Light meter - any suggestion?!?!?!

Shmoo

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I agree with the Sekonic 358 recommendation. Great meter and can use a spot attachment (a little cumbersome). I've used it for my Rolleicord IV with great results.
 

wiltw

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Gossen was in the analog ambient light meter business long before Minolta came along. When Minolta was around, their flash meters and spot meters made it a stand out, while Sekonic had some very oddball characteristics....like if the reading was f/5.6 +0.66EV, it showed on the meter as f/5.6 and a little dial face with several segments shows (a la analog dial) half digital half analog; Minolta would display f/5.6 and a little fractional number displayed (all digital). Sekonic finally gave up their quirky display style and adopted the Minolta style of display. They added PW compatability; Minolta went out of the photography business. So what you had was evolution (and quirky behavior) accounting for popularity of Minolta, along with Sekonic eventually being in the right place at the right time, with a not-so-quirky product.
 
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Polybun

Lee L said:
Not sure how you're qualifying "pocket meters", but surely the Digisix and Digiflash would qualify. Their other offerings aren't that different in size from the Lunasix/LunaPro SBC/F series.

Lee
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yeaaaa but with their shape, they don't fit in your pocket as well as the old pilots did. And its digital. I'm not the biggest fan of digital read outs.
 

Greg_E

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Digisix is digital? I guess since you can't read between the measurement as fine as a needle you could call it digital, but it does break things down into 1/3 EV. I've been very happy with mine since I bought it. And yes I have put it in my pocket a few times, even in the case in my pocket.
 

Polybun


Eh, i'm sure its fine, its an astetics thing, pure and simple. Maybe its a cost thing too. I dunno, it just feels cheaper than the old ones, it could all be in my head too. Its probably a much nicer meter than my old gossen super pilot, hell i'm sure it is, it isn't stuck with a cds cell. I'm 30 years old, so, i'm from what you could call the digital age, but i've never really enjoyed it. The stuff from 30 to 40 years ago just seems better some how. Its probably because its a technology i'm more foolish about.
 

benjiboy

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Shmoo said:
I agree with the Sekonic 358 recommendation. Great meter and can use a spot attachment (a little cumbersome). I've used it for my Rolleicord IV with great results.
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" A little cumbersome " I thought we British were famous for understatement, I use a 358, and the meter with the spot attachment fitted reminds me of the Swedish Carl Gustav anti-tank weapon we trained with in the marines to engage Soviet armour with !
 
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Greg_E

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Well the Digisix is all plastic, and not even the nice plastic that they used to use. And it was a lot of money when I bought it, but it was the lesser of all costs. What I really wanted was $700, but just couldn't justify it. I will say that the digisix has been right on with the work that I've done, including the digital work I've done, so I'm very happy with it. Just wish they didn't add that extra $100 for the flash options, would have bought something else for the price of the Digiflash. I'm sure the Digiflash is just as nice, but it pushed up into the realm where I would want a few more features, and could get them with other meters.
 

fatboy22

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Hi Mirko,

I have used a Minolta autometer 3F since 1985 and it has been amazingly accurate till it died on me in January. Minolta has since gone out of the meter buisness but sold there design to someone else and these wonderful meters are now being produced under the name Kenko. I bought one of these and have been using it for over 6 months. It has been a great meter so far and very accurate. The model I bought was a Kenko KFM-1100 for around $200 US. I shoot a lot of Transparency and it has always been right on.

Jamie
 

benjiboy

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I like the Gossen Digipro, compact light , quick to use, both digital and analogue displays , and above all deadly accurate.
 

Frank Bunnik

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I bought a Sekonic L758d from a reputable dealer in Hong Kong from who I bought a few items previously for 280 euros incl. shipping, brandnew in the box., earlier this year. Because of the built-in spotmeter, the meter is a bit big but the results are excellent.
 

Loren Sattler

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Mirko, interesting, I use almost the same exact equipment (and other old cameras). I regularly use my Rolleicord IV without a meter using the sunny 16 rule for black and white film. That still works suprisingly well for outdoor photography. My Mamiya is a C330. I have an eye level finder with built in (non coupled) cds meter that works good. These probably come up on ebay. The meter in the eye level finder works more like a 35mm SLR with built in meter, being quicker and easier than a hand held meter. Sometimes I simply use the sunny 16 rule with the Mamiya without looking at the meter.
 

Paul Jenkin

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Michael Finder said:
I've used a Minolta IVF (incident and flash meter) with a reflective spot meter attachment for 10 years with great results. I recommend it with no hesitation.
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I'll second that. I have the same meter and it's done a great job for me. You can get a spot meter attachment as well if you need to shoot for the highlights or shadows.
 

2F/2F

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Hi, Mirko.

In general, if you want to take a light reading, transfer the suggested exposure directly to your camera, and shoot, I suggest an incident meter. They are fairly idiot proof. It will be "right" probably 80 percent of the time, easily, with extreme lighting conditions causing that other 20%.

If you want to place tones, I would suggest a reflected meter. You really have to know how to use a reflected meter to make best use of one, but once you learn this, they do give you the most precise control of tones.

Personally, whenever time allows I use both in concert. I use an incident meter to get the basic exposure that will render things pretty much as they appear, and a spot meter to double check the extremes of light and dark to make sure I will get detail where I want it. This also lets you learn your incident meter inside and out, so you know when to make an adjustment from what it is telling you.

Out and about, I often just use the incident meter with a direct reading slide, as I have to move more quickly than in controlled light to try and get the pic.

It is a tough choice, but if I had to pick one of the two, I would probably pick the incident meter. It doesn't give you the precision you can get with a reflected meter, but the quickness and convenience are very practical advantages in real world situations; at least for me.

With any meter, you must test your film to find a working EI in order to get best results.
 
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bluedog

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Sekonic 308S available very cheaply via that online auction site. Does both incident and reflected.
 
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