Sekonic L-208 problem

[Argenticien]

Hi all. I was out shooting yesterday and had the L-208 with me. As usual I would press the button, and the red needle made a reading. I noticed that as I then moved the green match-needle toward the red, when the green got within about 2 stops left of the red, it pulled the red over toward it! And as I continued past where the red had been and beyond, the green pulled the red on for about 2 stops more to the right, until the red then bounced back to where it had been when the reading was made. (If that wasn't clear, I could try to post a video of this later.) Has anyone else seen such behavior and know whether it can be resolved? It seems almost like the green needle has got magnetized or charged with static electricity.

I'm irked at this, as I like this meter (and have recommended it often here), but this fault makes it somewhat useless.

Thanks for any ideas.
--Dave

 

[MikeL]

Hi Dave,
Sounds like it got squished. I had this happen with one of my other meters, and I had to open it up, un-bend the needle so it would stop rubbing, and then everything was fine.

 

[sevo]

Probably not magnetism - needle pointer meters have a strong magnet right in there, so the makers will have to anticipate it to a greater degree than any external magnetization that could possibly happen.

I've had similar issues with it as well as with other match-needle type meters in dry, cold air - which fits a static issue. If it happens, observe where the needle points and place the green there ignoring any deflection of the red.

 

[Argenticien]

@MikeL -- Good idea, I hadn't thought of that, but now that I'm back home and looking at it again, it's not squished. It was riding with a Bronica S2, which is a massive metal ingot to be sure. But being hard plastic, the L-208 should either crack, or not, but I don't think it can squish. Looking in from the side, as I turn the dial, the green needle is tracing a flat plane, so OK I think.

@sevo -- it was somewhat cold out -- about 3 to 5 C, I think -- and indeed dry. I really don't think I've seen this behavior on other cold days, so it's puzzling. But now that I'm back home and looking at it (indoors, reasonable humidity), the green needle is pulling the red now very little, perhaps one-half stop. So maybe the static charge is dissipating.

This does make me want to take out some of the vintage selenium meters I've picked up accidentally in the last few years, see if any is accurate, and use those if they by chance don't exhibit this behaviour!

Thanks guys, for your advice.
--Dave

 

[rgeorge911]

I've had exactly the same problem with my L-208 for several years. It is not a mechanical contact between the needles; I also believe it's magnetic. Annoying, but it can be solved as suggested above by noting the needle location before rotating the dial and aligning to that location.

Reed
Blog: DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

[ruby.monkey]

The L-208's red needle is thin enough that an unlucky knock or drop can bend it just enough that it fouls the other one. They're not too difficult to open up and fix.

 

[Highway 61]

I've had similar issues with it as well as with other match-needle type meters in dry, cold air - which fits a static issue.

+1

Happened to me once with a Rolleiflex 3.5F match-needle meter during a very cold and very dry winter day. The black needle was moving forth and back like crazy as soon as I was trying to cover it with the matching red needle.

Once back home the problem had gone and this never happened again.

The problem should go away by itself once the static charge is also gone. Don't clean the L-208 with a cat fur. Great meter BTW - I have one and like it much.

😉

 

[Argenticien]

Well, as of last March when I started this thread, believe it or not I had no smart phone. In April I got one. So now when I go out in the cold with the Sekonic (which I've not yet done this winter), I can at least know I have the Pocket Light Meter app on the phone as a backup.

--Dave