paul_loveteck]

<p>Gossen Luna-Pro or Luna-Pro F (has flash metering) or Luna-Pro SBC<br>

They were the best, and still far better than the Japanese digital stuff. You can "follow" light changes on a large very clear screen, same difference as you have between a car digital clock displaying numbers and a "real" clock with hands.<br>

They also have many accessories like spot metering and, by far, the best (100's of pages) manual telling all about the art of metering.<br>

They use std 9V batteries and are unsurpassed in quality.<br>

Do not buy Selenium meters: they are inaccurate and have a strong "memory".<br>

Do not fall for the "digital" propaganda: it was only a way for companies to reduce the cost of manufacturing, nothing to do with improving accuracy or ease of use.<br>

This being said, I know that some people prefer a car clock display using small numbers impossible to read in many cases . . .</p>

[david_henderson]

<p>What sort of meter do you want? You can get incident, spot, or wider-angle reflective and they all work differently nad have different strengths and weaknesses.</p>

[norman_valentine]

<p>Sekonic L208 cost me £70 two years ago. Very convenient to use and tiny.</p>

[baisao]

<p>I use the Sekonic L-398A and love it for incident lighting. It feels like bakelite and has been accurate and educational. I work off of EV scales quite a bit and this meter has been helpful in helping me.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.sekonic.com/products/l-398a/overview.aspx">http://www.sekonic.com/products/l-398a/overview.aspx</a></p>

<p> </p>

[craigd]

<p>I have a Minolta Spot Meter V, but I rarely take it out because it's rather bulky. It does a great job, though, when I do, and I really ought to use it more because with a spot meter you know what you're metering, whereas with a wider-angle area meter you really have no idea what it's reacting to half the time. Despite this, though the meter I usually carry is an old Gossen Scout. It's pocketable, doesn't need batteries, and so far has been quite reliable.</p>

[mark_kent2]

<p>Thank you all for the information and recommendations.<br>

I have been viewing the Sekonic range and they seem reasonable enough and easy to use and very small.<br>

The Sekonic L-208 has some good reviews.</p>

[Colin O]

<p>If you just want a not-overly-expensive basic-but-competent lightmeter for an old medium format camera, my recommendation is a Gossen Digisix:<br>

<a href="http://www.gossen-photo.de/english/foto_p_digisix.php">

http://www.gossen-photo.de/english/foto_p_digisix.php</a></p>

 

<p>As for the meters that were previously available from Minolta - when (Konica) Minolta got out of the photo business and shifted most of their assets to Sony, I believe (though I may stand corrected here) Kenko actually took over their lightmeter range:<br>

<a href="http://www.kenkoglobal.com/light_meters.html">

http://www.kenkoglobal.com/light_meters.html</a></p>

[peter_gilbert4]

<p>Pocket Spot from Metered Light</p>

<p>http://meteredlight.blogspot.com/2008/05/pocket-spot.html</p>

[sasvata__shash__chatterjee]

<p>Maybe not what you were looking for. If you are not wanting to to measure flash lighting, and have an iPhone, this might be an option to try: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pocket-light-meter/id381698089?mt=8. I did buy a Minolta Flash Meter III a while back for use with my MF film cameras, but in normal lighting this iPhone app works just fine. I believe it works down to EV100 2.0. If you compare it to another meter it allows a constant exposure correction factor. <br>

This does not have incident metering, but here's an attachment that's coming: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jamesflynn/luxi-incident-light-meter-adapter-for-iphone/posts</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>The Gossen Luna-Pro SBC is the best light meter I have ever had, bar none, but it is not small, except by comparison to medium format. It also has all kinds of attachments to extend its utility.</p><div></div>

[saintelmo21]

<p>Mark, I second the KEH recommendation. I use an old Gossen Luna Pro to go along with my 'vintage' camera collection. That, along with my trained photographer's eye ;-) gets me a couple of decent shots here and there.</p>

[Robin Smith]

<blockquote>

<p>they are inaccurate and have a strong "memory".</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Not so. They are just not so sensitive, but that is not the same thing at all. They may have a memory in theory, but I have never had that problem. If the cell is big enough then they are great and they don't need batteries. But you can't spot meter with them or attach them to a microscope etc. Sekonic L-398A has a selenium cell. People often swear by Gossen, I've had two of them and never warmed to them. They never seemed to be accurate (I duck as people start shooting...) I found I was always having to adjust them for zero.</p>

[c_watson1]

<p>Get the newest meter you can afford. Stay away from relics--Westons, old Gossens, anything that requires battery hacks. The Sekonic 308 does almost everything except spot, sold well, and because of it can be bought used. The earlier Sekonic 318 and 328 are also worth a look. All these take cheap, available-anywhere AA batteries and are tough and reliable. Keep in mind that a working meter isn't necessarily an accurate meter--my main reservation about the oldies. The new-old Sekonic 398m, though fiddly to use, is usually very accurate, except in low light-- a baked-in problem. With the cost of film workflow increasing, cheaping out on a meter is a false economy.</p>

[paul_loveteck]

<p>C Watson: Depends what you mean by "old Gossens". It certainly is not a good idea to buy a Selenium or Cds based Gossen, however the Gossen Luna-Pro or Luna-Pro F (has flash metering) or Luna-Pro SBC are the best meters ever made, not only for their construction and accuracy but for unique features like null measurement. For those who don't know: after metering, you can point your meter in different positions and immediately see what's in the correct zone metering you can accept, with no new measurement, simply look at the screen which is symmetrical around the "0", allowing to instantly see both under and over exposed areas. (No Sekonic can do this).<br>

Are they "old"? I let you decide!<br>

Although a few Sekonic are acceptable meters for beginners, they come nowhere close. It's like comparing a Chevrolet and a Ferrari.<br>

Sorry to contradict Robin, but Selenium cells do have memory and the larger they are the less accurate they are. They also deteriorate over time, specially if left exposed to light. In addition, their sensitivity and accuracy is very limited in low light. They are 1800's technology and abandoned for good reasons.</p>

[jose_angel]

<p>I have had several meters, right now on my drawer I have a L-208, L-608, Profisix SBC and another old Gossen.</p>

<p>I like the SBC so much... but reality is that I always use the L-608 for everything, except for lightweight trips where the L-208 is a wonder, it`s so small, light and perfectly accurate.</p>

<p>My SBC gives different readings to the Sekonics. It also eats batteries (that expensive 9 volts ugly ones), so I stopped using it a long time ago.</p>

<p>At the end I just use a couple of features, spot and flash metering, so for speed and accuracy I prefer a high end Sekonic. The L-208 is so small and lightweight, so is the meter I use 50% of the times (always with RF cameras).</p>

[dave_wilson1]

My trusty Minolta IIIF is going on 25 years old and hasn't missed a tick.

[JDMvW]

<p>By the way, a Gossen Luna-Pro SBC uses a standard 9-volt battery like the one in your smoke detector. They are cheap, universally available, and in mine last for a year or more.</p>

<p>I think Jose's must have been trashed before he got it.</p>

[q.g._de_bakker]

Selenium cells do not deteriorate over time when left exposed to light.<br>The only way they deteriorate is when the glass seal that protects them against the hostile environment we live in breaks.<br>And that sometimes happens because selenium cells too need leads connecting them to the electronics in the meter. The leads corrode, expand when they do, breaking the seal.<br><br>Selenium meters are slow, but don't display a memory effect. CdS meters do.<br><br>The Gossen Profisix/Luna Pro SBC is a great meter, and as JDM said runs for ages on a single battery. I liked the Lunasix F (don't know the U.S. of A. name) better. It is slightly less sensitive, and doesn't take as many attachments. But offers flash metering on-board.<br>I used both for a long time. Several of them. Several, because they too don't last for ever.<br>I switched to a Gossen Mastersix, which had the advantage of offering more modes (most of which you probably do not need, but some which you do) and replaces the sensitive microampere meter with a LCD display. Takes all the attachments the Profisix takes.<br><br>But those are big meters. My favourite meter today is the tiny Gossen Digisix and Digisix Flash. As accurate as the bigger Gossens (never a problem, by the way. Though you mustn't compare two meters - any two meters - because they will never agree 100%. The trick is to get to know your particular meter. And (!) you're personal metering style!)<br>The Digisixes have one major drawback: being small, they only offer room for two buttons, so you have to click those buttons a lot when setting the thing up. (Only one button once when using the thing). And the buttons are rather exposed, so it's easy to press them accidentally, for instance when stowed away in your bag, running down the battery in no time at all.<br><br>I've also used several other Gossen meters (including the Spotmaster - the best spotmeter around, in my opinion. But big. And that one does have an unhealthy appetite for batteries. Goes through them as if they were nothing.) and never found one that wasn't good. But any meter made by Minolta or (relatively modern) Sekonic is equally good. Just have a look at the specs of the many meters available and select the one that fits your needs best, knowing that as long as the thing is made by Gossen, Minolta or Sekonic, they will be decent and accurate meters.