Easy to use light meter

[nightfly]

I've been shooting for a few years now without a light meter on various cameras and have gotten to the point where I don't have much need for one during daylight hours. However after sunset, I'm pretty much shot and I'd like to get a small, cheap (if possible) and easy to use (most important) light meter for taking shots in bars or clubs or outdoors in the city at night.

Of my three requirements, cheap is the most easily sacrificed. Doesn't have to be spot on as I'll be using black and white film with lots of latitude and I develop my own so I can push as needed but I just need something to get me in the range and then I'll probably develop a feel for it once I've got some feedback from a meter.

 

[dcsang]

hmm.

Well, you'll need something sensitive - because you want it for night scenes, clubs and bars. And trust me, the in camera meter on an M6 is good, but if you're not using a 1.4 or larger aperture lens (i.e. 1.2 or 1) and high iso film then you're basically S.O.L.

I would suggest the small, handy and relatively inexpensive Sekonic 308S meter. It's not too large, can fit into most shirt or pants pockets, can be operated easily with one hand and has decent readings. For a bit more money (and it's a bit larger) the Sekonic L-358 is good; but it's not nearly as easy to operate single handedly as the 308.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[RicardoD]

Anybody know the difference between a L308B and L308S?

 

[dcsang]

Hey Rickardo....

I quote from the B&H website:

Software enhancements now offer the photographer a choice of Full, 1/2 or 1/3 step selectable aperture settings to display data just the way today's digital camera does.

With 1/10th of a stop measurement and read out, accurate and consistent exposures are a snap for D-SLRs or point and shoot digital cameras. The LCD panel has also been improved for better readability. Information such as ISO, measuring modes and selected settings has been redesigned similar to the very popular Sekonic L-358 FlashMaster.

Cheers
Dave

 

[nightfly]

Do most meters tend to be shutter priority? Not a big deal but I tend to "think" in aperture priority.

 

[f/stopblues]

I use the 308S regularly and like it a lot. It's a very straightforward, intuitive layout. I especially like that it's rather thin and flat compared to a lot of them, about as thick as a folded cell phone, but with a larger surface area. The 358 is very nice as well, but it adds noticable bulk. Looking back, I probably should have picked up the 308B instead, cause I never set it for 1/3 stops. Maybe if I was shooting slides, but that's a very rare occurance.

 

[f/stopblues]

Do most meters tend to be shutter priority? Not a big deal but I tend to "think" in aperture priority.

308 is shutter priority which isn't my first choice, but I usually take the reading then use the up/down scroll buttons to pick my aperture and it shows the appropriate shutter speed from the reading you took. I haven't used a whole lot of incident meters.. I suppose some are aperture priority, but I don't know which ones.

 

[Ariya]

I use the L-358 and it can be set for either aperture or shutter priority. It is also a flash meter that will tell you what percentage of the total illumination is from flash/ambient light. I like it a lot, but if I were buying a meter today I would go with the L-558 with the built-in spot meter. It may not be the most portable, but it would give you everything that you could ever need in a meter - incident, reflected and spot. Now I'm in a position to buy a dedicated spot meter or the $150 spot attachment for the L-358. I wish I had purchased the all in one meter to begin with.

Peter

 

[oftheherd]

I'm surprised that nobody has touted the grand-daddy of sensitive meters. The Gossen Luna Pro. Shirt pocket if you have large pockets or put nothing else in them. Very sensitive as the name implies. The Luna Pro sbc should be even better, but I think my Luna Pro is a little better. It is also smaller and less expensive. The fact that you have to zero it for readings is both good and bad imho. The sbc should be less sensitive to memory effects.

You probably already know that you still need to keep your eyes calibrated since you often encounter bright lights in your scenes that will throw off the readings of any but an incident meter. I don't think incident meters are best for black cats in coal bins. Both Gossen Luna Pro and Luna Pro sbc are both reflective and incident. The both have accessories that can be used, but that increases the cost and isn't what you are looking for (until GAS sets in).

 

[David Murphy]

I'm surprised that nobody has touted the grand-daddy of sensitive meters. The Gossen Luna Pro. Shirt pocket if you have large pockets or put nothing else in them. Very sensitive as the name implies. The Luna Pro sbc should be even better, but I think my Luna Pro is a little better. It is also smaller and less expensive. The fact that you have to zero it for readings is both good and bad imho. The sbc should be less sensitive to memory effects.

You probably already know that you still need to keep your eyes calibrated since you often encounter bright lights in your scenes that will throw off the readings of any but an incident meter. I don't think incident meters are best for black cats in coal bins. Both Gossen Luna Pro and Luna Pro sbc are both reflective and incident. The both have accessories that can be used, but that increases the cost and isn't what you are looking for (until GAS sets in).

Agreed. If you can get a good Luna Pro modified or made for non-mercury batteries (or are willing to use Wein Cells) and you are certain of its calibraton, you have a dead accurate, very sensitive meter. Even higher on my list for beginners typically working in brighter light situations would be the Sekonic L-398M -- a mechanical work of art. These are now crafted in the Philippines, but the workers there are doing a great job making them if the one I owned was any indication. The L398M is best and most conveniently used in incident mode.

Another one I've tried and liked, but do not have extensive experience with is the Gossen Luna Lux -- it's an early digital meter which is easy to use and seems accurate. It has one great advantage: it uses an ordinary 9V radio battery !

 

[MelanieC]

I finally held my breath and bought the L-308S. I love it. A monkey could use it. I was using a freebie old Sekonic meter with a selenium cell that was (and is) quite accurate for daylight, but at some point I noticed it was giving me the same reading almost all the time indoors and figured it was time to move on. Either that, or I only take pictures in a certain kind of indoor light.

Anyway, I looked at a few meters that I considered in my price range and ended up going way out of my range, but the 308S is extremely easy to use, runs on batteries (which I wanted) and isn't much bigger than my iPod. I'm very happy with it.

 

[nightfly]

Thanks Melanie, you seem to have a similar approach to me so your advice is well taken.

 

[richard_l]

I got an L308B because it was cheaper than the L308S. I'm delighted with it. Taking into account the metering pattern, it gives exactly the same reading as the TTL meter on my Leica M6, so I would assume that it is extremely accurate.

 

[tkluck]

And thundering out of the days of yesteryear...

Gossin Luna-Pro F

Sensitive, easy to use, uses the Luna-Pro accessories, and (unlike the Luna-Pro)uses a regular 9.v battery.
Being an analog meter, there is no "priority" to contend with. Center the needle with your thumb and all the exposure info is right there. It's also a fair to middlin flash meter (occationaly handy for creatures of the night).
Cheap too, concidering what it does. There are three on e-bay right now.
Here's a link to the instruction manual:
http://www.butkus.org/chinon/luna-pro_f/luna-pro_f.htm

 

[ruben]

I second Dave, Chris, Melanie, Richard and myself. 308 are small light easy to read and very sensitive to low light readings.

I reject all Gossens (except for the small Pilot) for being a mess to read and manipulate, due to their too small scales and additional dots, making their dials a hell, while lacking at the same time the compensation markings of the Weston Masters. Total loss. I urge you to give a good look to all Gossens and make your own conclusions, it is not hard at all.

Of course that between the Sekonics and Westons I prefer Westons for their compensation markings and exemplary clear dials, but this is not what you are looking after. And in any case for really low light readings the selenium Westons are short of breath.

Therefore for you: Sekonic 308 !

Cheers,
Ruben

PS: Meters I own (by size): Sekonic L408, Sekonic 308B, Gossen Sixtar, Weston Master II, Euro Master II, Gossen Sixon, Gossen Pilot.

- who is the guy here with the "Mamiya will live forever" ? ?

 

[rool]

Yep, Sekonic 308 is very good

 

[LazyHammock]

Another vote for the L-308B - it is very light, relatively cheap and you have the incident/refelcted choice. It uses shutter priority but as Chris pointed out you can scroll to select your aperture after the reading is made. I use it mostly with my MF setup now.
Cheers,
Nick

 

[MelanieC]

I got an L308B because it was cheaper than the L308S. I'm delighted with it. Taking into account the metering pattern, it gives exactly the same reading as the TTL meter on my Leica M6, so I would assume that it is extremely accurate.

As far as I can tell the 308B is pretty much interchangeable with the 308S for my purposes. The place I got my meter from only had the 308S, but if the 308B had been available and cost less I would have gotten that one.

 

[Ariya]

Here are some helpful specs:

308S = EV -5 ~ EV 26.2

L358 = EV -2 to 22.9

Luna Pro S = EV -8.0 to +24

It looks like the Luna Pro S provides the best low light performance.

 

[photogdave]

I've used the 308B for years and can't say anything bad about it - excellent piece of gear. However, I recently bought the Gossen Digisix because it's even more compact and I like the scale-style readout. The meter electronically gives you an EV reading, you slide the scale to that number and all the shutter/aperature combos for the correct exposure are all in front of you!
I'm surprised no one has mentioned it yet!