What is a good, cheap handheld exposure meter ?

[GaryFlorida]

I have several cameras that have no meter. My dad has a Lentar meter that he bought in Germany in the late 50s. It takes the unobtainium Mercury battery 1.35v. Im not sure how accurate this meter is especially in low light. In these modern times, is there any cheap and accurate hand held light meter I can buy? Please advise.
Thanks.

 

[MattKing]

moved your thread. Its former location was okay, but this is a bit better.
We probably need to know what you mean by cheap.
A lot of us have more meters than we should, so there may be good choices here if you should decide to become a paid Subscriber in order to post a Want To Buy ad.
If you were local, I'd suggest getting together so I could show you some choices .
FWIW, I like the modern Gossen Digiflash meters - but some have complaints.

 

[AnselMortensen]

I'd recommend a Minolta AutoMeter 3...(or 3F, if you use flash).

 

[rippa_the_hutt]

you can quite easily adapt your mercury meter to accept silver oxide batteries and then drop their voltage with a shottky BAT85 diode for each cell if you like the meter, or just buy a bunch of zinc-air hearing aid cells (675 format for the usual px625 mercury cell): they are short lived but sell for next to nothing.
I use this method for my Gossen Lunasix 3: you can get one very cheap on eBay and it is by far one of the best meters for low light metering, if night photography is your thing.
stepping a bit towards the 200 euros there's the Sekonic L-308 using a standard AA battery. That would be new, and is quite decent for flash meterings but EV starts from 1 if I recall correctly, whereas my Gossen starts from -4.

 

[runswithsizzers]

If you have a smart phone, there are inexpensive light meter apps that work OK for reflected readings. But for incident readings I’d recommend a real light meter. I like the Sekonic L-308, but they are not what I would call cheap.

 

[Disconnekt]

A Gossen Lunapro SBC is a good "cheap-ish" choice, can be found on ebay for ~$50 or so & takes 9v batterys

 

[JensH]

A Gossen Lunapro SBC is a good "cheap-ish" choice, can be found on ebay for ~$50 or so & takes 9v batterys

Great choice! Here in Europe sold as Profisix.
A nice professional quality tool for very little money.
I have the Profisix now for ten years and it is great to work with...

 

[Angarian]

I can highly recommend the Gossen Sixtomat F2:

SIXTOMAT F2 | Gossen

gossen-photo.de

Excellent price-performance ratio.

 

[Chan Tran]

Depending on what type of meter you want. Incident, wide angle reflected or spot? I guess you don't mean flash. Old meter from the 80's and up are inexpensive and good. Avoid meter based on Cds cell. Also avoid meter that requires mercury battery. They are not worth it and there is no real solution for that. Spot meter is not cheap so if you don't need them you can save a lot of money.
I have and have used several Minolta meter and I think the Minolta Auto Meter II is very cool with its motorized scale.

 

[GaryFlorida]

I want the kind that i point at the subject. A spot meter would be great.

 

[guangong]

Gossen LunaPro, quite cheap on eBay. Gossen makes an adapter (batteries included) that can be purchased from B&H, so you can be assured of correct voltage. I have a variety of meters, but for many, many years the LunaPro has been my usual companion.

 

[pentaxuser]

Also avoid meter that requires mercury battery. They are not worth it and there is no real solution for that.

Except for the cheap solution that the member has suggested in #4 I can't speak for the situation in the U.S, but certainly in the U.K. and seemingly in Italy where the member is from the cells of which he speaks are very cheap

pentaxuser

 

[Chan Tran]

Except for the cheap solution that the member has suggested in #4 I can't speak for the situation in the U.S, but certainly in the U.K. and seemingly in Italy where the member is from the cells of which he speaks are very cheap

pentaxuser

How much different in price is a Gossen Luna Pro and Gossen Luna Pro SBC? Not much I would say. Also any adapter will not make the the voltage a constant 1.35V like a mercury cell. Also the Cds cell would suffer from aging much more than the silicon cell.

 

[runswithsizzers]

I will agree with others who recommend various Gossen light meters -- if you can tolerate the size of them.

The more recent ones use 9V batteries, which avoid the complication of powering the older meters which were built to run on mercury batteries. However, the more recent 9V versions are rather large. I love the look and functionality of my Gossen Luna-Lux SBC (also known as the Gossen Lunalite). But when it comes time to load my camera bag, I tend to leave the Gossen at home and take the slimmer Sekonic L-308s instead.

For taking reflected readings, I think the Gossen Luna-Lux is a little more ergonomic. For incident readings, I like the Sekonic better. The Sekonic is easier to operate with one hand.

In 2019, I paid $50(US) for my Luna-Lux on eBay, and a year later I paid $160 for my Sekonic L-308s, also used on eBay. They are both great meters, but I use the Sekonic far more often. However, if dropped, I am guessing the Gossen is more likely to survive. And the Gossen, with it's magnificent analog dial, is much sexier than my digital Sekonic.

 

[Anon Ymous]

But for incident readings I’d recommend a real light meter. I like the Sekonic L-308, but they are not what I would call cheap.

The L208 on the other hand is cheap, tiny and uses readily available batteries. If bought used, it would certainly be cheap.

 

[GaryFlorida]

I will agree with others who recommend various Gossen light meters -- if you can tolerate the size of them.

The more recent ones use 9V batteries, which avoid the complication of powering the older meters which were built to run on mercury batteries. However, the more recent 9V versions are rather large. I love the look and functionality of my Gossen Luna-Lux SBC (also known as the Gossen Lunalite). But when it comes time to load my camera bag, I tend to leave the Gossen at home and take the slimmer Sekonic L-308s instead.

For taking reflected readings, I think the Gossen Luna-Lux is a little more ergonomic. For incident readings, I like the Sekonic better. The Sekonic is easier to operate with one hand.

In 2019, I paid $50(US) for my Luna-Lux on eBay, and a year later I paid $160 for my Sekonic L-308s, also used on eBay. They are both great meters, but I use the Sekonic far more often. However, if dropped, I am guessing the Gossen is more likely to survive. And the Gossen, with it's magnificent analog dial, is much sexier than my digital Sekonic.

If its a big thing to carry i may as well carry the FE. How does it compare in size.

 

[rippa_the_hutt]

How much different in price is a Gossen Luna Pro and Gossen Luna Pro SBC? Not much I would say. Also any adapter will not make the the voltage a constant 1.35V like a mercury cell. Also the Cds cell would suffer from aging much more than the silicon cell.

The forward voltage drop of a small signal shottky like the BAT85 is around 0.21V at the very low current drain of an exposure metre, and a silver oxide cell yields 1.55V, thus the resulting voltage of the concoction is 1.34V. I compared the readings with that of my minolta spotmeter F and they match well beyond my ability to proper aim the arrow on the lunasix dial.
The zinc-air cells provide 1.35V and, again, when checking against my minolta I couldn't find reading differences.

The CdS remark is solid though, silicon cells are more durable. The lunasix sell for quite lower prices wrt other metres though, possibly because of the pesky power supply.

 

[runswithsizzers]

The L208 on the other hand is cheap, tiny and uses readily available batteries. If bought used, it would certainly be cheap.

Yes, it is! And has an analog dial, as well! However, I did not like mine and sold it. For me, the problem was the dial was too loose. Sometimes, I will take a photo and then want to make some notes. If I put the L208 in my pocket, and then walk a few steps to find a shady spot to take notes, invariably the dial will have moved, and cannot be relied on to show what exposure I just used. Both the Gossen Luna-Lux and Sekonic L-308 retain the last used setting.

Edited to add: The Sekonic L-208 really is a very good size, and I much prefer analog dials compared to digital ones. For many people, this would be a very good light meter! I just wish mine had been made to fit together a little bit better.

 

[Angarian]

If its a big thing to carry i may as well carry the FE. How does it compare in size.

The Sixtomat F2 I have recommend above is really very compact: You can put it in your back pocket of the trouser / pant.
And it takes only a regular, very compact AA battery (can also be a rechargeable one). Same is valid for the Gossen DigiPro F2.

 

[runswithsizzers]

If its a big thing to carry i may as well carry the FE. How does it compare in size.

What is the "FE"?

In this photo, the two meters I have don't look all that different in size, but in real life the difference is more noticeable.


And here is the Luna-Lux compared to the smaller L-208 mentioned in posts #15 and #17

 

[ic-racer]

Those big meters (I have a few) are great for large format and tripod photography but I find them impractical for hand-held photography. Especially when the meter is larger than the camera.

If you are doing hand-held photography, you might want something small that fits on the camera. I use this Revini meter that fits on the cold shoe. I don't think they make it any more, but they make something similar.

 

[xkaes]

I want the kind that i point at the subject. A spot meter would be great.

A good, cheap, small, accurate, lightweight, spot meter. Good luck with that!!!

 

[runswithsizzers]

It should probably be mentioned, there are many cheap, used light meters out there which used selenium cells. Selenium was the technology used before being replaced by CdS (cadmium sulfide). And CdS was in turn replaced by silicon cells. (If you see "SBC" on a Gossen meter, that stands for Silicon Blue Cell.)

Sekonic did use a selenium cell in one of their meters up until fairly recently, but for the most part, selenium has been abandoned in favor of silicon. Today, many (most?) of the older selenium-based meters are no longer accurate. You can easily spot a selenium cell by their distinctive appearance -- a largish glassy looking panel with a bumpy surface like on the front of this old Gossen Pilot 2. I loved that meter, until it became unreliable.


Some of the selenium meters do not require a battery! Cool, but today, I would stay away from most selenium meters, unless you can find one known to be accurate.

 

[Chan Tran]

The forward voltage drop of a small signal shottky like the BAT85 is around 0.21V at the very low current drain of an exposure metre, and a silver oxide cell yields 1.55V, thus the resulting voltage of the concoction is 1.34V. I compared the readings with that of my minolta spotmeter F and they match well beyond my ability to proper aim the arrow on the lunasix dial.
The zinc-air cells provide 1.35V and, again, when checking against my minolta I couldn't find reading differences.

The CdS remark is solid though, silicon cells are more durable. The lunasix sell for quite lower prices wrt other metres though, possibly because of the pesky power supply.

Zinc air or Silver Oxide can't hold the output voltage to within 1% for 95% of their useful life like Mercury Oxide.

 

[loccdor]

Those big meters (I have a few) are great for large format and tripod photography but I find them impractical for hand-held photography. Especially when the meter is larger than the camera.

If you are doing hand-held photography, you might want something small that fits on the camera. I use this Revini meter that fits on the cold shoe. I don't think they make it any more, but they make something similar.

Gossen Digisix is what I use and it's another shoe meter. They still make them, or a used one is around $100. Has incident and reflective metering, reflective isn't a spot meter but has roughly the angle of a 100mm lens.

It's a bit plasticky but I've had mine 15 years and it still works. Takes a typical large thin watch battery and lasts me a year or two on each cell. Also fits easily in a shirt pocket.