Light Meter Suggestions

[Jac@stafford.net]

I almost bought more flash bulbs today.

The Sekonic L-358 produces flash-bulb reading IF you use the cord connection. The rise time of bulbs is too slow for flash meters otherwise. Take that advise to the bank.

*Other meters might do the same.

(aside - I just hate the printing on the l-358 because it is so faint, hard to read. Where was their head?)

[Johnny LaRue]

Sekonic L-308s; $200 new, about half that for a used one. You can meter ambient and strobe.
Very small and thin, accurate and only needs one AA battery.

[Thalmees]

Sekonic Zoom Master L-508, operated by only One(1) "AA" battery, and lasts more than you wish.
Mine is from late 90's, I aged but the L-508 did not! except from disappearing of some letterings!
I usually keep extra alkaline battery at the bottom of its case.
https://www.sekonic.com/downloads/l-508_english.pdf

[Greg]

Have and use many meters, but the one that I always come back to using is a Gossen LUNA-PRO F. Think I bought it in the 1980s, and outside of replacing the battery it has never let me down.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Choice of a light meter is far less important than how you apply it in practice.

[Alan Gales]

Choice of a light meter is far less important than how you apply it in practice.

Yep. The same applies to cameras and lenses too!

[chassis]

Sekonic L-758DR. Incident, spot and flash capability. Excellent meter. The last meter you will ever need.

There is one for sale on the Los Angeles craigslist for $300, and one for sale on the New Jersey craigslist for $295. Rarely are they offered at that price. The OP's profile doesn't provide location information; the Los Angeles CL listing says pick up only, the NJ listing says nothing about delivery options.

[Havoc]

Choice of a light meter is far less important than how you apply it in practice.

I'd say the light itself is more important but then again, who am I kidding?

[jim10219]

As a side note, I recommend the Lithium batteries for light meters and other expensive or important gear that doesn't need the batteries replaced very often or might go long periods of time without use. Primarily because they won't leak like alkaline batteries will. But also because they hold their charge longer. I recently found a 5MP digital camera in my closet with lithium batteries that were at least 15 years old and not only did they not leak, but they still held a decent amount of charge! And I'm talking about regular lithium batteries, not the rechargeable types.

Anyway, that's what I keep in my flash meters, speedlights, wireless flash syncs, auto winders, etc.