is the sekonic l-398 a good choice?

[juno_lau]

sorry...
i really dont know where to put this post in... :bang:

i am surfing on ebay for a light meter
and i found the Gossen super pilot
but it use mercury battery...

then i found the l-398

i know it doesn;t need a battery
but is it suitable for outdoor use?
thanks

 

[eric]

This is by far my very favorite light meter. There's a new version of it too recently. I have 2 Pilot2, a Minolta Flash Meter, and a spot meter and I almost always use the 398.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Its an excellent Incident light meter for outdoor work. Its only real downside is it doesn't work well for low light, but it is surprisingly sensitive for indoor work as long as its not real dim. I had one for a while till i accidently left it several hours in a car in Texas and it fried...lol My Nikon F4 camera still works fine after that but the Sekonic meter was dead.

 

[juno_lau]

but is it okay if i buy one from ebay?
it is selenium, right?

 

[Semushkin]

Sverdlovsk-4

Superb Soviet meter.

http://cameras.alfredklomp.com/sverdlovsk4/

you can use 3 1.5 V cells + aluminum foil to make them fit. Or 2 AA batteries. And it has a self-calibration mode! Works well in low light, it has a viewfinder (spot) and has incident and reflected modes.

 

[juno_lau]

but the Sverdlovsk-4 is in GOST, isn;t it?

 

[Semushkin]

but the Sverdlovsk-4 is in GOST, isn;t it?

yes and DIN as well; it has marks of 21 , 24 , 27, 30 DIN which match 100 200 400 and 800 ISO exactly. Adding +3 to DIN doubles the ISO.

 

[juno_lau]

oh thanks
i will wait for the cheapers to pop up
those on the bay are quite expensive now...