Favorite <compact> Light Meter

[pinafore2]

The "Capital" Cds - light meter is small and light, and cheap on e-bay. Runs on hearing-aid cells, i have used one for about 10-12 years with good results, i think.

 

[rxmd]

I'd be worried about the long term effects of the magnetic field on the workings of the meter. 😱

With the Digisix there shouldn't be much of a problem, as it has no moving metal parts for the readout. The electronics shouldn't be too much affected, and the field is more or less constant anyway with no movement.

The only thing worrying me about the Digisix would be the readout issues Karen Nakamura describes with the gate time of the electronics and artificial fluerescent lighting with old tubes that are in effect flickering at the frequency of the power grid. It would be interesting to hear if this has led to real-world problems for anyone.

Philipp

 

[Tuolumne]

The Digisix has a reputation for eating through batteries very quickly. Mine certainly does. A battery lasts a very short time, whether in use or not. Perhaps it's just an occasional defect, though it's worth knowing about.

/T

 

[mike_j]

I have a few old selenium cell meters but they all read low and can't be trusted. The Weston Master 1V lloks impressive though.

In practice I tend to use a mixture of guesswork and my wife's digicompact.

 

[Jamie123]

I'm quite happy so far with my recently acquired Gossen DigiFlash (same as digisix but does flash metering). Certainly much more convenient than carrying around a Pentax digital spotmeter as I used to do.

 

[mr_phillip]

The Sekonic TwinMate is a great little analog meter with incident and reflective modes. It's the perfect traveling companion for a vintage rangefinder.

 

[Rico]

Sekonic 308 for my meterless Leica. I feel slightly guilty about the battery needed, but the low-light range is handy (EV 0), and it can meter flash for my studio SLR.

 

[sbug]

I have a Digisix (it does not eat batteries) but I would buy the Digiflash if I could do it all over again.

 

[alexz]

Another vote for Gossen Digisix. Used to own a legacy Polaris Digital which was good enough, yet not that compact for my liking (I tend to lug meter in the pocket).
Acquired Digisix few weeks back, used it nearly daily, a friend of mine has taken it for a week-long shoot abroad and relied on it. Performed flawlessly, no particular battery drain has been noticed, though perhaps need a bit more excercising...
I'd be tempted to get it strapped to my hand as kind of watch - could prove to be very handy for a continuous street shot...

The only compliant about it would be the flimsy lugging ear - will not be suprised for one to get broken quickly with constant use..

 

[Sonnar2]

Gossen Lunasix, but compact?!
Compact add-on meter: CANON METER for P, VI series. The best selenium meter I had, incl. my old (now dead) Gossen Sixtino...

 

[Steve B]

With the Digisix there shouldn't be much of a problem, as it has no moving metal parts for the readout. The electronics shouldn't be too much affected, and the field is more or less constant anyway with no movement.

The only thing worrying me about the Digisix would be the readout issues Karen Nakamura describes with the gate time of the electronics and artificial fluerescent lighting with old tubes that are in effect flickering at the frequency of the power grid. It would be interesting to hear if this has led to real-world problems for anyone.

Philipp

Jeez, I hadn't even thought about the effect the magnetic field might have. I've been doing this for a year or more and haven't noticed any change in the meter's reliability. Its always hanging from its magnetic clip in the front pocket if the domke bag. I'll keep an eye on its consistency with this in mind although it seems to me that the field from this dime sized magnet would be pretty small, its plenty strong to hold the meter but its a very light meter, pun intended.
As far as the battery issue goes I've replaced the battery once in the year or more that I've been using it. It may be closer to 2 years but I have a lousy memory so I'm not absolutely sure. It does seem like an "off" switch would have been easy enough to add although it hasn't been as issue for me. On a side note I have always found a big discrepancy between the digisix's reflected reading and the reading from my M6. The incident reading seems much more reliable to me.

 

[dadsm3]

I'm sure the VC-II meters are more accurate, but the Leica MR's work just fine, and at least they're coupled to the speed...easy to adjust aperture up or down. But your M3 isn't small anymore.
With a barenaked M3 I pretend I'm going meterless, but have a Sekonic 308 in my back pocket.

 

[Pakmanpdx]

I love the Sekonic Twinmate. hang it around the neck and shove it in my front pocket- it does come with a shoe mount but it would be pretty bulbous on my IIIa or IIIc!

 

[rxmd]

Jeez, I hadn't even thought about the effect the magnetic field might have.

As I said, it shouldn't have any effect at all. There are no moving metal parts in the meter which would be affected by the field. The mere presence of a magnetic field doesn't affect electronics anyway, at least in the orders of magnitude we are talking about. Also remember that currents are only induced when wires are moved relative to the magnetic field, and we are talking about really small fields here. I would be very, very surprised if there was any effect at all.

Philipp

 

[Paul T.]

I use the VC II, but next time I'm in the US I'm buying the Sekonic 208. The VC's ASA setting keeps getting knocked out of position on my M3 (altho not on my Kiev II) - almost invariably when I'm guessing an exposure and the meter reading is radically different, it's because the meter got knocked out of whack.

 

[Spider67]

I used Gossen Sixtinos (Pilots)....but mnaged to break them both (although not beyond repair.... but I am not a great repairperson).
Now I use a Digisix. I also bought the additional shoemount.
Ordered it straight from their website. If you look at this piece of plastic and the single screw (I nearly lostthe add on when I opend the parcel and started rifling thorugh the styrofoam flakes) It seems to be a very high price but seem s that the ittem itself is free and you pay for the process of boxing an delivering it.

 

[pvdhaar]

I used Gossen Sixtinos (Pilots)....but mnaged to break them both..

Same experience here. Had two, broke both. Well, I didn't do that all by myself actually, but nonetheless. They're so vulnerable that you can't even hand them over to someone else.. The outside dial is connected to a disk inside with two weeny plastic tabs that are just not designed to last.

 

[maddoc]

I just had to dis-assemble / re-assemble my Gossen Digisix after having some raw oysters and puring some water over the Digisix ... :bang: Lot's of small screws and one very tiny spring under the contact lever but cleaning worked out 🙂

 

[kalokeri]

Small meters?

I do use and like my Gossen Sixtomat Digital. I tried the smaller one´s like digisix or digiflash (lovely blue colour!) but my fingers can´t handle them because they were too small.

The Sixtomat is of acceptable size and weight. The AA-batterie lasts very long. It´s fine.

Thomas

 

[edlake]

My favorite is my Gossen Super Pilot. I've also got a Pentax Spot meter V, a Sekonic Studio Deluxe, a Digisix and a Sekonic 380 (?). But by far my favorite is the Super Pilot. Too bad it's not currently made with current battery power.