Favorite <compact> Light Meter

[ferider]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned the Quantum Calculight X or XP - rather
compact and the best meter for low light.

Roland.

 

[Pablito]

Since the thread is about compact meters, I only wanted to point out that those of you who have not seen in person the CV meter may not be aware of just how tiny it is. I was pleasantly surprised when I got mine. It's about half the size of the Leica hot-shoe meters.

 

[ferider]

Since the thread is about compact meters, I only wanted to point out that those of you who have not seen in person the CV meter may not be aware of just how tiny it is. I was pleasantly surprised when I got mine. It's about half the size of the Leica hot-shoe meters.

It is real small:

But no incident metering. Good meter though, better than the MR* any time.

 

[Graham Line]

Two meters get steady use around here; one is an old Gossen Super-Pilot that I can't even remember buying. The other is a Sekonic 308 something, which replaced a previous Sekonic that drowned. Nice things about the Sekonic are the display illumination, greater sensitivity, and use of a AA battery.
Both are used 95% of the time for incident metering.

 

[crawdiddy]

Two meters get steady use around here; one is an old Gossen Super-Pilot that I can't even remember buying. The other is a Sekonic 308 something, which replaced a previous Sekonic that drowned. Nice things about the Sekonic are the display illumination, greater sensitivity, and use of a AA battery.
Both are used 95% of the time for incident metering.

An illuminated display would be a big plus with me, if it allowed me to read it without glasses.

I've tied a keylight type LED flashlight (torch, for UK readers I believe) to the strap of my Gossen Pilot as an alternative to reading glasses.

 

[crawdiddy]

I think the question is not well posed. I myself own near ten different handheld meters, and I find them all usefull according to the type of RF photography you perform.

The second criteria influencing one's best meter, is how much you have to lean upon a hand held meter.

Cheers,
Ruben

I rely on a meter of some kind 99% of the time. Perhaps it's a lack of confidence on my part.

A couple of posters have mentioned a preference for analog meters specifically. But many others in this thread have done so implicitly. I guess I'm not surprised that members prefer analog, because I do. But I notice that most of the current production meters provide digital readout rather than analog. I wonder if RF users are in the minority as far as preference for analog?

 

[Gumby]

I wonder if RF users are in the minority as far as preference for analog?

It probably doesn't necessarily split along equipment type, specifically the distance measuring mechanism, but along other factors.

Amount of money available to spend on a meter is one possible discriminator. There are hoardes of people out there buying old Westons and Luna Pros because they are affordable and accurate, but maybe not so much because they are analog. Those same people, often users of SLRs, TLRs, and other non-rangefinder cameras, may have a greater respect than others for usable vintage equipment... which are mostly analog.

The preference also seems to split along the lines of the type of photography and metering needed. Flash meters, for example, might skew the preference toward digital meters. Large Format photography, where spot metering is more common, probably does the same; the highly-worshiped spotmeter, of course, is the Pentax 1 deg. Spotmeter.

 

[ruben]

I think the question is not well posed. I myself own near ten different handheld meters, and I find them all usefull according to the type of RF photography you perform.

.........
Cheers,
Ruben

Hi Crawdidy,

Well, I mayself didn't phrase myself right.

Instead of saying "to the type of RF photography you perform", I had to say the type of metering you perform.

Analog meters, in my understanding, viewed from today's existance of digital meters, are rather the target of the exposure thinker photographer, the one who compensates the reading of the meter.

Digital meters, as they don't use dials, except for the Gossen Digisix, give you a superfast reading, more useable by the photographer that does not compensate the reading.

Of course that according to human nature we may find exceptions in both types of photographers, i.e, those who compensate using digital meters and vice versa.

In fact, the Digisix may be a good compromise between the two schools and very compact as well.

On the other hand, a digital meter used for incident readings (white dome) may help you to gain experience with light levels and thus making you more free from relying all the time on the meter, if this is within your purposes.

Cheers,
Ruben

 

[crawdiddy]

Hi Crawdidy,

Well, I mayself didn't phrase myself right.

Instead of saying "to the type of RF photography you perform", I had to say the type of metering you perform.

Analog meters, in my understanding, viewed from today's existance of digital meters, are rather the target of the exposure thinker photographer, the one who compensates the reading of the meter.

Of course that according to human nature we may find exceptions in both types of photographers, i.e, those who compensate using digital meters and vice versa.

In fact, the Digisix may be a good compromise between the two schools and very compact as well.

On the other hand, a digital meter used for incident readings (white dome) may help you to gain experience with light levels and thus making you more free from relying all the time on the meter, if this is within your purposes.

Cheers,
Ruben

Ruben, that's an interesting distinction you make.

 

[le vrai rdu]

I don't think there is any difference between digital an analog lightmeter owners 😉 , using a lightmeter means that you understand light. And buying a digital meter, due to it's cost, means that you know how to use it

 

[arbib]

Hi Arbib,
I don't know if I am entitled to generalize or not, but my two Pilot meter's cells are tired.

Perhaps before you repeat my mistake and put a hundred on a "mint" one, you should initiate a poll asking weather any member here as an accurate working Pilot.

I can be mistaken, but certainly take this into account before the shoe.

BTW, it is a bit strange to me that in many other cameras we find relatively well working selenium cells, from time to time, and the newer Pilot meter cell is already tired. Perhaps the cell is not tired but there is a common shortcomming in other part of these meters, we could fix.

I don't know, it is beyond my league.

Cheers,
Ruben

Thanks for the heads up...Maybe the CDS version is more reliable...
Anyway, I found a Small Vivitar 23 CDS shoe mount for the forth-coming MIR RF..The Owner has used it recently with his TLR..I saw the results Flicker...So, I hope all is legit with the condition..I had one on the Zorki 1e I sold a few months back.

There is a new Sekonic Shoe mount for $80.00 at my local camera dealer....Tempting...But I want a vintage type for a vintage RF...go figure 😀

 

[rtphotos]

I have a Pentax digital spot meter, and a Sekonic flash L358 meter. They aren't really compact, but they both get the job done depending on what I am photographing.

I'm getting more interested in older meter-less cameras, so this week I went looking for a smaller analog and battery-less meter.

I purchased both a Sekonic L-398 and Weston Master II. I got the L-398 because I used one in my college photography classes and am comfortable with it. It's pretty bullet-proof, too. I got the Weston because it is so "vintage". Both seem to be in good working condition and are smaller than my more contemporary meters, but about the same weight. Got them for a good price, too! 🙂

Good luck on finding a meter that suits your style, pocket book and shooting requirements.

rt



edit: a friend gave me her Sekonic L28-C2 (upper-left), almost identical to the L-398.🙂

 

[varjag]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned the Quantum Calculight X or XP - rather
compact and the best meter for low light.

Roland.

It's been mentioned by Peter at least 🙂 But you folks made me curious, and the meter appears just what I was looking for.

What is the going price for them? Are they still in production? Not much offering on eBay at the moment..

 

[projectbluebird]

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

I've heard of this, but not had this problem. Even with all the accidental button pushing (in pockets, it happens) I get about a year out of the battery, and you can find it at any hardware store!

 

[ernstk]

Am I the only person who uses a Leicameter? I use the MR model and I think it's great.

It's small, accurate, has 2 sensitivity settings and best of all, it's coupled to the shutter speed dial which makes it very quick to use.

Also, I can take semi spot readings by using the 90mm framelines which equals the meter's field of view.

Ernst

 

[EcoLeica]

i have a lovely near mint weston IV and a weston V both with invacones, fairly accurate and quiet small to throw in the pocket

 

[Nokton48]

"Am I the only person who uses a Leicameter?"

Not any more: 🙂 It's for M2.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=260209018021&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=016

 

[visiondr]

I just picked up a Weston Master V from another RFFer. I'm suprised at how small and well made it is. And really, it's not fussy to use at all. The dial may be a bit crowded, but ALL the information is there.

 

[wjlapier]

I'm recently purchased a S2 and bought the CV II meter after some research. I really wanted a meter that would mount on the hotshoe. Very small and looks great on the S2 ( the meter is black ). I tested it on my D300 for accuracy and it's spot on.

 

[pinafore2]

The "Sixtar"

The "Sixtar"

I have always been used to use a handheld meter with my "Retina 1a", but entering into a more serios use of rangefinders lead me to look for a better meter.
A used Gossen "Sixtar" tempted me at the local shop since the price would be Approx. the same as similar from E-bay, including postage to Dk.

I was wery exited to see the performance of this equip. but since it is the "Dark" season her it took me a while to get a film through the Kiev.

However i did some shots at night, in the moonlight of the january full moon. I was able to take readings from the "Sixtar" saying Appr. 30 Sec. exposure times, and i think the result came out quite well.

The film is fujichrome-400, but by mistake processed as Color-neg.