Gossen Digisky meter.. Any good?

[Jim17x]

I have been offered a Digisky for $300 and was wondering if it's a reliable and accurate meter.. I would use it for measuring ambient light only.

 

[John Koehrer]

Do you really need that much meter?
There are quite a few out there for less than 1/2 the money that will give the same readings.

 

[Jim17x]

I definitely do not need that much meter. The price is one factor and also how thin it is, it can slip right into my back pocket. They go for almost $500 new and i was offered one for $300 brand new factory sealed in the box. I cant seem to find any reviews on it other than websites that are promoting it. Zero comments on APug about this meter.

 

[benjiboy]

I think this is overkill for what you need, I recommend you look at the simpler Gossen Digipro F 2 Dead Link Removed is very pocketable, deadly accurate, and has the ability to asses a scenes contrast by holding down the measuring button and running the meter across the scene, which is extremely useful.

 

[miha]

SNIP and has the ability to asses a scenes contrast by holding down the measuring button and running the meter across the scene, which is extremely useful.

Even my Sixtomat digital can do that. It was the cheapest Gossen model when new. Why do you believe Digisky can't measure contrast?

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Do you really need that much meter?
There are quite a few out there for less than 1/2 the money that will give the same readings.

I figure,any Gossen meter is goodbut ,I never heard of this model;only familiar with Digisix,which are excellent

 

[Old-N-Feeble]

I prefer a spotmeter and chose a Sekonic L-778 for that duty. For times I need an incident meter I have an old Gossen SBC. That Digisky sure looks nice but for my purposes I just don't need something that advanced.

 

[benjiboy]

Even my Sixtomat digital can do that. It was the cheapest Gossen model when new. Why do you believe Digisky can't measure contrast?

Where did I write that "the Digisky couldn't measure contrast ?" I know it can . I also know the Sixomat can do it, I had one until last spring when I accidentally sent it for a swim in the river Taff in Cardiff and replaced it with the Digipro F2.

 

[benjiboy]

The Gossen Digisky has an inbuilt rechargeable Lithium Iron battery like a cell phone, and no provision to use ordinary replaceable ones the Gossen Digipro used 1 Alkaline AA battery that you can buy anywhere.

 

[miha]

Where did I write that "the Digisky couldn't measure contrast ?" I know it can . I also know the Sixomat can do it, I had one until last spring when I accidentally sent it for a swim in the river Taff in Cardiff and replaced it with the Digipro F2.

I thought you didn't know this as you have recommended another model and highlighted a particular feature saying it's extremely useful.

Gossen meters compared:

http://www.gossen-photo.de/pdf/GOSSEN_Katalog_Belichtungsmesser_GB.pdf

 

[resummerfield]

The Gossen Digisky has an inbuilt rechargeable Lithium Iron battery like a cell phone, and no provision to use ordinary replaceable ones the Gossen Digipro used 1 Alkaline AA battery that you can buy anywhere.

That is the only reason I would avoid that meter.

 

[John Koehrer]

At 15mm thick, how much smaller is that than a Sekonic 308? Oh, the Sekonic's 23mm. That shouldn't be a problem unless you wear skinny jeans.

Apology tendered.

 

[MattKing]

It is small, it is light, it is thin and it seems to be very sensitive (EV -2.5) and well suited to studio work as it appears to incorporate radio trigger circuitry (possibly in an accessory module).

It also offers cine functions.

If you have need for those attributes, it would probably be a good choice.

The rechargeable battery would concern me.

 

[benjiboy]

It is small, it is light, it is thin and it seems to be very sensitive (EV -2.5) and well suited to studio work as it appears to incorporate radio trigger circuitry (possibly in an accessory module).

It also offers cine functions.

If you have need for those attributes, it would probably be a good choice.

The rechargeable battery would concern me.

The radio module is built in Matt.

 

[Chan Tran]

If you like the idea then you could go ahead and buy it as the price is significantly lower that what you can get at say B&H. I would not pick that meter as it only have fancy display and computing function but as far as measurement goes it doesn't do spot metering and is quite expensive for a meter that doesn't do spot metering. It has rechargable battery which is a bad thing. Most meter batteries would last for years and being rechargable it won't last that long. The EV -2.5 isn't that impressive because it's for incident reading which generally more sensitive than reflective.

 

[nbagno]

I had one and sold it. Bought it because it was thin. IMO that's about the only thing I liked. You will need it and the battery will be dead, it's inevitable. The meter can be hard to see, that's frustrating. It's just slow enough to react to dial changes to be annoying after you get used to using it. But the real killer for me? It completely locked up 3 or 4 times, the last of which I didn't have a screwdriver to open the back cover to get to the battery. I just bought another Sekonic, bullet proof and reliable.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I have been offered a Digisky for $300 and was wondering if it's a reliable and accurate meter.. I would use it for measuring ambient light only.

I have nothing but good to say about Gossen metersand the company's customer service ,Excellent and reliable stuff even if rarely used and abused.highly recommended for accurate exposures. I have several and they all read within 0.1 EV,which s otherwise unheard of.

 

[Jim17x]

I sent an email to Gossen yesterday morning inquiring about the battery and to my surprise i received a reply this morning from Gudrun Zeller Export Area Manager. He stated that yes there are replacement batteries available. It impresses me that they would respond so fast to my general question.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Yes, it's a standard 2025 battery.I ordered a bunch online for about $1 a piece if ordered in reasonable quantity.But they last about two years.

 

[BrianShaw]

I have nothing but good to say about Gossen metersand the company's customer service ,Excellent and reliable stuff even if rarely used and abused.highly recommended for accurate exposures. I have several and they all read within 0.1 EV,which s otherwise unheard of.

Same here. Let's face it... both Gossen and Sekonic have continued in the business for a very good reason: great products and customer service.

 

[John Koehrer]

2025 is rechargeable? And Lithium?

The package I have on hand doesn't indicate either of these. It's also a 3V cell any Lithium single cell is 3.7V.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I definitely do not need that much meter. The price is one factor and also how thin it is, it can slip right into my back pocket. They go for almost $500 new and i was offered one for $300 brand new factory sealed in the box. I cant seem to find any reviews on it other than websites that are promoting it. Zero comments on APug about this meter.

I checked mine today against 'sunny16in the Florida sun;spot on at EV15