For meters, a good basic starter meter is a Sekonic 308 - it does reflected and incident, and flash too. Fits neatly in a pocket, takes a single AA battery. They're quite accurate, easy to read, and they cost about $200 at B&H, more or less on eBay depending on age, condition, location, etc. I had the original 308 when they first came out and it lasted me until I decided I needed spot metering.
The thread was titled 5 x 4 on a budget. That being the case it's absurd to dismiss using a camera body as a light meter. Late model consumer 35mm cameras had all kinds of metering modes, including spot metering, and can be purchased for a few pounds. If you're carrying a large format camera, a heavy duty tripod and a bunch of dark slides, a plastic fantastic SLR is going to make no difference to your payload.
I'd argue you can save weight if your exposures are under two seconds and opt for a lightweight tripod. I hand hold an MPP and use 400 ASA film and use a Nikon F60 as a light meter. It works.
The thread was titled 5 x 4 on a budget. That being the case it's absurd to dismiss using a camera body as a light meter. Late model consumer 35mm cameras had all kinds of metering modes, including spot metering, and can be purchased for a few pounds. If you're carrying a large format camera, a heavy duty tripod and a bunch of dark slides, a plastic fantastic SLR is going to make no difference to your payload.
I'd argue you can save weight if your exposures are under two seconds and opt for a lightweight tripod. I hand hold an MPP and use 400 ASA film and use a Nikon F60 as a light meter. It works.
Just to be clear, I wasn't advocating a lightweight tripod for large format photography, but it's the kind of thing 35mm users may already have and many can be pressed into 5 x 4 service. If your exposures are long, the tripod is flimsy, the conditions are windy, or a host of other exceptions, you'll need to purchase a solid tripod. I was simply maintaining the budget theme on this old thread. You can pretzel your film with hair bands in a conventional tank, contact print under a 35mm enlarger and generally get into large format work with the camera, a darkslide or two and a box of film. It doesn't have to be a big budget exercise.
Have you looked at Tiltalls? The Leitz and Marchioni versions may be the best bang for the buck out there. I've been using an old Marchioni since about 1987 (when it was already 30 or so years old), and have had NO stability (or other) issues with it under my Linhof STIV. Gossen LunaPros are inexpensive used, and about as good as it gets once you solve the battery issue with an adapter to silver oxide cells. There are more convenient solutions, though.
Camera bodies can work very well as meters. I sometimes use an OM-3 with 200mm lens as a spotmeter when carrying the stuff in the car. Not too practical when hiking with an 8x10 though.
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