What's your favourite Light Meter?

[furcafe]

Gossen Digisix & Digiflash.

 

[ferider]

Gossen Ultra-pro.

Seems a bit big but fits perfectly in a Belt pocket (from Home Depot)
and has Contrast/Range measurement (which I think is very important).

And doesn't cost too much on the used market.

Roland.

 

[Hibbs]

Another vote for the Calcu-Lite XP...very good in low light.

~hibbs

 

[Jon Perry]

Sekonic L-358.

A bit bigger than the L-308, but a really versatile light meter.

 

[venchka]

Yesterday I was lucky enough to win an eBay auction for a Summicron 50/2, so now all I need is a rangefinder body to use it with.

That's one way to do it. Buy a nice lens first. 😀

Weston Master V with Invercone incident light attachment.

A copy of The Negative by Ansel Adams.

 

[Chris Lynch]

well, i had a Sekonic L-358 that was pretty awesome, until i got really into the "Available Darkness" realm... then it would get confused.

I'm bidding on a cheap Luna Pro SBC right now, and hoping for the best.

 

[Flyfisher Tom]

A leica kit deserves a Sekonic L-308. There are smaller meters, but they may require more expensive batteries and may be harder to read (depending on your eyesight). The L-308 uses a standard Alkaline AA cell and has a nice display. There are (at least) three versions of this meter, distinguished by different letters following '308' and they are all good.

In any case, I would recommend a meter which can take both incident and reflected readings. Some meters which only do reflected can be as expensive as the L-308. There is no advantage (and possibly disadvantages) to a meter which mounts in the accessory shoe.

By the way, the Leica M2 is every bit as good as the M3 and has the advantage of including 35mm framelines, in case that may be important to you.

Richard

I'd second Richard's recommendation of the L-308 ( the latest model is the L-308s). Another good meter is the VC meter II, very small, takes same button camera batteries.

The nicest feature of the L-308s is the automatic shutoff, and that it take readily available AA batteries.

 

[vodid]

A big ol' Minolta Flash Meter III for studio use, and a tiny Gossen Digisix for walking around. For another alternative, I used to tape the little chart onto the back of the camera, the one that used to come with the film showing a little graphic of the sun, cloudy sun, overcast, etc, that gave suggested camera settings. With black & white film in normal daytime lighting, that worked just fine.

 

[ampguy]

sekonic l-158

sekonic l-158

cheap, no batteries, small and light. cons: no good for low light.

Yesterday I was lucky enough to win an eBay auction for a Summicron 50/2, so now all I need is a rangefinder body to use it with.

I'm leaning towards a used Leica M3 having read so many great things about their reliability, build quality and accuracy.

Assuming I get one, I will of course need a portable light meter of some sort and was hoping to hear some suggestions for which types you'd recommend. Naturally my preference is to spend less rather than more, but I'm pretty flexible.
More than anything else I'd like something that's small and portable, accurate and very quick & easy to use.

Cheers, I look forward to hearing your opinons.

 

[Burkey]

Gossen Luna Star

Gossen Luna Star

I've had a Luna Star for many years. Bought it when I started using Mamiya 645s. Works well with my R3A as well as my Leica D2. I use mono-lights at work so the flash capability is very helpful for me.

 

[santino]

I've got only one, Lunasix F. It's enough for me, very sensible and flash metering+zone system scale.

 

[ffttklackdedeng]

As another Digisix user, I like to add that I don't like the positioning of the measurement button - If placed in a tight pocket you can accidentally push it so much that you drain the battery in no time. Love the EV display, though!

 

[lmd91343]

Before joining the ranks of rangefinder users, the Canon T90 and Canon F1N spoiled me with their built-in spotmeter capabilities for many years, and I was hooked on them.

Raid

Me too! But I am looking for a good deal on a spot meter. On my meterless cameras I use the Sekonic 308xx, secondarily the huge Luna Pro F. The more I use the SBC meters, the more I favor them over the CdS and selenium ones.

I've just stopped using my Luna Pro & Luna Pro S. They both need adjustment. They've drifted a bit over the years. The Sekonic and the F still match my built in camera meters as verified by my repair guy. I need to build a rig to adjust them.

 

[venchka]

Problem solved

Problem solved

Since you need a Leica M body and a light meter...

I should mention that my other favorite light meter at the moment is inside the body of my M5. 😀

 

[peter_n]

Calcu-light XP. A great meter, especially for low light and small, too--about the size of a deck of cards.

I second that! 😎

 

[Chris Lynch]

so uhhh- from teh specs, it looks like teh Calcu-light is what i've been looking for (extreme dark metering).

too bad they seem hard to come by.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Favorite light meter: anything that will read light at the moment. 😛

Eventually? Gossen Luna Pro. Preferably the one with the high ISO setting.

 

[peter_n]

so uhhh- from teh specs, it looks like teh Calcu-light is what i've been looking for (extreme dark metering).

too bad they seem hard to come by.

They're not that hard to come by. There's one for sale on eBay right now. Looks excellent and might go for $50-60.

 

[Ash]

Leningrad 4 😀

 

[ruben]

For ultraspeed uncompensated readings: Sekonic L-308

For quickest possible user thinking compensation: EuroMaster II