Thinking of Getting Hand-Held Meter

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wgerrard

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I'm thinking about getting a hand-held light meter. I'd like to find one that i can operate with one hand (The camera is usually in the other hand.). That looks possible with Sekonic's L-308S. They say the L-208 is also workable with one hand, but I wonder if that's realistic, what with moving dials and such.

The L-308S also is shutter priority only, and I am not. I usually pick an aperture and then dial in a compatible shutter speed.

However, the size and price of the 308S are appealing.

So, are there any meters out there comparable in size and price to the 308S that I can use with one hand and work in aperture priority mode?

Finally, someone told me that used meters typically need to be recalibrated. True?
 
I use a Gossen DigiSix with my M4-2. It is my only meter for my only camera. It is used in incident metering mode nearly all the time. The biggest feature (and it has a bunch) of the Gossen is its size; it is very small and light. It fits nicely in that little upper right hand pocket of most jeans. More importantly, it fits in the hand nicely and is operable with one hand. I hope this helps.
 
visiondr said:
I use a Gossen DigiSix with my M4-2. It is my only meter for my only camera. It is used in incident metering mode nearly all the time. The biggest feature (and it has a bunch) of the Gossen is its size; it is very small and light. It fits nicely in that little upper right hand pocket of most jeans. More importantly, it fits in the hand nicely and is operable with one hand. I hope this helps.
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What he said! Also check out the review our old buddy Ken Rockwell just posted on this great device.
 
Older meters that run on the mercury batteries tend to need readjustment when adapted to use silver oxide (1.5v) batteries. You can get by using zinc air batteries that have a similar voltage to mercury batteries.

I used a Sekonic L-398 for the longest time until I accidentally broke it. I replaced it with a Gossen Digisix and like it much better. Its smaller, lighter and operates with one hand (a must for me)
 
They say the L-208 is also workable with one hand, but I wonder if that's realistic, what with moving dials and such
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It's possibly one of the simplest and easiest meters there is to use one-handed. Use your index finger to slide the incident-metering dome in place or away if necessary, press the meter button with your thumb, and then spin the large ribbed dial with the same thumb until the needles line up, and you have the EV reading and all matching aperture/shutter-speed combinations at a glance.

It makes winding on your Leica look complicated. :)
 
I've had a Sekonic L-318 for years and for me it's the perfect one hand meter. I can adjust everything I want to with ease. It also takes a single AA batteries which you can find everywhere. There is a spot attachment for it for a 5 degree angle and it's held up fine for over 20 years.

B2 (;->
 
The L-208 is tiny and easy to use one handed. Cheap too.
Like ruby.monkey's post says, it makes winding look complicated.
 
I suggest you the POLARIS. Super tough and easy, large size LCD reading, flashmeter included, cheap, single AA powered, one hand operation, shirt pocket size. What else do you need ?
I have mine for almost 20 years of intense use...
 
A Weston Master V works with one hand & no batteries. I like it.
I scored a Gossen Luna-Pro sbc in a case, like new, for $50 a couple years ago. I love it! Yes, it's big. Yes, it runs on a garden variety 9v battery. Yes, it meters shadows & highlights so easily! Set the shadows at -2, check the highlights at +3 max. Pick a shutter speed/aperture you like. Shoot. It reads in the dark too. Seriously. I need a flashlight to read the dial.
 
Don't be put off by the emphasis on shutter priority. After taking the reading just rotate the thumb dial to the aperture of your choice and read off the speed.
 
Any Weston Master reflective or used as incident with invercone will fill the bill.

So will a Sekonic studio Delux incident.

I have 3 Westons and one Sekonic. No batteries required ever. Easy one hand operation.

Buy a used one and send it to Quality Light Metric in Hollywood. George will calibrate it to new. You are then good to go for 20 years unless you drop it. So use the neck chords.
 
the reason that the sekonic flashmate is shutter-priority is because it's a ... flash meter.

the 308 requires a press of one button to take a reading, after which you toggle through shutter speeds to match your aperture, if you're working at a fixed aperture. not bad with practice, but it is an additional step. it's my handheld these days, but i'd trade up for aperture priority.

if you want an LED readout AND shutter or aperture priority choice, the you'll have to move to the L-358. largish LED readouts with back illumination are nice if you work in low light and/or are farsighted, like me.

i just sold a couple of L-208 twinmates. really nice, accurate, compact, and the batt lasts forever. but prone to movement of the iso dial in your pocket (bad unless you're paying attention to it). also too small if you have large hands or long fingers. with my declining eyesight up close, the L-208 numbers require reading glasses which slows me down. just my opinion and preference, of course.
 
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When I owned an M2 I used the Gossen luna-pro digital meter. I suppose that its rather large when compared to the digisix, but the ‘issue’ with the small Gossen digisix (combined with my 50+ year old eyes) is the equally small digital readout.
 
Thanks for the quick education.

I just watched a video on the Sekonic 398. Looks like it might work with one hand. Anyone using it that way? Also, are there low-light issues with it? (By "low light" I mean after sunset, not dark of night.)

Mike, Doug: I know what you mean re; eyes and eyeglasses. I wear progressive lenses in my glasses. Legibility of small print gets better as I bring it closer to my eyes, and then gets worse quickly once it gets too close. It's easier for me to read with no glasses at all.
 
A Weston Master V works with one hand & no batteries. I like it.
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I have been using Weston Master V's for the last 30 years or so ( ..is it really that long !!)
for B&W , slide and 16mm Cine. I find them fairly bullet proof - luckily not literally

My latest mint example which gives an accurate reading was a few pounds from ebay. I had a Sekonic which was my late fathers but I sold it as I prefer the weston simplicity. If they become inaccurate or develop a fault I buy another.
 
venchka said:
A Weston Master V works with one hand & no batteries. I like it.
I scored a Gossen Luna-Pro sbc in a case, like new, for $50 a couple years ago. I love it! Yes, it's big. Yes, it runs on a garden variety 9v battery. Yes, it meters shadows & highlights so easily! Set the shadows at -2, check the highlights at +3 max. Pick a shutter speed/aperture you like. Shoot. It reads in the dark too. Seriously. I need a flashlight to read the dial.
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I can vouch for the Gossen Luna-Pro SBC being a good meter to use. And if you are fairly dexterous, you can use it with one hand; the left hand under the meter, push the button, then the fingers on the other side to rotate the dial to zero the meter. Mind you, I don't usually do that myself, but it is do-able.

I also have a Sekonic L28c2. It is a great meter, but not as versitile as the Gossen, but better for incident IMO. Some of the newer Sekonics mentioned above are probably a good hybrid between the SBC and the L23c2. The main advantage of the SBC is that it is a system meter, and it does read in really low light. The main disadvantage is its size. It isn't so heavy, but a larger footprint than the Sekonic I have.
 
Bill,
I have a 308 that I use about 95% of the time. I would say that this is a very good meter and cant imagine a better one. I too am someone who sets my aperture and then selects the shutter to match. As Mike said, with the 308 you simply meter the ambient light with whatever shutter speed you want, and then you can cycle through until you find the aperture shutter combo that you need.
Jim
 
I used to have a L-308 and it was great, the only gripe I had was that the display is not illuminated and so can be hard to see in the dark. A second hand Minolta Autometer IV is similar and has slightly more features. Both are easy to use one handed.

Sadly all of the meters I know of with a backlight are quite large - I've got a L-608 now and it's great but often I'd like a small meter to use for walkabouts where I don't need the complex features.

btw a friend of mine has the L-398 and it's also rather nice, it works fairly well in low light but late evening/sunset is about the limit - the newer digitals do real dark light much better. It's also possible to use one handed and the needle might be a bit easier to view than a LCD.
 
I use a Gossen Digisix almost all the time with my M6, M4 and Nikon S3. It's small and very light weight and can be used for direct readings or incident. One handed use is what it's meant for. There are others that are good as well but I really like this one. - Jim
 
wgerrard said:
I just watched a video on the Sekonic 398. Looks like it might work with one hand. Anyone using it that way? Also, are there low-light issues with it? (By "low light" I mean after sunset, not dark of night.)
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The 398 is and has been my main meter for daylight situations. It is easy to work with one hand (and the Weston follows the same paradigm). However the initial and early Norwoods were even easier to use, for some unfathomable reason they dropped the comfortable direct scale matching in favour of numeric readout and transfer at some point in the evolution of this meter type.

It works down past the bottom of handheld times (1/4s at f/1.4 for ISO 100). I would recommend the last two 398 variants (Studio Deluxe II or III, a.k.a. 398M or 398A) if you want to use it at the lower margin of its sensitivity, as the typography and print size on the scales was significantly improved there - the older ones are near impossible to read in low light.
 
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