Pocketable incident light meter

Pocketable incident light meter

  • Gossen Sixtomat F2

    Votes: 10 16.1%

  • Sekonic L-308s

    Votes: 27 43.5%

  • Other

    Votes: 25 40.3%
  • Total voters
    62
Ranchu said:
The 308 is a good meter, but it causes batteries to corrode in it oftener than seems right, I eventually got rid of it I got so tired of not having a battery in it.
Click to expand...

I wonder what brand of battery you were using. A pal who works for Nikon USA repair says 90% of battery holder corrosion problems involving AA batteries come from Duracell batteries. He said cameras and flash units are always returned with Eveready Energizers. Look at the video in the link and see the battery brand used..
http://www.sekonic.com/united-states/products/l-308s-u/overview.aspx
 
Huh. Could be. It was a while ago, but I use energizer and duracell interchangably. Thanks for the tip! 🙂
 
Ranchu said:
Huh. Could be. It was a while ago, but I use energizer and duracell interchangably. Thanks for the tip! 🙂
Click to expand...

Yeah, did the same till I knew better. I use rechargeables for my portable flash but carry some AA Alkaline as backups. AA Alkaline in the light meter and in some other stuff. I pull the batteries out of anything that sits unused for more than a week.

pkr
 
The meter arrived this morning. Very fast postage, 4 days from Japan to my door!
Anyway, first impressions are positive. First up, it is very light compared to the 398 I have been using for a few years. It is also a lot slimmer. I put it in my jeans pocket to see hoe it went, and promptly got distracted and forgot it was there. It's quick and easy to use, easy to read the display, and all the info is there. I'll have to get used to turning it on though - I forgot a few times today... and I wish the power button wasn't all the way on the other side. Maybe I need to use it in my left hand, power on with my thumb and take the reading with my finger... mmmm.

Anyway, some size comparisons between the 398 and an M. It really is a lot thinner.

U55701I1499251178.SEQ.0.jpg
 
michaelwj said:
The meter arrived this morning. Very fast postage, 4 days from Japan to my door!
Anyway, first impressions are positive. First up, it is very light compared to the 398 I have been using for a few years. It is also a lot slimmer. I put it in my jeans pocket to see hoe it went, and promptly got distracted and forgot it was there. It's quick and easy to use, easy to read the display, and all the info is there. I'll have to get used to turning it on though - I forgot a few times today... and I wish the power button wasn't all the way on the other side. Maybe I need to use it in my left hand, power on with my thumb and take the reading with my finger... mmmm.

Anyway, some size comparisons between the 398 and an M. It really is a lot thinner.
Click to expand...

If you test the two meters, please post the results. The last meter I used with a small dome was a Gossen Luna Pro. I always felt the larger dome was more accurate but it may have been my meter and not the dome size. I've used Minolta meters over the past years. They all have large domes.
 
michaelwj said:
The meter arrived this morning. Very fast postage, 4 days from Japan to my door!
Anyway, first impressions are positive. First up, it is very light compared to the 398 I have been using for a few years. It is also a lot slimmer. I put it in my jeans pocket to see hoe it went, and promptly got distracted and forgot it was there. It's quick and easy to use, easy to read the display, and all the info is there. I'll have to get used to turning it on though - I forgot a few times today... and I wish the power button wasn't all the way on the other side. Maybe I need to use it in my left hand, power on with my thumb and take the reading with my finger... mmmm.

Anyway, some size comparisons between the 398 and an M. It really is a lot thinner.

U55701I1499251178.SEQ.0.jpg
Click to expand...

Thank you for these pics. I'm in the market for a meter myself and your pics have convinced me to go with a L-308. Now I just need to find one at a decent price😀
 
PKR said:
If you test the two meters, please post the results. The last meter I used with a small dome was a Gossen Luna Pro. I always felt the larger dome was more accurate but it may have been my meter and not the dome size. I've used Minolta meters over the past years. They all have large domes.
Click to expand...

I have an L28c2 and 3 Gossen Luna Pro models. I always felt the Sekonic measured incident light better as well, and as you, thought it must be due to the larger dome. I have long looked for the Gossen add on incident attachment, as it has a larger dome. At least looked for one I was willing to pay the asking price for. I do like the Luna Pro SBC for its very low light capabilities.
 
PKR said:
If you test the two meters, please post the results. The last meter I used with a small dome was a Gossen Luna Pro. I always felt the larger dome was more accurate but it may have been my meter and not the dome size. I've used Minolta meters over the past years. They all have large domes.
Click to expand...

I ran a few tests inside and outside between the 398 and 308. Both metered the same scenes at the same incident level, to within the display accuracy of the 398. In my tests the bigger dome made no difference, but it might under some circumstances. I doubt I'll notice the difference shooting film, except the 308 is smaller and faster to use, so more likely to get used.
I sold the 398 after I did my tests.
 
I just got my old Luna pro up and running again..found the right Wein 1.35v batteries at B&H..these LP's can be found for a pittance on Eb*y..
 
PKR said:
If you test the two meters, please post the results. The last meter I used with a small dome was a Gossen Luna Pro. I always felt the larger dome was more accurate but it may have been my meter and not the dome size. I've used Minolta meters over the past years. They all have large domes.
Click to expand...

Some further thoughts, was the smaller dome the accurate or just reading differently tonyou other meters? As in, without a "gold standard", there is no baseline. I have a feeling that the dome size makes some difference in some circumstances, but that differences between brands would be much larger.

Also, the 398 with a large dome used no battery, and therefore the photo cell would have to large enough to generate the required current. On the other hand, the 308 is powered so shouldn't need the same volume of light to generate a reading. Between two battery powered meters, I would assume that the larger dome would have lower noise, and be more accurate as the light level falls.
 
michaelwj said:
Some further thoughts, was the smaller dome the accurate or just reading differently tonyou other meters? As in, without a "gold standard", there is no baseline. I have a feeling that the dome size makes some difference in some circumstances, but that differences between brands would be much larger.

Also, the 398 with a large dome used no battery, and therefore the photo cell would have to large enough to generate the required current. On the other hand, the 308 is powered so shouldn't need the same volume of light to generate a reading. Between two battery powered meters, I would assume that the larger dome would have lower noise, and be more accurate as the light level falls.
Click to expand...

This issue is actually discussed in some detail in a book called "Exposure Manual" written by Jack Dunn and George Wakefield. Originally published in the 1950s, the fourth and final edition was published in the early 1980s. I have the 3rd and 4th editions and have read the earlier ones at the library.

The books are very tech-geek discussions of exposure, what is good exposure, how to determine correct exposure, the technology of light meters and how they work.

Dunn helped design the incident light attachment sold with the Weston Master IV (and later Weston models). Weston called their incident dome an "Invercone" because it was an inverted cone. The earlier invercones were small, and not very effective for sidelighted scenes.

Dunn's version, which he calls the "British Improved Invercone" is very large and is actually able to take backlighting into account. Dunn also discusses a device he designed called the "Janusphere." It is an attachment for the Weston Master meters that does an incident and a reflected meter reading at the same time and causes the meter to give an averaged reading! He said that Weston decided not to manufacture it, but he has photos of the prototype he built and example photos done using it in the 3rd and 4th editions of the book.

If you're interested in how meters work, how they're calibrated, etc. then you want to buy this book!

To answer your original question in a shorter answer: bigger domes handle sidelight scenes better than smaller domes. For flat lighting and straight on light, there's no difference between a small and a large dome.
 
The Sekonics on here look so big to me. The Gossen Digisix is so much smaller and mine worked so very well. One of mine went through the washing machine and after it dried its still worked like a champ. - jim
 
michaelwj said:
......I was leaning towards the Gossen as it is slimmer (the dome is on the front), reads lower, and has a narrower reflected angle (25 vs 40 degrees). But it hasn't got a single vote................
Click to expand...

I haven't voted because although I have the Sekonic I haven't used the Gossen. I'm happy with the Sekonic but the Gossen looks a touch more pocketable and I agree that the 25deg angle (reflected not incident) would be preferable.
 
Richard G said:
For jeans pockets the Gossen Digisix would be the thing. For a jacket or coat pocket I like the Gossen Digipro F. The latter is flat, a little bigger than the Sixtomat and the dome swivels so it can face you as you hold it up looking at the subject and the readout. It takes a standard AA battery. Being not too small it is easy to get out of the pocket.
Click to expand...

I am using a Luna Pro-digital at present on a trip to eastern Europe.
It fits in an old cell phone case on my belt. It leaves my pockets free.
 
Although it took me a while to get used to the Digisix, it is reliable, sensitive, & tiny. I've come to live with the button pushing aspects of it.
 
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