Beginner Light Meter?

Folks

Another rookie question. I have never owned a light meter and am looking for a good beginner meter. Here is what I am hoping for:

-under 50 bucks off of eBay
-reflected and incident light meter;will be using it with my newly purchased Rolleicord IV
-mostly outdoor work, but might shoot indoor once in a blue moon
-don't have a flash with the Rolleicord
-mostly black and white film

Do I need a spot meter at this point in time?

Any ideas? I have been looking at the Luna Pro, but I hate these old battery system. Wouldn't mind a AA battery powered meter. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance for helping me get my APUG legs.

Huram

What I started with was an old Brockway meter (Sekonic rebrand). It was great. Later on I got into a few other meters, but for simplicity it was hard to beat the Sekonic incident meter.

Congratulations on getting the Rollei. I love my Rolleiflex! I have a Luna Pro and just buy what they call hearing aid batteries for it. Works great and is very accurate. IMHO using a spot meter with a roll film camera is of very limited value. Unless you had a Blad where you have 3 backs. One for normal dev, -1 and +1 devs.

The Rollei is truly magical. You will love the photos you get from it.

If you are at all serious about photgraphy, a good handheld light meter is likely to be one of the best investments in a photographic assessory you'll ever make. I would advise that you save up a little more money and get a really good one. You'll not regret it.

That said, I bought a Gossen Luna Pro Digital F a few years ago. It takes a double A battery (or two?) and is quite possibly, the first and last handheld light meter I'll ever own.

Another vote for the Luna Pro. Cheap, easy, basic and considering I have not screwed mine up it is definately fool proof.

Don't know what they go for on ebay, but the Luna Pro F I have uses the standard 9V rectangular battery, which lasts a long time. It also meters flash, and accumulates multiple flashes, and has a Zone System scale. I've had it since '82, and even left it outside in the snow and rain for a week when my young child had an emergency a couple of years ago. It's still working fine.
(I normally don't abuse my equipment like that.)

Lee

I agree with Canuck'
a sekonic incedent meter is of value to you.

I also like Gossen Luna Pro's. I have the F which is great in studio, as well as being one of the most sensitive meters available for low light and night photography.

OTOH I have always wanted the sekonic 508 (I think thats the number) flash/reflective/incidence and semi-spot.

I'll put in another recommendation for the Gossen Luna Pro F. It's quite a good workhorse.

gene

Good Evening,Huram,

Another vote for the Luna-Pro.

Konical

Good Day,
I,ll probably catch heck from the photographers with "deeper pockets" but I recently picked up a Leningrad 8 from my local thrift shop and its bang on.Tested it against my Nikon FM2 + a gray card.
I now am able to get incident light readings which really help my winter shots when using my favorite films,Tri-X and FP4.No batteries to worry about either.
A grand find at $2.00.
Mike

I'll probably catch heck too!,
I bought a Vivitar 43 for $10 and it works perfectly well. It doesn't have a flash metering capability or anything fancy, but it does reflective and incident metering and seems to be bang on.

Kent

Huram, Kent, and Mike,

Not choosing to spend on fancy gear is no indicator of the quality of work you can do with what you do have, and I, for one, won't give you any trouble for not spending big on a meter.

I recommended the Luna Pro F as a long-lived, rugged, versatile meter that you can get a battery for in just about any place imaginable, and a battery that won't go out of production, not because it's expensive or a "status" meter. Since you'd been looking at Luna Pros and had battery concerns, it seemed a natural, and a good used one would be money well spent. I haven't used the Sekonics enough to know them well enough to have an opinion. I also have a Vivitar Model 30 right beside the keyboard here that I'm converting to incident. It requires no battery, and is much lighter and smaller than the Luna Pro F, so it will travel better in a small bag or pocket for fast use with the rangefinders. Use what works for you and what you can afford, and don't bother about what anyone else thinks of what you bought, or what the budget was. You can't buy yourself into being a good photographer, but you can take excellent photos with inexpensive gear.

Have a blast with the Rolleicord. Great camera. I'd like to have one myself.

Lee

litemeter

As an alternative you could find find yourself a Soligor spot meter. Adorama sells these as a rebraned house brand. Someone has one for sale right on Photo.net for $145. I have the older non-digital version and you might find one very cheap on epay. These meters take a common 9 volt battery. Mine was converted for Zone use by Zone-VI. Even though i have a Pentax 1/21 degree it remains broken for the second time and I refuse to fix it. The Soligor has only gone down once in 20 years. Just an option.
Regards, Peter
Richard Ritter also does work on these.

I just sold my Luna Pro F which served me well for many years. I hadn't used it since I bought my Ultra-Pro, but it's still a damn fine meter.

Alright ya'll. I did my homework and setteled on the Luna Pro F. Seems like this price was resonable even though I went over my $50 budget. Don't tell my wife lest it ruin our Valentine's Day. Thanks again for all the input!

Here it is: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=3874270689&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT

Huram said:

Alright ya'll. I did my homework and setteled on the Luna Pro F. Seems like this price was resonable even though I went over my $50 budget. Don't tell my wife lest it ruin our Valentine's Day. Thanks again for all the input!

Here it is: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=3874270689&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT

Click to expand...

Good win! It looks like a very nice one and 75.00 is a great price.

modafoto said:

I vote for Sekonic L-308B II.

I bought mine for $80. And it is worth the extra $$$.

Morten

Click to expand...

Oops a little late Dr/Fr Morten