Sekonic L-758 vs. Sekonic L-778 + Gossen Luna Pro SBC

I've been thinking of replacing my L-778 and Luna Pro SBC duo with a single L-758. I realize the latter doesn't quite have the low light sensitivity of the SBC and it lacks the dual spot feature of the L-778. Also, the SBC has the nifty fiber optic probe that can be used to read off the GG plus a 7.5/15 degree spot attachment. Yes, I might miss those features and I might not. It's nice being able to to take 1, 3, 7.5, 15 and 30 degree reflective plus incident light readings to match the subject matter but it's really overkill. The point is the L-758 is smaller than either of the other two, let alone both together. This might not matter much since I can't walk more than few yards anyway.

Can anyone share their insights regarding these three meters?

If you think you would like a new meter, buy a new meter; you only live once.

I have the Gossen Profi-Six which is the same as your Luna Pro SBC, I also have the 1º spot attachment plus the 7.5º and 15º attachment, as well as the fibre optic attachment not to mention the darkroom attachment as well as another attachment to enable one to meter artwork in a studio with various settings. Great meter, love it, but it can be unwieldy.

I sometimes photograph with a friend, he has the Sekonic 758 which I think is pretty good, both of our meters are pretty evenly matched as far as their readings go. That is, they give the same suggestions when used alongside each other.

Neither meter is small, although the Gossen is a nice size until you wish to lug around a spot meter or other accessories. If, as you say, the newer Sekonic is smaller, and incorporates all the goodies of your other meters either singly or combined, then that would be a pretty persuasive argument and may allow you to walk a few more metres from your automobile; at the very least.

One thing I would wish to know before purchasing any kind of spot meter, can I see all the information that is available whilst wearing spectacles in bright and low light? This may not be relevant to you, but some eyepieces put spectacle wearers at a disadvantage, be they spot meters, binoculars, spotting scopes etcetera.

Mick.

Thanks, Mick.

I've been considering purchasing the L-758 to carry it alongside the other two so I can give each a try before making a final decision. If I get a good enough deal then I won't lose much money if I decide to sell it.

I've never tried the Multi-Beam Spot Attachment due to the cost. I can't seem to find one for less than the cost of a good complete spot meter. Maybe I should re-think my trepidation. How do you like yours? You make a good point with regard to the darkroom attachment too.

You also make a good point regarding the use of eyeglasses. I "assumed" the L-758 has eyepiece correction but I haven't "looked into" that.

Okay, I just bought a Gossen Multi-Beam attachment for the SBC. I have my eye on some L-758 meters and will purchase one very soon. I'll try them all to determine which combination works best for me. Who knows? It might be the SBC with Multi-Beam.

The L-758DR has an adjustable diopter. I rarely use the interior fluorescent greenish display. I have to admit, the inside display is a little inconvenient for eyeglass users. You have to shift a bit to see it. But I'm always looking at the spot in the center. Where this becomes a problem... the interior display is only lit when in spotmeter mode. Since I rarely notice whether it's lit or not, sometimes I hold the meter up and take an incident reading of the light falling on my ear.

Bill Burk said:

The L-758DR has an adjustable diopter. I rarely use the interior fluorescent greenish display. I have to admit, the inside display is a little inconvenient for eyeglass users. You have to shift a bit to see it. But I'm always looking at the spot in the center. Where this becomes a problem... the interior display is only lit when in spotmeter mode. Since I rarely notice whether it's lit or not, sometimes I hold the meter up and take an incident reading of the light falling on my ear.

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How in the world can that happen? Are you stating that the meter remains active and you don't notice while pointing it in the wrong direction? Is that a common issue? Sometimes it's the little quirky things that make the difference between happily ergonomic equipment and annoying goofy equipment.

Old-N-Feeble said:

How in the world can that happen? Are you stating that the meter remains active and you don't notice while pointing it in the wrong direction? Is that a common issue? Sometimes it's the little quirky things that make the difference between happily ergonomic equipment and annoying goofy equipment.

Click to expand...

It's not a meter issue, it's a user issue. Simply the user forgot to change the mode from Incident to Spot meter mode.

Well, I don't wear glasses (I use contacts) and 758 is great. The spot meter LCD display is great for measuring contrast. I like all of it integrated functions and how I can average incident and spot readings. I like how I can assign iso 2 to compensate for filters, put I would prefer if it used filter factors for the calculations... Overall if very nice meter.

When I don't feel like carrying it around with me, I got myself a tiny gossen digisix which is tiny and has minimal set of features.

I need glasses for reading, but not with the L758D with its dioptric correction in the eyepiece. It works fine and I have never been troubled by the green display, which I make a passing reference to after each reading: the real meat in the sandwich is what the front display has to say about the scene, not the figures in the viewfinder. The ISO 2 and baseline meter calibration options are exceptionally useful features e.g. ISO 2 is the alternate reading if you are using a polariser (adjustment is made as a filter factor), while baseline calibration can be a 'safety margin' (of any value, mine is +0.5) established through the use of several types of film and metering methods. No way on earth will I be parting with the L758D.

I'll be giving a L-758 a try alongside the L-778 and Luna Pro SBC with Mulit-Beam attachment. I have a feeling the L-758 will win the battle but I'm remaining open-minded.

I may end up with a L-558 or L-558R because I don't need the programmability of the L-758DR but the older model does everything else just as well and I think I can find it for around a hundred dollars or less delivered.

I have an L758DR and love it. It was the first and only light meter I have ever purchased, so I can not compare it with anything else. I can say that since I bought it (a rediculous deal), I have never wanted for anything else. I almost always use spot metering. The few times I have used the incident dome, it worked great as well. I used to use aperture priority mode and take several meter readings, then average them out. Now I save a lot of time by using EV mode and a zone dial. I wouldn't trade this meter for anything, if it breaks, I'm getting another.

I've been using the Gossen multi-beam 1/5/10 deg. spot attachment with my Luna-Pro SBC for about a year now, and find it very useful. I managed to pick one up cheapish from KEH, about $20-30 if I remember correctly. What I particularly like is that the +3 to -3 stop over/under meter reading of the L-P SBC makes it a natural for Zone System work. If I want to place shadows in Zone 3, then I simply adjusts the meter so it reads -2 (i.e. two stops below mid grey, which would be Zone 5, so two stops below is Zone 3). Then as I move the spot meter over the scene I can immediately see where everything else falls, from -3 stops (Zone 2) to +3 stops (Zone 8). It's very intuitive.

On the negative side, there's no in-viewfinder display of the reading; and the spot attachment is really quite large! But I almost always take it with me when shooting medium format landscapes, as I find I get much more consistent exposures than using incident or averaging metering.