What's a good buy on a simple light meter?

[sully75]

I'd like to have a couple of light meters to leave in the bag with certain cameras. I'd like to find something that's reasonably priced (cheap) and decent. I never really find anything, which is surprising, because it seems like a light meter is more expensive than a camera with a working light meter.

I'd like to avoid selenium cells and mercury battery issues. Mostly I'd like to slip a battery into it and have it work.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!
Paul

[domaz]

Spot meter or incident? You can get Minolta Autometer's III/IV fairly cheap if your patient. Be on the lookout for a Sekonic L-488 too- they are kind of ugly and 90s looking so they don't go for much, but they are accurate meters.

[Gem Singer]

Check out the selection of pre-owned spot meters at www.KEH.com

Minolta F, or M spot meters use only one AA battery.

[sully75]

I was thinking cheap reflective meter, not a spot meter.

THanks for the suggestions though!

[BetterSense]

A spot meter is the only kind of handheld reflected meter that is useful. I can guess well enough to make wide-area reflected meters useless.

[Matus Kalisky]

I guess that it may not be cheap enough, but I have made a good experience with Gossen Digisix (one of the very few items in photography I have bought new). It is a small, light and reliable light meter with digital LV display and analog dial that shows you quickly all possible shutter speed/fstop combinations. You may be able to get used one around $100. It is an incident meter with ability to meter reflected at about 30 degree angle.

[Rick Moore]

The Gossen Luna Pro SBC and Luna Pro F meters (at least the later ones of this model) use a regular 9 volt battery, are durable, and service is available if needed. I've seen them both go for under $100.

Although you said you did not want a meter with a selenium cell, I have two Weston Master V meters that I really like. Both work perfectly, and each cost $25. One even included the Invercone (for incident metering) for that price. I keep one in my bag at all times in case the battery fails in my main meter, or for when I want to do incident metering. Service for these meters is still available from Quality Light Metric in Hollywood.



--
Rick

[cdholden]

http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm

No batteries, but the bourbon consumption seems like it could incur higher costs.

[Kevin Crisp]

My personal choice for the back up meter has been the Weston Master V. Buy it for $10 with a dead cell on the auction site, have Quality Light Metric replace the cell and calibrate it and you're in business for years. I've zoned mine with stickers although the existing dial is kind of a zone dial anyway. The Inver-cone attachment makes it an incident meter. But you don't like selenium meters.

The Luna Pro was the pro journalist's tool for decades, they are readily available used. After a calibration they don't need mercury batteries.

Some of the digital Gossen models use standard 9 volt (radio type) rectangular batteries and that might do it. The current tiny little Gossen digital meter (digi-six or something like that) used lithium cells and is quite accurate and reads reflected and incident light. It weighs a couple ounces.

There are lots of choices.

[Paul Kierstead]

I'm quite fond of my digisix, though they aren't dirt cheap and don't seem to come up used often enough.

[Sirius Glass]

I got a Gossen Luna Pro SBC at KEH for around $100. Figure out what you want and then go look there.

Steve

[dh003i]

anyone have any recommendations for a hot-shoe flash + incident/reflected meter that would look like it belongs on a 4x5 rangefinder, like the Voightlander VC II (http://www.cameraquest.com/voivcmet2.htm)? The Gossen Digiflash (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/278209-REG/Gossen_GO_4007_DigiFlash_Digital_Incident_.html#features) does incident, reflected, and flash metering, but doesn't fit in well with the 4x5 rangefinder look.

[Frank Petronio]

Get an old LeicaMeter ;-)

(The VC shoe mount meter is the best shoe mount or get the DigiFlash and wear as a necklace.)

Seriously the old Weston Vs are great if you send them to Quality Light Metric, as are the original Gossen LunaPros if you covert the battery.

The last Minolta AutoMeter IVF that used AA batteries is probably the best modern meter.

I never was smart enough to figure out those Sekonics.

In a lot of ways I think a digital camera is the ultimate meter.

[John Koehrer]

A spot meter is the only kind of handheld reflected meter that is useful. I can guess well enough to make wide-area reflected meters useless.


Gosh I better toss my Digiflash.

[BetterSense]

Don't toss something that works for you. I just know from experience, that any reading I take with a wide-area reflected meter, I'm going to ignore or add mental 'compensation' anyway. So I find the meter pretty redundant for anything other than a mental safety blanket.

[Heroique]

When I’m not using my preferred Pentax digital spot meter, I like the tiny Sekonic L-308s, which serves the purposes you’ve mentioned: “reflective meter,” “reasonable price,” “just put a battery in and use it – but not mercury/selenium.”

Actually, the meter does a lot for its price ($200 new; but KEH “EX” is closer to $100 or so):

— It’s both an ambient meter (reflective or incident) and flash meter (w/ sliding lumisphere)
— Works on a single AA battery
— Very tiny. It’s 95 grams w/ battery. It fits in my shirt pocket
— Ambient meter has 40 degree field of vision
— Light sensitivity: 0 EV to 19.9 EV
— ISO setting from ISO 3 to ISO 8000 in 1/3 steps
— Shutter speed priority (after initial measurement, one may click through shutter speed/aperture combinations, in 1/3, 1/2, or full stops)

BTW, in one spectacular moment of clumsiness, I dropped it off a cliff, watched it bounce among granite boulders, then found it the next day. It still works fine.

;)

[sully75]

Thanks everyone, very helpful.

Two questions
1) So the battery conversions work? I kinda thought mercury batteries had properties that couldn't be duplicated in alkaline batteries...please educate me.

2) How much does it cost to have a meter rebuilt at Quality Light Metric?

Oh 3rd question, Frank, any tips on using a digital camera for a meter?

Thanks!
Paul

[Frank Petronio]

Quality Light Metric cost me $65 I think, that was for recalibration and cleaning up a Weston V which doesn't use batteries. Gossen and others sell a conversion kit for using modern batteries in the old Luna Pro, I had one and it worked well (and I like the build quality of the older Gossens although I used to use a Luna Pro F for commercial work and even though it was plastic, it never failed me and was as accurate as anything). The Minoltas are almost all good too and with an LCD instead of a needle they are probably more shock resistant (although LCDs die over time).

As for using a digital camera as a meter, there are numerous threads devoted to that. It would require some mental gymnastics to convert your DSLR's spot meter readings into an efficient Zone system sort of approach, but... in terms of simply getting a good exposure for actual shooting, I like setting the ISO and fstop to match the film camera and then adjusting the exposure to deliver a nice Histogram and going with the shutter speed it gives me, it works great 99% of the time.

It all comes down to how fussy you're going to be (Zone system, adjusting development) or whether you even think in terms of there even being such a philosophic concept as "proper exposure" lol.

[dh003i]

I like setting the ISO and fstop to match the film camera and then adjusting the exposure to deliver a nice Histogram and going with the shutter speed it gives me, it works great 99% of the time.

For me, I've found metering with a DSLR really easy. Frank turned me on to it when he introduced me to large format, I think. I do scene-wide metering and frame the same as I'd do with my 4x5.

The method I use: After focusing your 4x5, frame as close to an identical shot with your DSLR as possible (hover atop of or aside your 4x5):

1. In aperture priority mode, set aperture as close to 4x5 aperture as possible. For determining the 4x5 aperture, I use the focus spread rule (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/fstop.html).
2. Set DSLR ISO as close to film ISO as possible.
3. Set +/- exposure bracketing to 5 EV in +/- 1EV stops.
4. Use a zoom lens and zoom it to the equivalent focal length of your 4x5.
5. Take the 5 shots, and pick which exposure you want.
6. For the exposure that you want, note the shutter value (I also keep that shot and note the shot #). If you set your DSLR to f/22.6 and ISO to 100, and that's what your 4x5 is set to, easy peasy, just set the same shutter speed (or as close as possible) on your 4x5.

If your DSLR only goes down to ISO 100, like mine, and you're working with ISO 25, you'll need to multiply the shutter speed by 4.

Also, if you set your DSLR to f/22.6, and your using f/32 for your 4x5, multiply shutter speed by 2. If your at f/45, multiply shutter speed by 4. If your at f/64, multiple shutter speed by 8.

So lets say for the exposure I want, my DSLR says 1/32s at f/22.6 and ISO 100. If I'm using f/64 with ISO 25 film, I'd have to multiply that by 4 and then by 4 again so, 16/32s or 1/2s. Then I'd account for reciprocity failure.

This might work better for me with my 4:3 aspect ratio camera than if you use an APS-C 3:2 aspect ratio camera. 4:3 is closer to 5:4.

Here's the worksheet I use for exposures:
45199

[Kevin Crisp]

I think Quality Light Metric charged something like $55 for the rehab on the Weston V, that included a new cell. I think the recalibration on the Luna Pro was about $60 and it works great with the 626 batteries that are still available. The Luna Pro has an incident reading dome, which for me is much more useful than a wide angle reflected reading that I have to mentally adjust for many exposures. The Luna Pro is terrific at really low light, which is something the Weston is much less good for. You can extend the Weston's low light range some by a substituted reading on something white then make a compensation for that, but for really low light it is not the meter to use.

The conversion kit for the Luna Pro matches the alkaline/silver higher voltage to the mercury output, which is a little different. Enough different to apparently make a difference and reportedly the error is not linear, which is the problem. There are also the Wein cells, which are zinc/air cells like hearing aid batteries. The voltage is right and they do work but some claim very short life once activated like hearing aid batteries. I personally have only used them in a Spotmatic and I was getting almost a year out of them so take that with a grain of salt.

I haven't used a digital camera for a light meter.

[Sirius Glass]

I haven't used a digital camera for a light meter.

I do not have a digital camera, but I do and have used my Nikon F100 as a spot meter for my Hasselblads. I plan to use my Nikon F100 as a spot meter for my 4x5s. :D

Steve

[Kevin Crisp]

If I could avoid lugging around an F100 just for metering for only $55 or so, I'd avoid it. If you have it with you anyway because you are using it for shooting 35mm, makes perfect sense to me, particularly with transparency film in the film holders.

[Sirius Glass]

If I could avoid lugging around an F100 just for metering for only $55 or so, I'd avoid it. If you have it with you anyway because you are using it for shooting 35mm, makes perfect sense to me, particularly with transparency film in the film holders.

I have a Gossen Luna Lux SBC light meter. The Nikon F-100 is my spot meter.

When I am using my car, they all go for a ride. And they like fresh air and new scenery:

2 Nikons AF 35mm, one with C-41, one with Tri-X
One Hasselblad 503 CX and four lenses, one Hasselblad 903 SWC and four backs 400 C-41, 160 C-41, 400 Tri-X, 125 Plus-X
One 4x5 Pacemaker Speed Graphic and one 4x5 Model D Graflex
The right camera is always available.

The only time there is a problem :eek: is if I decide to hike and then they get in one really big argument about who should go and who should stay, who is older and who is younger, ... , "you pushed me", "you pushed me first", "he is looking at me', and my favorite, the prefect crime "he is thinking about me"!

Steve

[jp]

I kinda like my sekonic l-208 for the task. It's small, light, not much over $100. It's not ugly; a mix of modern and traditional like my camera equipment. The optional shoe mount that comes with it is sort of a gimmick in terms of fit, but it's an otherwise well built little meter.

It uses a lithium button cell, but it's an inexpensive common one that should last for years and are widely available at electronics departments of superstores or electronics retailers.

[imagedowser]

Just so everyone knows, I called Quality Light Meter last week with a very clean Weston in my hand... the current price for a new cell and calibration is $79. and change plus shipping. The company that made them went belly up in Jan/Feb this year and the company that bought them out responded to me, but no dice on buying a cell direct to change myself.... but youz guys are right, damn good meter... I'll prob. regret not springing for it. Would have been a total of $120.+...

[dh003i]

For me, I've decided to just go with the incident light meter that comes with the Alien Bees Cyber Command transmitter (http://www.alienbees.com/cc.html) (which can also control AB, WL, or Einstein power-levels). It can be used for flash metering and metering ambient light, although it does not automatically compute the % of ambient light.