Light Meter for Amateur Photographer

[mikule]

Hi, this is my first post, so I'm not sure how it's going to look, but here goes...

I've recently discovered Rangefinder photography via lomography after picking up a FED 5B on ebay. I quite like this camera, possibly more so than SLR's that I've used.

Not long after realising my passion for photography I enrolled in the NYIP correspondence course. One of their lessons on exposure makes extensive use of hand held light meters. Which was when I realised I should probably get a hold of one, rather than guessing what shutter speed and f-stop I should be using.

Can anyone recommend a good starting out light meter, as in cheap but good, before investing in a more advanced model. I've noticed there are a lot of meters for sale on ebay, although I'm a bit weary of their accuracy.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

thanks
mike

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

I just got a Sekonic l-208 for my birthday. I really like it. It is very compact yet the dial is extremely easy to read. It costs $89 and it gives incidence and reflective readings.

It also comes with the battery and an adapter that will allow you to use it on top of the camera, if you like. Its about 2 1/2 inches long by 2 inches wide. Fits in the palm of your hand nicely.

I had an old Leningrad that works, but the dial had type so small, my age challenged eyes could not resolve the numbers.

Bob H

 

[pvdhaar]

I've got a Gossen Sixtino, it's affordable and light. Does reflective as well as incident metering. The best part of it is that it doesn't use batteries. Apparently there's an adapter that allows it to be hot-shoe mounted, but I never bothered to order one. Accuracy is remarkable unless the light levels drop too far, in which case the Selenium cell doesn't respond to the light anymore (around and about 1/15sec @ f2 for 100ISO).