Gossen doesn't make that many exposure meters any more

[RalphLambrecht]

Gossen seems not making high end exposure meters any more. They only have a few models now. B&H sells the Mavo spot and the Mavolux but those are light meter and not exposure meter as they don't display in f/stop, shutter speed or EV.

Maybe it's because Gossen meter are build well and last a long time. My Lunastars are all 40+ years old and still work as well as they ever did. The last meter I bought was a Sekonic andthat only because I wanted the feature of being able to analyze the flash duration more closely.

 

[loccdor]

The used market of fully functional meters is killing, making it difficult, to sell new meters

The solution that has been tried for this for other markets was a program to buy back the old, still useful product significantly above market rate, fill it with concrete as to make it unusable. It helps if you say the old product was damaging everyone's lives in some way. Then the newly made products sell in greater numbers and at higher prices.

My Gossen Digisix from 2010 is still going, fits in a shirt pocket, very handy. Sometimes the battery contact gets a little loose and I have to reseat it. Thin plastic, wouldn't want to drop it, but never have. I recently acquired a Minolta Spotmeter which is a bit bigger and more featureful. I also have a Gossen Lunasix that doesn't see much use as its both bigger than and lesser-featured than the Digisix, although it does take a more common battery and could handle more abuse.

 

[Chan Tran]

Maybe it's because Gossen meter are build well and last a long time. My Lunastars are all 40+ years old and still work as well as they ever did. The last meter I bought was a Sekonic andthat only because I wanted the feature of being able to analyze the flash duration more closely.

Sekonic, Minolta meters last as long as Gossen. The fact that Gossen doesn't make that many meters because the market is too small now. Kenko already got out of the business altogether. Yet Gossen still make luminance and illuminance meters like Konica Minolta still do today. However, there is a market for small, hot shoe meter like the Reveni.

 

[mshchem]

The solution that has been tried for this for other markets was a program to buy back the old, still useful product significantly above market rate, fill it with concrete as to make it unusable. It helps if you say the old product was damaging everyone's lives in some way. Then the newly made products sell in greater numbers and at higher prices.

My Gossen Digisix from 2010 is still going, fits in a shirt pocket, very handy. Sometimes the battery contact gets a little loose and I have to reseat it. Thin plastic, wouldn't want to drop it, but never have. I recently acquired a Minolta Spotmeter which is a bit bigger and more featureful. I also have a Gossen Lunasix that doesn't see much use as its both bigger than and lesser-featured than the Digisix, although it does take a more common battery and could handle more abuse.

Yes, now having a brief period of lucidity, I bought a digisix when these great little meters first came out. Little devil! Works great. Years later I bought the Digisix F.

 

[reddesert]

I suspect that the market for basic light meters has been declining since cameras started getting exposure meters built-in, and the market for advanced light meters has declined as the practice of professional photography has changed (meaning, professionals do different kinds of work and use different kinds of cameras than they did 25 years ago). That also means there are more advanced light meters floating around on the used market.

One of the few photography items I've bought new at full price was a Gossen Luna Digital F about 25 or more years ago - basically the same thing as the Sixtomat F2 they sell now. I've never regretted that. I have other meters (because they showed up inexpensively or came with a camera, etc), but for many many applications, it is just great.

 

[Chan Tran]

The Sekonic light / exposure meters (semantics aside, the two terms are freely used interchangeably, unless you are referring to colour temp meters) .

They are 2 different animals. Konica Minolta still make light meters but no exposure meters. Their light meter like these

Luminance Color Meters | Konica Minolta Sensing

Konica Minolta Sensing luminance color meters are three element detectors that measure photometric brightness on a surface and give color information.

sensing.konicaminolta.us

They are good but using for exposure you will need a lot of calculations before you can use them.

 

[joho]

Well, I need help with one light meter - I received a broncolor FCC on loan for flash work .
I have no idea how ot works ????

 

[MARTIE]

This should help...

https://www.galerie-photo.com/manuels/instruction-manual-broncolor-fcc.pdf

 

[MARTIE]

Well, I need help with one light meter - I received a broncolor FCC on loan for flash work .
I have no idea how ot works ????

See above

 

[joho]

MARTIE @ thanks !!

thats a lot of reading ..

O.K.

 

[Pieter12]

Datacolor has entered the light meter/flash meter/color meter market with a new product that is a pretty radical departure from the usual hand-held meter. It reads incident light only and goes though a smartphone app. https://www.datacolor.com/spyder/products/lightcolor-meter/

 

[Franklee]

The histogram on the back of a digital camera tells me more than any meter ever could but I still use a Pentax 1º "digital" spot meter with large format for old times sake. Also have a Minolta Auto Meter IVF which uses AA batteries and works well when I haul out the Dynalite AC strobes. For years I used the plastic bodied Luna Pro F.

Minolta meters were the best build quality IMHO

 

[Chromium VI]

It would be interesting to discover what FRACTION of the photographers on this forum even own a handheld lightmeter for photographic purposes.
Then, to also learn what fraction of all photographers with handheld light meters purchased them within the past decade.

A sadly 'declined market' accounts for withdrawl of products of a genre, be it Kenko or Gossen.

I still use my trustworthy 1945 Weston Master II. It may be old but it still is surprisingly accurate.

 

[Pieter12]

I still use my trustworthy 1945 Weston Master II. It may be old but it still is surprisingly accurate.

Consider yourself lucky.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I noticed the Gossen line up because I was looking to see how much they sell the Starlite and if there is a new version only to find out they don't make meters of that level any more.

and there is a new kid at the block now: Reveni Labs in Canada. Their last meter, the Lumo, is a true gem, incident and flash, even flash duration analysis. I bought one at the beginning of the year and it quickly turned into my go-to meter.

 

[Chan Tran]

and there is a new kid at the block now: Reveni Labs in Canada. Their last meter, the Lumo, is a true gem, incident and flash, even flash duration analysis. I bought one at the beginning of the year and it quickly turned into my go-to meter.

Thanks but I am not interested in those.

 

[GregY]

B&H still lists the Gossen: Digisix 2, Digiflash 2, Sixtomat F2, Digipro F2, in addition to all the expensive Mavo stuff for industrial use. Those would satisfy a lot of needs. I suppose if you compare them to the Sekonics, there are some high-end features Gossen doesn't have (spot, wireless flash integration), but the meters Gossen does make are perfectly good.

Yes!!...what more does one need?