Best Light Meters under $50

[Sid836]

Sometimes Gossen Lunalite SBC (the one with the leds) goes for as low as £40. It is great to use, very accurate and uses a standard 9V battery that lasts really long.
For good lighting conditions one can use a phone app, but the accuracy is limited by the capabilities of the phone's camera which means when the light goes low, or under artificial light you might have problems.

 

[colyn]

An outstanding meter that does not require batteries and is deadly accurate is the Gossen Pilot 2 and it only weighs a few oz.. You can even carry it in a shirt pocket..

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

I've often suggested buying cheaply and then using the rest of the budget to get the thing checked and so on. So I'm in the Weston camp here; also my Gossen Lunalite is in disgrace due to the battery connection breaking...

The Westons are plentiful and, because of rather misplaced fears, dirt cheap. They are easily checked and can be rebalanced by any competent technician.

The model V and the Euro-Master (I or II) are the ones to chase after and often come for the price of a cup of coffee; even with the leather case, manual and incident light attachment. (I've had 1930's ones checked and sorted out but modern ones seem OK as bought.)

The older ones are just as solidly made but a bit fiddly to read off the answer; OTOH they do cover off-scale cameras like the pre-war Leicas etc.

Regards, David

PS Low light is one of the extremes and puts people off but how many of us can shoot at 1 second at f/1 or need to regularly? I think it's like choosing a car by its top speed and rejecting one that can only do 159mph...

 

[Ljós]

The Westons Masters are lovely, no question. They were used by professionals for decades, so there is no doubt they are capable. But compared with today's choices, they can be cumbersome. For example: switching between incident reading and reflected, taking the dome off and on... also check the used market for meters with missing dome, cracked dome, dome held in place with rubber bands. Should you ever drop a Weston, it will likely survive, but it hits the ground dome first, you have a good chance of cracking it.
And they are heavy. But....... nice. Oh yeah.

Greetings, Ljós

 

[asilda]

Thanks, David!

Hi,

I've often suggested buying cheaply and then using the rest of the budget to get the thing checked and so on. So I'm in the Weston camp here; also my Gossen Lunalite is in disgrace due to the battery connection breaking...

The Westons are plentiful and, because of rather misplaced fears, dirt cheap. They are easily checked and can be rebalanced by any competent technician.

The model V and the Euro-Master (I or II) are the ones to chase after and often come for the price of a cup of coffee; even with the leather case, manual and incident light attachment. (I've had 1930's ones checked and sorted out but modern ones seem OK as bought.)

The older ones are just as solidly made but a bit fiddly to read off the answer; OTOH they do cover off-scale cameras like the pre-war Leicas etc.

Regards, David

PS Low light is one of the extremes and puts people off but how many of us can shoot at 1 second at f/1 or need to regularly? I think it's like choosing a car by its top speed and rejecting one that can only do 159mph...

 

[Blind_spark]

I'll mention the Weston Ranger 9, as I picked one up not too long ago for way under $50. This was Weston's only CdS meter, and it is a lovely piece of work. It's in the same vein as the Gossen LunaPro/LunaSix, roughly the overall same size and sensitivity, plus a built-in VF. Another trait it shares with the Gossen is the older battery. You either need to recalibrate it or use zinc-air hearing aid cells (675), but the latter being what I did. Piece of cake...

Ansel Adams supposedly favored this one later in his career; also check out this page as well for all sorts of meter-related knowledge!

 

[locheeboy]

ALL the above mentioned, Sekonic, Gossen, Weston. Even a good Leningrad (lV is usually the most consistent). Both the Leningrads and the Westons are selenium cell - no need for batteries.

Ye won't get a good, accurate Minolta auto near $50, although they are a class better than the ones mentioned. Ah'd recommend the Minolta Auto IIIf, The F has limited flash functions, the III doesn't and they are designed primarily, as incident meters (though it has an adapter tae enable reflective). Expect tae pay $75-100+ for one.

Ah use a Weston Master V + Invercone. Inc. 2 cases, lanyards and instruction book - mint condition and very accurate (tested against a DSLR, compact and 2 rangefinders), 12GBP. A few years ago now, still available for around 20-30GBP.

No the Weston won't be much use indoors in low light but like most of the others, it wasn't designed tae be.

Indoors, ah'll use my Yashica GSN or Olympus 35 RC with fast film, no need for lightmeters. Problem solved...😎

 

[johannielscom]

Lucked into my Gossen Lunasix-3 for EUR 25, which is approx. USD 28 at current rate... It even had the 15º/7.5º spot attachment and it has proven sufficiently reliable and accurate for all my MF needs...

Some folks don't know the quality of the stuff they're selling for peanut prices... 😎


Admittedly it has the size of a Barnack Leica 😀 by itself, but when I haul MF gear around, who cares 🙄

 

[bdeyes]

I've gone from a Gossen Lunasix3 to the Digisix and now back to the Lunasix. I liked the Digisix and its small size and features, I thought it had too many features that made the interface complicated). But Digisix electronics failed -- I had bought it used and lasted about 1 year. Now back to the old realiable Lunasix, which is a workhorse.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

My Gossen meters worked well but were bigger and heavier than other brands.
FWIW I own some pocket 35mm cameras that are smaller and lighter...

Chris

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

Hi,

I've often suggested buying cheaply and then using the rest of the budget to get the thing checked and so on. So I'm in the Weston camp here; also my Gossen Lunalite is in disgrace due to the battery connection breaking...

The Westons are plentiful and, because of rather misplaced fears, dirt cheap. They are easily checked and can be rebalanced by any competent technician.

The model V and the Euro-Master (I or II) are the ones to chase after and often come for the price of a cup of coffee; even with the leather case, manual and incident light attachment. (I've had 1930's ones checked and sorted out but modern ones seem OK as bought.)

The older ones are just as solidly made but a bit fiddly to read off the answer; OTOH they do cover off-scale cameras like the pre-war Leicas etc.

Regards, David

PS Low light is one of the extremes and puts people off but how many of us can shoot at 1 second at f/1 or need to regularly? I think it's like choosing a car by its top speed and rejecting one that can only do 159mph...

I believe it's called a tripod? You may have heard of it. Some people use one occasionally, apparently.

 

[David Hughes]

I believe it's called a tripod? You may have heard of it. Some people use one occasionally, apparently.

Hi,

Yes, I have one or two and use the serious one almost daily.

The point I was trying to make is that on forums people often quote extremes and then use them to put people off of perfectly sensible choices. Like the "did you realise its top speed is only 1/2,000 second?" moan and so on. That suggested the point about the car's top speed, which like top shutter speeds is pointless for everyday* use, especially with 20mph speed limits and radar speed cameras everywhere.

We ought to have a thread about sensible and useful specifications for cameras. Otherwise a lot of newcomers will think photograph is impossible without, at the very least, a Noctilux on a 24 megapixel digital camera...

I reckon I could happily have spent my entire life using just a Leica model II and the f/2 Summitar, even though the II has no slow speeds and only 500th as the top speed. It would cover 99% of most people's use. Like the camera in their smart phones (gasp).

Regards, David

* As in "People and Places" to quote one of Ilford's older slogans.

 

[Ranchu]

I agree with your point David, meter readings under 1/30 @ 2.8 aren't much good to me because I'll just shoot at that anyway. People are different in how they approach taking a picture. I have a half dozen tripods waiting around for me to use them. I'm not opposed, but it only seems to happen when I'm testing something. I'm only using shutter speeds between 1/30th and 1/650 lately.

😉