Which Light Meter ?

[Sean Chan]

Hi,

I am planning to purchase a light-meter.

Just wondering what is your suggestion for a budget of below USD$130 new or 2nd hand.

I came acorss many "vintage" needle type meters on e-Bay, are they still reliable? I am sure some of them must be still reliable, which ones shall i look for? I want to to be compact (at least pocketable size).

What kind of EV range is the norm of today?

 

[pvdhaar]

Given that Selenium degrades over time, I would avoid second hand selenium meters. But new they're nice, because they don't use batteries (goes nice with the mechanical RF theme). Example: Gossen Sixtino.

 

[Sean Chan]

so.............battery operated meters are usually good regardless of age?

 

[RayPA]

Quatnum CalcuLight meter is great!

 

[Doug]

so.............battery operated meters are usually good regardless of age?

Well, it seems so... except when the required battery is no longer available. I'd avoid any meter that takes the old Mercury cell battery and go with one that takes an Alkaline or Silver cell. I got a couple of older Gossen meters last year, but restricted my search to those that took a common 9v "transistor" battery.

 

[Sean Chan]

Well, it seems so... except when the required battery is no longer available. I'd avoid any meter that takes the old Mercury cell battery and go with one that takes an Alkaline or Silver cell. I got a couple of older Gossen meters last year, but restricted my search to those that took a common 9v "transistor" battery.

Any particular model names?

Price is the main concern here and as always 😛

 

[Socke]

I have a Leningrad 7 which is stamped 1984 on its leather case and just recently got a Weston Master IV of unknown vintage. Both are acurate compared to the built in meters of my Contaxes.
And I bought an adaptor for SR44 silver cellst to 625 mercury for my late fathers Gossen Sixtar which must be from the mid 60s and it works very well.

 

[Doug]

Any particular model names?

Hi, yes; the Luna Pro F, which seems to be related to the Luna Pro SBC only additionally featuring flash metering. While in the heat of bidding on the 'bay, I also got a Luna Star F, which is a slimmer digital-reading meter. Both take the same common 9v battery, and I'm surprised I actually prefer the Luna Star F... certainly more pocketable than the Pro F. There was a Luna Star F2 as well, but I think that line has now been discontinued.

 

[hugivza]

A Luno Pro SBC is pretty good for all round ambient light measurement and should be available secondhand in your price range. If you need flash the Minolta IV F is good, has some fancy attachments and is probably more expensive, or the Gossen Profisix. Selenium meters look cool - I have a a few in various stages of degradation, they are great as nostalgic conversational pieces, but few are worth a long term investment for their light measuring capabilities.

 

[ruben]

I own 5, but recommend 2:

a) For a state of the art BIG meter with all possible functions: Sekonic 408.

b) For the SMALLEST one with all possible limited functions of a miniature one: Sekonic L308b.

Note: I do not know how big you may perceive the difference in size among the two from the written data, but as a user you will definitely feel it. The small one is so small that at even less functions gives a fierce competition to his bigger brother.
On the other hand the big brother gives built-in camera-like viewing that you cannot leave at home when you go out shooting, dressed to kill.

Cheers,
Ruben

 

[hoot]

Speaking of new selenium meters - are they as reliable and accurate, especially in low light, as battery-operated meters?

My Lunalite just broke down, and I feel like going retro and getting a nice new selenium meter.

 

[dexdog]

I am a fan of old selenium meters, but as a previous poster stated, perfomance degrades with time, so getting a good one is a gamble. I have a couple of Gossen meters, a Digisix and a Luna Star F. Both meters appear to be very accurate, the Digisix meters to 1/3 stop, while the Luna Star meters to 1/10.

The best thing about the Digisix is that it is really small (2.6inches/ 70mm long by 2 inches/ 50mm wide). The drawback to the Digisix is that the numbers on the speed/aperature scale are also small, 1/8 inch / 4mm, and may be difficult to read in some situatons. Metering range is from 0 to 18 EV with ISO 100 film. This meter takes easily available silver batteries.

The Luna Star F is easier to use because speed and aperature displays are a lot bigger than those of the Digisix (about 3/8 inch / 1cm). The drawback to the Luna Star F, in my opinion, is the relatively large size (5 inches/125mm by 2 3/4 inches/ 75mm). I would not want to hang this meter around my neck all day, whereas the Digisix is so small and light weight that i can toss it in my shirt pocket. The Luna Star will meter from -2 to 18 EV with ISO 100 film, and uses a single 9-volt battery.

I have seen both of the above meters sell on eBay for around $100 recently.

 

[Bryan Lee]

I dont go anywhere without my DIGISIX GOSSEN. I got it a few years ago when i had a Rollie with no meter and I wanted something very small and simple for under 150 $US. I would feel lost without it and Im always checking times,temp, or something even when not being used as a meter. Granted if you are going to meter flash, multiple complecated scenarios, etctra bigger is better but if you just want something light wieght always available in your pocket you cant go wrong with this. It even has a neopreme cover so when I fell into watrer recently it was dunked and no problem.

DIGISIX PDF

 

[Fred]

Sekonic 308B is what I've been using for the last few years both for natural light and flash. OK it does not have a thousand and one memory functions or spot metering. It does however do the important stuff like measuring both incident and reflected light, 1/10th stop measurements and flash (connected or not).

It is very small but not too small that it cannot be used, takes normal AA batteries and is light weight but feels well made. I can highly reccomend this one for your short list.

 

[GeneW]

If you can stretch your budget a little, consider the CVII. Tiny, accurate down to fairly low light, can be carried in your pocket or slipped onto an accessory shoe. Basically the same meter that's inside the Bessa bodies.

Gene

 

[oftheherd]

The Luna Pro SBC is also within your price range and may just barely be in your size. It will work in low light, as will its older brother, the Luna Pro, but the Luna Pro used the mercury battery and will need adjustment or a battery adapter. Neither will do flash, but the SBC can with an adapter. It also takes adapters for spot for 10/5/1 degree. Handy but that adapter is big. Both can use adapters for microscopes, 15/7 degree, copy, and enlarger. The Luna Pro sells for a little less and is a little smaller. The Sekonic L28c2 is for some reason quite expensive even on the 'bay but is very pocketable, reads surprising low light, but not nearly as good as the Luna Pro, and can use slides for different film speeds to read the needed f/stop. I really miss using mine but it only works sideways since the last time I dropped it. All three do incident as well as reflected without further adapters.

I used to use the Sekonic Micro Leader. I really nice, small, easy to use one handed meter. It also read in surprisingly low light. It was reflective only but was easy to use and acurate. I don't know if you could still find one in working order. I had to replace the cell in mine several years ago with one from Radio Shack.

Obviously others have given good advice too. Pick from what seems to suit you best.

 

[lido]

I got an old Weston Master IV for $19.99 off the evil site. Got an invercone (incident light attachment for it, another $14) and it appears to be completely accurate as compared to my Bessa R and Nikon D70 built in meters. It is an old selenium meter.

The only drawback to selenium meters is that they are not very good in low light situations. If you plan to use your meter in those kinds of situations, I would get one of the new digital ones.

 

[JohnL]

I also have Sekonic 308 for about a year now. No complaints. Cost about $160 new IIRC.

 

[Todd.Hanz]

I use the Luna Pro F, it's almost the size of my M4-P and M3, but it is pocketable if you have big pockets 🙂. Very accurate, look for one that takes a 9 volt battery, the older ones are harder to find batteries for (at least here in the US). The nice thing is when you take a reading you will see all the related fstop/shutter speed setting at the same time.


Todd

 

[Mark Wood]

A Weston Master V (definitely with Invercone) would get my vote for first choice. Not sensitive enough for very low light but by the time it fails to give a meaningful reading, you're getting towards the reciprocity failure zone of most films anyway. It's also marked with all of the 1/3 stop shutter speeds on the calculator dial (1/40th, 1/50th, 1/200th... are all there) along with the corresponding 1/3 stop aperture settings.

Going more modern, I've been really impressed with the cheaper Polaris digital meter. It has a 10° spot attachment as an optional extra and mine seems to be pretty accurate. (It claims 1/10th stop accuracy on the LCD display which is perhaps a bit optimistic.)

Fo a "real" spot meter - Olympus OM-4Ti. Sorry.....!!