I love my Reveni Meter, I hate my Reveni Meter

[Donald Qualls]

They are 3D printed nylon. Much stronger and more flexible than plastic.

Nylon is plastic. That said, it's tough and heat resistant...

 

[madNbad]

Nylon is plastic. That said, it's tough and heat resistant...

Thank you for the clarification.

 

[madNbad]

Gossen has been making meters for over a hundred years and yet their smallest meter, the Digisix, shares some of the same quirks as the Reveni. It's always on, there is no on/off switch and battery life could be better. The LCD screen of the Digisix draws less power than the Reveni's OLED display and it uses a much larger battery but users still have to be careful not to engage the buttons on the Digisix as not to encourage battery drain. If a well established, well respected manufacture can release a product that exhibits many of the same design glitches as a brand new company, shouldn't we give the new company a little leeway?

 

[Sirius Glass]

Amateur engineering at its best.
The battery problem should have been caught during the build chain, if not, then in testing.
Form over function in precision measuring is an oxymoron.

This is what can happen when the public has been tasked with the alpha testing. As you stated this should have been a known problem prior to committing to production and should have been addressed and corrected.

 

[Steven Lee]

Gossen has been making meters for over a hundred years and yet their smallest meter, the Digisix, shares some of the same quirks as the Reveni. It's always on, there is no on/off switch and battery life could be better. The LCD screen of the Digisix draws less power than the Reveni's OLED display and it uses a much larger battery but users still have to be careful not to engage the buttons on the Digisix as not to encourage battery drain. If a well established, well respected manufacture can release a product that exhibits many of the same design glitches as a brand new company, shouldn't we give the new company a little leeway?

Gossen Digisix is perfect. I actually believe that having a dedicated on/off switch on a light meter is a lazy design. Yes, the screen is always on which is a huge plus because the last reading is always available and it doesn't affect battery life. It lasts more than a year on a battery with frequent use. It's in the same ballpark as battery-powered M Leicas in my experience.

From the usability point of view the EV reading coupled to a mechanical wheel is absolutely perfect and trumps LCD+up/down buttons so common on other meters.

I am not criticizing the Reveni here, but using Digisix as an example of poor design is a stretch. When I was shopping for a light meter I have not found anything better. The only drawback in Digisix design is what Matt King complained about: too easy to accidentally press buttons when stored in a backpack.

 

[Steven Lee]

Having re-read my own comment, I just gave myself the idea to have a yearly Battery Day, when I will be replacing batteries in all my cameras and light meters.

This way the mental overhead of remembering the age of batteries in different devices will go away and I won't ever get caught not having a spare.

 

[madNbad]

Gossen Digisix is perfect. I actually believe that having a dedicated on/off switch on a light meter is a lazy design. Yes, the screen is always on which is a huge plus because the last reading is always available and it doesn't affect battery life. It lasts more than a year on a battery with frequent use. It's in the same ballpark as battery-powered M Leicas in my experience.

From the usability point of view the EV reading coupled to a mechanical wheel is absolutely perfect and trumps LCD+up/down buttons so common on other meters.

I am not criticizing the Reveni here, but using Digisix as an example of poor design is a stretch. When I was shopping for a light meter I have not found anything better. The only drawback in Digisix design is what Matt King complained about: too easy to accidentally press buttons when stored in a backpack.

The Digisix is a fine meter. I was using it as the closest example to the Reveni from a major manufacturer. No single meter will meet everyone’s needs. I own a Gossen Pilot, a Sekonic L-398A, a Sekonic 308X and the Reveni. All of them are extremely good meters with the 308 having more capabilities than I could ever use but when I just want to go for a walk with my Retina, the tiny Reveni is the one I’ll grab.

 

[Donald Qualls]

yearly Battery Day

Could combine this with changing your smoke detector batteries when the clocks move forward every spring.

Of course, if/when we finally wise up and quit doing that every year, you might have to switch to the Vernal Equinox or Easter...

 

[Kodachromeguy]

The Gossen Digisix meter is a handy little device, but for me, it suffers a design error: you must read a number from the display and then manually transfer it to the computer dial, which has minuscule numbers (=reading glasses). Slightly larger older meters, like the Gossen Luna Pro Digital (different name in Europe; NOT the ancient CDS unit) or Sekonic L-318 or L-328, show your exposure and shutter speed directly on the display as soon as you press the button. I have 3 of these Gossens and one L-308 and find that they are amazingly consistent with each other, from a dark room all the way into bright sunshine. Better buy from the 'Bay when an occasional seller lists one. The AA batteries last months/years.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Could combine this with changing your smoke detector batteries when the clocks move forward every spring.

Of course, if/when we finally wise up and quit doing that every year, you might have to switch to the Vernal Equinox or Easter...

A waste of batteries. The batteries in my smoke detectors last for years and I have better things to do than to climb ladders twice a year.

 

[reddesert]

Product development and engineering is hard. Established photo companies (Gossen, etc) had teams of engineers and enough capital to support them for several years to bring products to maturity. The [still] film photography market alone doesn't support that kind of investment anymore, and also people have come to expect a quick turnover/update cycle. (Unrealistically IMO, including expectations shaped by the computer/tech industry, which regularly rolls out half-baked products quickly.)

I have seen quite a few Kickstarter-type projects that just looked completely unreasonable, for example the ones that have claimed they were going to make a drop-in digital sensor for film camera bodies, or that they were going to bring a new full-featured mechanical film camera to market, and which failed. On the other hand, electronic fabrication is now much more accessible to a small business. So on the one hand I'm skeptical of cottage industries that take on too much, on the other hand I respect a project like Reveni that does actually deliver a functioning machine, and also that acknowledges when there are problems and works to address them.

Different people have different tolerances or urges to be early adopters. I'm a late adopter of things. However, I can no longer read the numbers on an old style tiny clip on meter without glasses. So I may be looking for an improved Reveni someday. It's good that there are still choices.

 

[reddesert]

The Gossen Digisix meter is a handy little device, but for me, it suffers a design error: you must read a number from the display and then manually transfer it to the computer dial, which has minuscule numbers (=reading glasses). Slightly larger older meters, like the Gossen Luna Pro Digital (different name in Europe; NOT the ancient CDS unit) or Sekonic L-318 or L-328, show your exposure and shutter speed directly on the display as soon as you press the button. I have 3 of these Gossens and one L-308 and find that they are amazingly consistent with each other, from a dark room all the way into bright sunshine. Better buy from the 'Bay when an occasional seller lists one. The AA batteries last months/years.

The Luna Pro Digital meter is one of the few pieces of photo equipment I bought new at full retail (25 years ago, on a student budget) and very worth it. It does more or less just what you need and not what you don't, so the interface is easy to use, and uses just 1 AA. You can still get it new as the Sixtomat F2 (the European market name) at B&H. A clip-on meter is one less thing to juggle between hands, though.

 

[henryvk]

I've been using the Reveni meter since I got one of the first batch off of Kickstarter. I like it a lot and use it with nearly all my cameras. In fact, it's in my camera's hot shoe right now, sitting on my desk with the battery tray pulled slightly out to break the circuit. This battery has been going for 2-3 months now, which is fine by me. If 3-4€ for two batteries every 6 months is going to be a deal-breaker for you then I don't know how you deal with current film prices.

 

[henryvk]

Hmm, I was a math major in college for a few years, but it does not take a lot of math brain to see you love your tiny meter.
Having to 'break the circuit' so you can save battery juice might help keep your memory going, I mean you have 'to remember.'
Let's look at the numbers with a comparison:

Your meter batteries (after you remember to 'break the circuit') is (2) @ 3.5€ (rounded-off) for 6 months x 2 for 1 year = 7€ / $7.09 year
My Metered Light Pocket Spot meter (no need to 'break the circuit' to save battery consumption) is (1) 6V PX28 or equivalent for 10 years = 1.48€ / $1.50 10 years or 0.148€ / $0.15 year

In ten years, your battery costs (without inflation, etc. considered) = 10 x 7€ / $7.09 = 70€ / $70.90
My ten years so far has cost me = 1.48€ / $1.50

1.48€ / $1.50 vs 70€ / $70.90

But, you do have that added benefit of using your brain 'to remember'
To me, its a no-brainer ... You LOVE your meter!!

Just having some internet fun!

I'm pretty sure I'd love the Pocket Spot meter too if I could only find one.

However, for the original price of around US$ 682 (adjusted for inflation) you can buy three Reveni meters and run them for ten years each ;-)

 

[henryvk]

Yes, they are hard to find for good reason; they work and keep on going.
I understand your adjustment for inflation, but I bought mine new in 2008 ~$395 US.

It is nice to see the innovation independent designers bring to market.
In my time it was the Pocket Spot, and now there is Reveni.
Just hope they get their battery issue resolved.

Best to you!

Yes, very cool to see these two independent efforts across the "gulf" of nearly two decades.

Best regards!

 

[madNbad]

I do love my Reveni meters but have stashed them away. Moving to battery free for a while, the Sekonic 398A with the M4 and a Gossen Pilot paired with the Retina IIa. I'll get one out when it's time to use the Adox CMS 20.

 

[Besk]

Gossen has been making meters for over a hundred years and yet their smallest meter, the Digisix, shares some of the same quirks as the Reveni. It's always on, there is no on/off switch and battery life could be better. The LCD screen of the Digisix draws less power than the Reveni's OLED display and it uses a much larger battery but users still have to be careful not to engage the buttons on the Digisix as not to encourage battery drain. If a well established, well respected manufacture can release a product that exhibits many of the same design glitches as a brand new company, shouldn't we give the new company a little leeway?

My Gossen Digisix ate batteries rapidly. They never fixed it after two trips to Gossen repair shop. It is in a box somewhere in the closet.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I had a Gossen Luna SBC that was a great meter but a bit of a battery chomper, so I sold it on eBay as minty, rare, highly desired, hard to find and that solved my battery problem.

 

[MattKing]

My Gossen Digisix ate batteries rapidly. They never fixed it after two trips to Gossen repair shop. It is in a box somewhere in the closet.

Put it into a harder sided small case - to help prevent unintended pressing of the buttons. And have an extra battery in that case. This solved the problem for me.

 

[grat]

Hmm, I was a math major in college for a few years, but it does not take a lot of math brain to see you love your tiny meter.

I wasn't aware most math majors could still work with regular numbers.

"Doing the math" to justify film costs, especially over time, is a bit silly. Worse, your example totally breaks down when you include the cost of the Pocket Spot Meter-- the most recent sold example on eBay went for $450 USD, and as the Reveni is currently $96 USD, that's four Reveni cubes, and a lifetime supply of batteries.

 

[grat]

I understand your adjustment for inflation, but I bought mine new in 2008 ~$395 US.

That's $545 in today's money. That's five Reveni cubes and a lifetime supply of batteries.

 

[grat]

Again, think about having to remove your phone battery so it works when you need to make a call.
It makes calls just fine, but you must disconnect the battery because of battery drain.
Is this a logical phone to buy and use? Logic tells me, no.

Not a very robust example of logic-- I need my phone to be on "all the time", as it is a device for sending and receiving communication. I do need to ensure it's charged, so that it's available when I need it-- I presume you consider this enough of a burden that you refuse to own a smartphone.

When not in use, I do not need my light meter to do anything, and the boot time is under 5 seconds. Opening the box the light meter is in, clicking the battery tray into place, and turning on the light meter takes less time then lightly dusting the lenses I intend to work with.

Based on your apparently strenuous objections, I assume you leave your car's engine on all the time, so you don't have to go through the bother of starting the vehicle when you eventually need it? Do you leave all the lights on in your house in case it gets dark? Do you leave the water running in the bathroom in case you need to wash your hands?

People who consider removing a battery when the light meter isn't in use, and reinserting it to be a burden terrible enough to avoid an inexpensive, lightweight, reliable light meter, must either have a fleet of servants to take care of their every whim, or they're just arguing for the sake of argument. It is a trivial act that greatly extends the life of the battery and costs essentially nothing in terms of physical effort.

PS: My joke about math majors comes from multiple friends who are in fact, math majors.

 

[grat]

I used the phone as a simple example of how inconvenient it would be to be dependent on a device that is poorly engineered in the battery department.
You read too much into it.

I do not consider my replies to be "strenuous objections", sorry if they were taken too harshly as it is just casual thoughts.
Your assumptions about how I handle my vehicle, house lighting and water is obnoxious to say the least.

First you object on the basis that your considerably more expensive Pocket Spot is more financially sound, then you produce an argument that, frankly, is a bit petty.

My somewhat facetious counter-examples all involved taking small actions to conserve resources-- exactly what's involved in extending the battery life of the Reveni meter. If you took that as a personal attack, I'm genuinely sorry to hear that, it certainly wasn't meant as one.

Perhaps they were just "casual thoughts", or "having some internet fun!".

 

[madNbad]

I started this thread because I’m a fan of the Kickstarter’s that got it right. Negative Supply has built their business from a a single product made in a warehouse in Philadelphia to a manufacturing facility in California. Reveni swung for the fences and hit a home run. It wasn’t the grand slam everyone was hoping for but pretty close. Within a year, they’ll have a meter, not much bigger than the cube, with better battery life and other improvements. I could lay down a Sekonic 858X or a Gossen Starlight and someone will find some fault. I want to support the young enterprises that see a need in film photography and address it. I will continue to support them and I hope more enthusiasts do to.

 

[henryvk]

One has to keep in mind that at the time the Reveni was announced the only small accessory meter commercially available was the Voigtländer VC II.

Any other solution at the time would have involved buying a used meter. Nothing against used accessories but I looked for small vintage CdS meters and they are somewhat rare and need a battery adapter (~40€) to work.