Should I buy new or prev owned flash meter?

[houstonphotographics]

<p>Hi,<br>

Could use some advice. I need to purchase a flash and incident meter. Needs to measure both ambient and flash as I am working in the studio and outdoors and want one meter for both functions. Found a couple of private sellers that have Minolta IIIf / IVf', but not sure. Budget would be around $200 max. I know the Sekonic 308s is out there among others, but if I could save some money, that would be >most< beneficial, especially if the cost diff is around $100+ between buying used or something new. If anyone has some pros/cons, please chime in. Cheers!</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>I've had a Minolta IIIF for several years. It's okay for incident and flash metering - accurate enough, easy to use, and reliable. I wouldn't pay too much for a used one. It feels cheaply made and is a bit finicky for flash metering. If I wait too long - more than a few seconds - between setting it to meter the flash and the actual flash pop itself, I get an error message and have to try again. The battery doesn't last long, presumably due to high drain even when the flash isn't in use. There's a trick to make it last much longer - insert a thin strip of non-conductive material such as a bit of film leader between the battery and contact. When using the flash I'll tuck the strip under the battery, where it's handy. The battery will last for years this way, otherwise it's drained within a few months.</p>

[howard_m]

<p>my observation is that a lot of people buy a meter, use it a few times and put it away so many units are LNIB. My L-358 came like that. Most meters can be field re-calibrated anyway so even if it's off, it's not a big deal. And yea, take the battery out if you're not going to use it for a while and always have a spare on-hand.</p>

[nathansanborn]

<p>Back in the film days I had a Gossen Luna Pro digital meter, it was very inexpensive and got lost. But it worked fine for me when I had it.</p>

<p>I replaced it with a used Minolta Flash Meter IV, I have had great success with battery life and accuracy. It is a great meter. My only complaint would be it's fairly large.</p>

<p>I use it often, but it is not exactly necessary with the ability to chimp and read the histogram. The nice thing is it allows you to have your lights set up and ready before the model arrives, and it is much faster than the chimp method in my opinion.</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>Incidentally, since you asked about buying used, I've had good luck with used meters. My Minolta Autometer IIIF and Pentax Spotmeter V were both used and work fine. The Minolta IIIF needed some work - a few screws had worked loose inside the rotating head, so it was flopping around loose. I paid only five bucks. Easy to fix and works fine. The Pentax had a jammed battery cap with stripped coin slot, and dead battery. The store just gave it to me. I used a Dremel tool to make a new slot, replaced the battery - still works fine 10 years later, on the same battery.</p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>If I were buying from someone I knew and I knew what condition the meter was in and how it had been treated, I would buy use. I'd be a little cautious buying from a stranger. Metering by its nature is a little delicate, sensitive and subjective (even though you're trying to get an objective reading on how much light is present). If a meter is a little off or a little inconsistent, it's harder to spot from a quick inspection that say a camera where the shutter isn't working or a lense where the aperture blades aren't closing down. Then again, you're not going to know that a brand new meter is a little off unless you have another one to compare it against (a third one to break the tie when you don't know which of the two is right.)<br /><br />Beyond all of that, I would go with one of the Sekonic meters that has a Pocket Wizard built in.My current Sekonic was one of the last not to have that feature, and I really wish I had it when i'm running around having to hold the meter in one hand and the PW in the other hand.<br /><br />As far as chimping vs a meter, I prefer a meter. It gets me immediately into the right ballpark. And there have been times when what I thought looked good on the LCD didn't look at good on the computer at home. About 90 percent of the time, the reading I get from the meter is the one that turns out to be right, at least for me. The meter also lets me quickly set lighting ratios (this strobe is at f/8 and that one's at f/11).</p>

[Jochen_S]

<p>Buy used.<br>

It would be a bad idea if you were after a extremely exact Voltmeter with hands. Those buggers are abuse sensitive and one that bumped across the country in a vibrating motorcycle sidecase would be likely to be off. - Digital instruments like all flash meters I am aware of can take their share of a beating. With a used spotmeter I 'd try to check if the sight is off (as in my Soligor here where the real sensitivity is at the side of the marking) but thats easily checked if you measure around a tiny lightsource like an LED or a Maglite's bare bulb.<br>

I wouldn't rely blindfolded on any meter and burn several packs of huge sheetfilm according to its reading. - You never knoiw how much light your zoom might eat if a digital camera's ISO rating is right or your film processing is off. Do some test shots.<br>

The meters I have seem over 20 years old but still working so I wouldn't worry about them. - I have no clue what could break inside, besides alignment issues or battery compartment corrosion. If smoke residues are an issue I guess one can deal with them by adjusting the ISO.<br>

Although my flashmetering seems to be "off" somehow I still value the meter as a gauge. - Like everybody else mentioned: disconnect your meter's battery when you don't use it for days that turn weeks.</p>

[GerrySiegel]

<p>I have had my Minolta iV with the single AA cell for over twenty years and it still works well. If I had to buy now I would spring for a new Sekonic to last a lifetime. Why because the Minolta 1) it is a little complex in use and 2) the LCD is kind of faint to my eyes. But it works well,gives the readout and compares well with camera and Gossen ambientm and you can get a spot and flat disc for it...... Price would be key factor. I think they still can even be repaired. <br /> And zeroed out and adjusted as well by user. Was a popular one for a while by pros.</p>

[bebu_lamar]

<p>I bought a Minolta Flashmeter III used for $60. It was made sometime in the early 80's. It does both ambience and flash measurement. Compared to my much newer KM Flashmeter VI they are about 1/10 stops different in readings.</p>

[bob_bill]

<p> I'm with Craig, a meter gets you there faster and more accurately than chimping. The lcd is a jpeg made by the camera altering the raw. No surprise there are surprises when seen on the monitor. The incident meter tells you what light is falling on the subject, eliminating most of the guess work. Buy used? Just did. How did I test it. Against the old one before I sell it. Both dead on Sekonics. Just wanted a built in spot meter- going back 40 years to the Zone method. </p>

[ellis_vener_photography]

The huge problem with Minolta meters is that the company stopped servicing them and stocking parts for independent

repair shops when they got out of the photography business several years ago. I loved my Minolta meters (I had a series

of them: IIIF, Flash meter IV, Flash Meter V, Spotmeter F, Color Meter II, and a Color Meter IIIF. I miss the last one but I

am very happy with my Sekonic758DR.

 

Using a handheld meter absolutely tells you different things than an in camera meter, "chimping", and looking at a

histogram does. Is that extra information useful. That depends on how you use light. OThe more intricate the feel of your

lighting is the more useful it is. If all you do is point a single light in an umbrella at your sitter or subject it won't be terribly

useful over the chimping method. Once you start using a soft box and feathering the light, or using multiple lights a

handheld flash meter comes into its own.

 

Here's a link to an article on what histograms , both on and off camera, tell you: http://www.ppmag.com/web-exclusives/2007/12/what-is-a-histogram-and-how-do.html