light meter recommendations

back alley

back alley

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so, i got a refund on the gossen sixtar that i bought the other day.
wally had a few other used meters that i looked at but they either were too big or didn't work properly.

i'm asking for some recommendations re a meter.

i'm looking for something that is not huge, is accurate in lower light i.e. an easy reading taken in a typical to darker living room or bar.
one that takes currently available batteries would be a bonus and that used might cost around 150 to 200 u.s.

and if you have something that fits this description that you'd like to sell, well, i'm here, please & thanks.

joe
 
Joe,

What did you not like about the Sixtar? Is that the flash metering enabled version? I ask because normally I would recommend the Digisix because it is small, not terribly expensive and works well for me (I use it primarily for incident readings). Of course, if this is the version that you had and returned....never mind....except that I would be interested to know why you decided not to keep it.

Alan
 
Joe,
the problem is that you can only have two of your three criteria (small, good in low light, available used for little money):

Either you can get an old Gossen with SBC cells (I'd recommend the Lunalite, or the Profisix (though they might be called differently outside of Europe), which both take common 9V block batteries - they measure in low light & are available cheaply - but they are not compact.

Or you can get the Digisix mentioned by Alan (or any othe newer, digital meter) - they will measure in low light, are relatively compact - but won't be found commonly used & cheap (though the new Digisix might still be inside your price limits).

Compact & inexpensive meters available used commonly won't work in low light (since they use selenium cells, or CdS cells, an the latter ones will usually need mercury batteries).

Roman
 
alan,

sorry, i assumed people would have read the other, older post from a few days ago first...

the sixtar would have been good but i didn't work properly. the measurments were way off.
i'd get another if it worked.

i have a pilot 2 that works great but i want something more sensitive in lower light situations.
joe
 
roman

i like the old gossen's, it's living with a brick that i'm trying to avoid.
but you are likely correct in your assertions.

joe
 
I got a Digisix for about $130. It is surprisingly small, uses batteries readily availible at radio snack. As far as low light, haven't really had occasion to try it, but it seems fine here indoors. You may want to try one.
 
30 years of photography, and here's my selection of meters. The 2 smallest ones are not sensitive in lower light, neither is the Sekonic Studio Delux L398. The 2 digitals are great, biggish but not too thick. The Gossen digital is incident and reflected light but no flash. The Sekonic digital is incident only but does handle flash. The older Gossen runs on hearing aid cells now but I'm not 100% confident in it's accuracy. I'd love to get the VC II meter.
 
I'd recommend a VCII as well unless you need incident metering. If you can deal with a larger meter, they can be really nice. When I am shooting 4x5 or doing stuff in my "studio" (aka living room), I use a Sekonic L-358. It's not that heavy, it has a neck strap, and the readings are always spot on. It also has nice features like multiple ISO's, memory functions, backlight, really quick selector wheel. It comes with incident and reflected heads, and you can buy a couple of accessory heads for spot metering. If you do flash, it can do some crazy things like with wireless transmitting and triggering or somesuch artificial lighting wizardry.

For your budget, you could just buy a dead Weston Master V or Euro Master and have them restore it at Quality Light Metric. It is about 65-75 dollars for the parts and labor. They work in reasonably low light, and when they have brought it up to date, it should be accurate and work for at least 15 years.
 
actually the reason for getting a meter now is to have something to use while i send my metrastar away to get fixed.

joe
 
I really like my VCII. It's compact and has been very consistant in use for me. I believe all of the really low light shots I've got in my gallery were metered with it. Certainly it's done well enough for my needs.

William
 
Joe, did you find this thread?

I can't recommend the digisix/flash enough, it has actually replaced my sekonic 558, esp. due to it's reliable low light metering. (you can also use it as a (40°?) reflective meter)
cheers,
Phil
 
i just sent off an email to qlm to see if they work on metrastar meters.
i like the look & feel of this meter and i think i'll send it off if they think they can fix it.

till it returns, it will have to be the pilot 2 for outdoors and 1/30 sec @ f2 for indoors.

joe
 
qlm just emailed me with a repair quote.
$65. plus shipping.
cheap for a working meter that can run on current batteries.

can't wait...
joe
 
I just got my Weston V back from them -- it's fantastic. I can't wait to get out and really use it.
 
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