Affordable light meter for a beginner

abruzzi · Aug 21, 2019

there are plenty of free light meter apps that use your phone's camera and it build in auto exposure system. I doubt any of the apps implement their own evaluative metering, so any of the apps on the same phone will likely calculate the same exposures.

Nonetheless, I strongly dislike using them, and find a simple handheld to be much easier to use. Last year I bought a Sekonic L-508 for $150 (used) which gave me a good incident meter as well as a 1-4 degree spot for reflective metering.

BradS · Aug 21, 2019

...another long-time happy Gossen Luna Pro SBC* owner and user.
I strongly recommend getting one that is in good condition and using it regularly.

*Note that the Luna Pro SBC are called something else in the UK - LunaSix or some such, I think.

Ces1um · Aug 21, 2019

dourbalistar said:
One vote for the Sekonic L-208 Twin Mate. Affordable, compact, pocketable meter capable of incident and reflected light readings, with an analog readout including EV scale. I think an analog readout is great for learning, since you can see all the equivalent exposure settings at a glance. Can be hotshoe mounted and uses a modern CR2032 lithium battery. ~$125 USD brand new, but can be had for much cheaper on the used market.

I have this one as well and can attest that it's a great beginner or backup light meter. If the op has their heart set on purchasing one, this certainly fits their budget and needs. That being said, I made due with a light meter app for my phone for years with acceptable results. Considering how cheap an app is why not download one and try it for a while?

AgX · Aug 21, 2019

BradS said:
*Note that the Luna Pro SBC are called something else in the UK - LunaSix or some such, I think.

The US importer was the only one to give the Gossen meters new names....

In this case it is Profisix.

Taz777 · Aug 21, 2019

Hi all, I've bought the Pocket Light Meter app. It looks like the price I paid (around 10 GBP) is for the full version with no adverts. It passes my 'readable without reading glasses' test. I'll have a play around with it over the next few days and compare it to the meter from one of my digital cameras. It's running on my old iPhone 7 just fine. I'm hoping to change my phone in the next 2-3 months when the new iPhones come out so I'm hoping I can transfer the license across to a new phone.

CMoore · Aug 21, 2019

There is that word again....... Affordable
The Sekonic 308 is small, does reflective and incident, and it does flash also..... and it is "affordable".
I am kind of "Old Fashioned" but i really do like the digital read-out on a light meter.
Good Luck

Armandillo · Aug 22, 2019

I would ditto the recommendation of the Sekonic 308. I bought mine used in 2011 and love it. I am also old school and was originally thinking of a Gossen because of the more traditional design. The guy in the store convinced me that the Sekonic was better. He definitely steered me right.

mshchem · Aug 22, 2019

I fished a old Sekonic meter out of the junk bin at a photo store, it needed a high scale slide. It worked fine, no one wanted it, I gave it to a friend. Ebay and second hand stores, garage sales.
Watch out for old mercury cell models, and look for corrosion. Make a incident reading in sunlight, it should be sunny 16 or sunny 16 and a half depending on the time etc.

I've used (have 3) Minolta IV F meters for 30 years, still made by Kenko. I prefer the made in Japan Minolta version, cost is about 100-125 £ in very nice used condition in the states. These meters have a flash meter as well as incident and reflectance, all manner of attachments all available used.

Taz777 · Aug 22, 2019

I'm not sure I understand what's going on here. I did a quick comparison of the Pocket Light Meter app against my new Fujifilm X-E3 digital camera. The light meter app running on my iPhone 7 showed a shutter speed of 1/2800s for f5.6 and ISO 400. My camera showed 1/420s for the same aperture and ISO. Is this an invalid comparison? Later on when I have time I have a few film cameras that I can compare against. The scene was an outbuilding in today's very bright sunshine here in London.

CMoore · Aug 22, 2019

Taz777 said:
I'm not sure I understand what's going on here. I did a quick comparison of the Pocket Light Meter app against my new Fujifilm X-E3 digital camera. The light meter app running on my iPhone 7 showed a shutter speed of 1/2800s for f5.6 and ISO 400. My camera showed 1/420s for the same aperture and ISO. Is this an invalid comparison? Later on when I have time I have a few film cameras that I can compare against. The scene was an outbuilding in today's very bright sunshine here in London.

What would Sunny-16 have been (approximately) ....... f/8.0 at 1/2000.?

Ste_S · Aug 22, 2019

Taz777 said:
The scene was an outbuilding in today's very bright sunshine here in London.

Given that and sunny 16 as CMoore says the app seems more accurate than the X-E3. Was the outbuilding in sunlight and not in shadow ?
I'd double check your X-E3 settings.

ozphoto · Aug 22, 2019

CMoore said:
There is that word again....... Affordable
The Sekonic 308 is small, does reflective and incident, and it does flash also..... and it is "affordable".
I am kind of "Old Fashioned" but i really do like the digital read-out on a light meter.
Good Luck

Armandillo said:
I would ditto the recommendation of the Sekonic 308. I bought mine used in 2011 and love it. I am also old school and was originally thinking of a Gossen because of the more traditional design. The guy in the store convinced me that the Sekonic was better. He definitely steered me right.

I have to put my hand up for this one too. I have one of these and they are great. Best part - they run on a AA battery, no need for odd/expensive/hard to get batteries. Mine has never let me down, and it's over 25 years old.

Taz777 · Aug 22, 2019

Ste_S said:
Given that and sunny 16 as CMoore says the app seems more accurate than the X-E3. Was the outbuilding in sunlight and not in shadow ?
I'd double check your X-E3 settings.

The sun was kind of above but slightly behind the outbuilding. So the front elevation of it, where I point my camera, would have been in shadow.

Ian Grant · Aug 22, 2019

Affordable and remarkably good is the Leningrad 4, I have a couple both less than £5, just make sure you have the diffuser with it for incident readings.

Ian

ozphoto · Aug 22, 2019

This is a bit of an upgrade on the Sunny 16 method:

http://expomat.tripod.com

I used it with my little Rollei when I went to Canberra for a 3-day break. Didn't want to be loaded down so this was an easy alternative and worked well.

John Koehrer · Aug 22, 2019

I use an old Luna-Pro F and a Spectra, The Gossen does flash, incident and reflected but I really have a better feeling
about using the Spectra. Face it I'm a Luddite Year ago I used a 308 & it was more compact and worked fine but I just didn't care for it.
I like small cars & large meters, I guess.

StepheKoontz · Aug 22, 2019

This discussion got me looking at new digital meters. I love my old Sekonic L-308B but I hate it is a shutter priority meter. Well lo and behold the new L-308x-u has both shutter and aperture priority modes in the same size and style meter. Just ordered one

blockend · Aug 22, 2019

Taz777 said:
The sun was kind of above but slightly behind the outbuilding. So the front elevation of it, where I point my camera, would have been in shadow.

You were probably metering from a different area to your Fuji. I've used the same app for a few years and found it accurate, even with slide film. However you have to know what area the app is metering for. Another part of the scene could be 5 stops different in bright, contrasty light.

Sirius Glass · Aug 22, 2019

Taz777 said:
The sun was kind of above but slightly behind the outbuilding. So the front elevation of it, where I point my camera, would have been in shadow.

Did you meter with the sky in the field of view? Do not take readings of the sky, ever. That will throw off the light reading especially with slides.

Taz777 · Aug 22, 2019

Sirius Glass said:
Did you meter with the sky in the field of view? Do not take readings of the sky, ever. That will throw off the light reading especially with slides.

I'll check again tomorrow or over the weekend. It was all done in a rush. I'll also cross-reference against two or three cameras.

foc · Aug 22, 2019

Before I had a camera with a light meter, this is what I used to learn how to calculate exposure

I soon understood that it was not the light around me that mattered but the light on the subject facing me that was important.

In other words a manual incident light meter.

George Mann · Aug 22, 2019

foc said:
Before I had a camera with a light meter, this is what I used to learn how to calculate exposure

I soon understood that it was not the light around me that mattered but the light on the subject facing me that was important.

In other words a manual incident light meter.

What happened to f/8?

RalphLambrecht · Aug 23, 2019

Taz777 said:
Any suggestions for a light meter for a beginner to get to grips with manual photography. The prices of the highly rated ones are far too expensive for me at the moment. Budget would be 100-150 GBP.

Would a used one make a more sensible purchase?

Some makes and models that I should look at would be appreciated. I plan on learning via tutorials on YouTube. My ultimate aim would be to use one with my vintage cameras to see if I can get acceptable results from them.

Gossen Digisix will fit the bill; an excellent little meter don't under estimate it due to its size.

Taz777 · Aug 23, 2019

RalphLambrecht said:
Gossen Digisix will fit the bill; an excellent little meter don't under estimate it due to its size.

This one looks good. Thanks!

Taz777 · Aug 23, 2019

Just on a general note, would a light meter benefit cameras that have their own built-in light meters? In other words, would a standalone light meter improve upon the camera's own light meter?

Affordable light meter for a beginner

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