Light Meter Recommendation?

Tawnya

Does anyone have a light meter recommendation for me?

Thanks!

Jeffro

Tawnya wrote:

Does anyone have a light meter recommendation for me?

Thanks!

I have the Sekonic L-308S. It was affordable, and easy to learn with, and is my first light meter. I bought it to use with my Alien Bee's.

Scott_Quier

I have the Sekonic 358. I also purchased to use it, primarily, with my ABs.

I will, however, use it for ambient metering when setting up for weddings and receptions.

You can find it here, if you're interested in a link.

ziggy53

I use the Gossen Luna Pro F. I find it works the way I wish to work, and it was (relatively) inexpensive and accurate.

The null meter design lets you either "set" an exposure on the meter, and then bring the lights to that setting, or you can measure the key light, and then set the secondary lights as ratios, seeing the "relationship" of each, relative to the key light. There are digital designs that do similar, but they are more expensive.

I like the analog design that allows me to visually interpolate the results, and I "love" the fact that it uses common 9v batteries.

The meter is also a decent ambient light meter, with continuous metering if needed, and "cine" markings for movie work.

For single flash measurement, nothing beats the digital camera body itself.

ziggy53

claudermilk

A lot depends on what you want to do with it.

I have the L-358 & love it, it does almost everyhting I want it to and some stuff I probably will never need. It seems to be one of the more popular models right now. However, if you need spot metering, it's not really the best choice (yeah, there's attachments--which I'll eventually get a 1deg--but there's better options as well). And if you like the way an analog meter works, it's probably not the best choice.

pathfinder

Likw Scott I use a Sekonic 358. It is a good flash meter and can have a flash radio trigger built in. It is a good ambient incident meter also.

I do not feel a the need for a seperate reflective meter from the one in my cameras. But a good incident meter that can meter flash is a worthwhile thing to own.

Shay Stephens

Another vote for the Sekonic L-358. I have the pocketwizard module too so I can trigger my lights with the meter. Sweet meter.

swintonphoto

I have used a sekonic for almost 10 years and would recommend it to anyone. I would recommend the ones that have both incident and spot metering available. Many light meters are only spots or only incidents - but sekonic offers some with both.
Here is a link to Pictureline - they have two different kinds of sekonics that do both spot and incident:
http://www.pictureline.com/category.php?mid=85&cid=98
The L-758DR looks really sweet - it has programmable sensitivity that can match different true exposure needs of different digital sensors (Because digital sensors for different cameras are often a slightly different sensitivity than their ISO claims)
They are also very well built (as I said 10 years and still running strong with mine)
I have also used minolta meters, but since their death :hung - don't think they are an option.
Best of luck!

ian408

-358 with the PW module. Very nice.