Light meter recommendations

[Ian Grant]

Thanks, I have the other Luna Pro SBC meter in the UK, but have yet to see it My other Luna Pro has needs the adapter to use modern cells, and my Spotmeter & flash meter use PP9's. Too many different types of battery to acrry as spares

Ian

 

[IloveTLRs]

I've always had good luck with the VCII. It's basic, small and expensive, but it's always done well with B&W, color negative and slide films. It clips into a hot/cold shoe, too

 

[BobNewYork]

Used a Luna Pro F for years. It was easy to use and always accurate. The needle stuck eventually but I think I'd been taking it in and out of frigid weather which caused condensation and rust. So maybe it was my fault! (Usually is - ask my missus!) Fr the last 5 yrs been using a Minolta without problems.

 

[stradibarrius]

Thanks for a ll the great info! I am hoping that my ebay Luna Pro F will arrive today.

 

[John Koehrer]

So maybe it was my fault! (Usually is - ask my missus!)

Isn't it nice not to be alone?

 

[Frank Szabo]

Thanks for a ll the great info! I am hoping that my ebay Luna Pro F will arrive today.

OK - I'll admit that I have one and use it.

However, you'll be hard pressed to find a meter that interfaces better with us humans after you get used to what the meter tells you.

There are quite a few other goodies available also from time to time.

 

[2F/2F]

I like the Sekonic Studio Deluxe as a simple first light meter (and beyond). They are not expensive (about $170, or $140 with the MAC student discount), are reliable, well built, simple, and do not need batteries. They have been one of the standard light meters in the MP industry for over 50 years, and still are today. This is for good reason. They are simple, quick, versatile, well built, and very difficult to botch and exposure with. You also don't have to deal with any of the usual reflected meter problems, such as deciding what exactly your meter is *actually* telling you and having to think through why you should adjust the recommended exposure this way or that way. It is very close to the "correct" exposure every single time, without having to have much technical understanding, which you definitely need for best results with a reflected meter, IMHO. Mine is an early version from the '50s called the Brockway. Another early version is the Norwood Director. As long as the incident dome is white, and not yellow from age, they usually still work fine and go for DIRT on EBay. I got mine for about $10 shipped, and it is is super sweet condition with the original case and all the direct slides. However, given that a brand new one is so cheap in the grand scheme of things, might as well go that way, and have a warranty, plus the knowledge that it is brand new.

 

[JRJacobs]

2f/2f

Just to clarify, I work in the MP industry, and no-one uses Sekonic Studio Deluxe anymore that I am aware of. In fact, most DP's don't use a meter at all anymore - they use a DSLR as their meter these days. Laziness, I suppose. That being said, the Studio Deluxe is a nice meter, certainly the nicest of the Selenium type - only problem is they poop out in low lighting conditions. That is certainly where the Luna meters excel.

 

[2F/2F]

2f/2f

Just to clarify, I work in the MP industry, and no-one uses Sekonic Studio Deluxe anymore that I am aware of. In fact, most DP's don't use a meter at all anymore - they use a DSLR as their meter these days. Laziness, I suppose. That being said, the Studio Deluxe is a nice meter, certainly the nicest of the Selenium type - only problem is they poop out in low lighting conditions. That is certainly where the Luna meters excel.

Hi,

Thanks for the info. I am sure there is a lot of variation (I said they are "one of the" standard meters), and i didn't say that based on a ton of first-hand experience. However, this is all we have used in the film classes I have taken (all 8mm so far, and we have been told that this is "still" how meter readings are done), and it or other newer incident meters is what my step dad says they have used on most of the productions he has worked on ("Lost", "Big Love", "Carnivalle", "Being John Malkovich", "Adaptation", etc.). Using a high contrast DSLR as a meter for low-contrast film has to lead to less than perfect results a lot of the time, doesn't it?xzzzzzzzzzzzzz5ttttt6 (<-----------that was my cat Chloe)

For low light, yeah, they only work OK, and I like my spot meter better. They can get readings in just a couple household bulbs, though, so it is not that bad. If needed, you can also get an "emergency" reading, according to the instructions, by pulling off the dome and adding a certain number of stops to the reading (five or six, I think).

 

[BobNewYork]

To John K: Yeah sure! I count my blessings every day. Worship the ground that's coming to her!!!!! (Kidding Dear!!)

 

[benjiboy]

The Luna Pro SBC also uses a 9 volt battery. This meter is called by another name in the rest of the world, but I don't recall what it is.

Mike

Mine's the same as the Lunapro SBC Mike and It's A Gossen Profisix, I think they were ony marketed in the US as Lunapro , I don't know why.

 

[Q.G.]

Off topic, but something that has me wondering for a long time: many products (not just Gossen meters) go under another name in the U.S.
Manfrotto (or Bogen as they are known State Side) even has a separate U.S.-only product number list for their products.
Anybody knows why exactly?

 

[Ian Grant]

Mine's the same as the Lunapro SBC Mike and It's A Gossen Profisix, I think they were ony marketed in the US as Lunapro , I don't know why.

Same reason as camera models have different names in the US (North America) to the rest of the world, to stop cheap grey imports back into Europe, Japan etc. Cameras, meters, accessories, have always bee sold at much lower prices in the US which is a high volume market.

Ian

 

[Q.G.]

You can get "Digital Rebels", "LunaPros" and all that stuff in the rest of the world too, if you want. No problem.
So are you sure it is not the other way round: to make sure that U.S. consumers only get to buy stuff imported through U.S. importers?
Would be 'in line' with the well known policies of MAC. And who was it again who imported B+W filters (was it those?), threatening to sue even when the subject of bringing filters into the U.S. as personal items in personal lugage was brought up on Usenet?

 

[John Koehrer]

Q.G.
That is 100% correct. The difference in branding is protecting the US importers Trademark.
They are the "official" importer and anything else is gray market.

 

[Q.G.]

So (see if i get this) they rename the things, register the new name as their trademark, and get protection that way?
I know that, for instance, MAC somehow managed to register the Mamiya name itself, so that not even Mamiya can import things into the U.S. without violating the trademark (now isn't that an act of pure piracy?).

But would it grant protection, and be considered 'gray market', if a Profisix under that name instead of "LunaPro SBC", is brought into the U.S.? How does renaming things help?
Or is it only to make grey import easily recognisable?

 

[Ian Grant]

It's not to protect anyone in the US, it's totally to protect the other markets being flooded with cheap grey imports from the US. Europe, Japan, Australasia are where the manufacturing companies make the profits, they get their unit costs down buy dumping volume into the US market with little amrgin for profit.

It's been that way for years.

Ian

 

[John Koehrer]

So (see if i get this) they rename the things, register the new name as their trademark, and get protection that way?
I know that, for instance, MAC somehow managed to register the Mamiya name itself, so that not even Mamiya can import things into the U.S. without violating the trademark (now isn't that an act of pure piracy?).

But would it grant protection, and be considered 'gray market', if a Profisix under that name instead of "LunaPro SBC", is brought into the U.S.? How does renaming things help?
Or is it only to make grey import easily recognisable?

What the importer is doing is buying the rights to be the exclusive importer of a brand. Part of that contract will be a non-competition clause. Since MAC owns the rights to the Mamiya name here in the states, Mamiya can't sell their product to another importer here.

They eliminate for the most part competition from another importer who may want to sell for a lower cost. Most of the grey market product will come through Hong Kong(typically).
Their competition isn't the guy buying one camera, meter, lens but from a distributor who would bring in hundreds and wholesale them at a lower price.
The retailers who bring in grey market items have to warrantee and repair the items themselves because the legal importer won't touch them.

It can also reduce the resale value of an item because the name isn't recognizable to a retail customer as the US brand is.
So buying grey market for less through B&X saves $$$, if the item is sold on the used market it also costs money when you sell it.
The grey importer sells an item to the retail customer usually for greater profit than they make on a legit import. They gamble on the fact that the manufacturer uses the same production line to make the product and that failures of the product are so minimal they can afford to repair or replace a unit and still make more $$$ on the grey market item.

 

[Q.G.]

That (except for the different names) is how it works all over the world, yes.
So the different name is to make a grey import more easily recognizable.
Still remains a bit of a mystery why different names in the U.S., and in the U.S. only. Grey import is a world-wide phenomenon. The price difference mentioned earlier could be a reason.

Unless a trademark violation (the MAC-construction. Even if the contract between Mamiya and MAC expires, Mamiya cannot sell stuff into the U.S. using the name Mamiya. So they are doomed to do business through MAC for as long as MAC holds the US trademark.), grey import is not illegal.
If directly obtained from the manufacturer, grey import may be a breech of contract between the manufacturer and the official importer.
But if not, it is quite 'legit', and usually carries the full manufacturer guarantee (which, by the way, shouldn't matter, since you - the customer - buy stuff, not from the manufacturer, but from a dealer. And that dealer - not the manufacturer - is the one who is bound to sell you good stuff or else...)

 

[Prest_400]

I like the luna pro F. Because it's in a budget and uses 9V batteries. But, they say that when it ages (all of them now) the circuitry becomes bad and it loses much accuracy. And a recalibrating may cost +50$...

A local shop, offers the Sekonic L-208 at 100€. Which is virtually the same price as the Lunapro F's I found. The main advantadges I found are its compactness and that I buy it new. But I find it's design less pretty compared to the gossen, lesser range of apertures; And it hasn't got a mark where the needle should be centered.

They also offer the Lunasix 3S, that if I'm not wrong, it's no longer manufactured. Store marks as "last units, liquidation". But it's out of my budget, at 230€... I doubt they will sell it much lower. If I'm really lucky, I may be able to get one.

Even I won't buy it now, or very soon. I like to have everything decided. Most possible that I will need it it 2-3 years, when I get a rolleicord.