blind Sekonic L508

[sergiob]

I have a Sekonic L508 spot meter. It is pretty good as long as there is enough light. I am having trouble with shadows because it doesn't read them, and only gives an error. Is this normal?

[dsim]

It shouldn't give an error message with low EV's but a "U". Have your tried a new battery? Next option would be to send it in to be serviced/calibrated.

[sergiob]

Actually it says Eu

[sergiob]

I'll try fresh batteries. I find this to be very annoying since I have to guess deep shadow values.

[dsim]

The "U" means the levels are too low for the spot meter. A common "feature" of the Sekonics. A solution may be to use the Incident Meter.

[Leigh]

Need a bit more info.

Are you metering shadows in broad daylight with an architectural subject, or into the mouth of a cave, or by moonlight in a graveyard?

I have an L-558 and have had no problems at all with the spot or incident functions.

- Leigh

[sergiob]

Is there a meter tha can read into deep shadows. The incident meter still leaves me with unknown unmetered areas.

[Leigh]

The "U" means the levels are too low for the spot meter. A common "feature" of the Sekonics.

ALL exposure meters have a minimum illumination limit.

That's a function of the technology, not of the manufacturer.

- Leigh

[sergiob]

I was metering a still life with a gray card to test some film. It was lit with flash and a big white umbrella. The reading on the card was f11 on some and f16 on others. It goes down to Z3 at best, and not always. Z2 is unreadable.

[dsim]

ALL exposure meters have a minimum illumination limit.

That's a function of the technology, not of the manufacturer.

- Leigh

Leigh thanks, but IMO it's also a function of the manufacturer. My 30yr old Pentax reads lower levels than my Sekonic in spot metering mode. Not to take anything away from Sekonic, I have and use two of their meters.