Topic: light meters

[formica]

i know this comes up from time to time, but here it is again. i've decided it's time i got myself a light meter. mainly to use with my seagul and lubitel. i'm on a budget and don't need anything too complicated. any suggestions for models that'd be a good starter? i see older ones here from time to time but i'm not sure of the pros and cons.  suggestions?

          william

[Heather]

I use my dad's Lentar light meter which has been kept in its case forever and is still fairly accurate when checked against posh new digital-readout ones. The good thing about it is that you can read off all your choices for f-stop vs shutter speed in one go. The digital output ones make you choose an f-stop. Well at least my friend said that was an advantage over his fancy sekonica I think the weston type ones are similar to my weirdo Lentar one except they have a needle and you have to line up a circle on a stick with the needle. Mine's got fancy little lights that tell you which direction to turn the dial and when it's at the right reading the green bulb lights up. It only does reflective and incidental readings, though, not spot metering.

[Francois]

I got an old Gossen Sixtar. Reliable but don't get one even if you see it cheap on eBay. It uses Mercury cells (I'm lucky mine still works).

It's an old needle metering type. Contacts on the battery cover tend to oxidize which is a drag. You also need a coin to change the ASA/DIN setting.

[cmdrray]

Notes for all (especially for the beginners out there)
Gossen Lunasix and the various models of their Luna Pro meters are all good (most of these can do both incident and reflected readings); you should be able to find these for $50 and under.
Most of Gossen's early meters were designed for mercury batteries, but the Wein replacements work  fine (just not as long). The Sekonic meters of the last 20 or so years are good, too, as are the later models of the Weston Master series. Battery-operated meters will generally be more useful in low light, but selenium cell (non-battery) meters are fine for daylight and brighter interiors and night scenes. Selenium cells will eventually die, but there are a lot of Westons and GE Meters from the 40s and 50s that are still accurate, and can often be found for a few dollars.
Also watch for the later editions of Kodak's Pocket Photoguide, which has wheel charts for exposure, depth-of-field, flash, etc....very handy back-up and learning tool.
Regardless of what meter you buy, remember that it's not creating  the photograph..YOU are.
You will find that with practice and experience that you will be able to look at most any scene and be able to figure the correct exposure with your eyes and mind...

[Francois]

but the Wein replacements work  fine (just not as long).

I've had a bad experience with those when I put them in an old Konica T3 Autoreflex (completely mechanical design with mercury cell meter).

-First, they are slightly thicker than the original PX-675 battery. I had to use the dremel to grind off part of the battery cover to make it close.

-Second, they threw the meter off by a good 2 stops. This made adjusting exposure a real drag, especially when using lower sensitivity film (there isn't much spacing on this camera between 25ISO and 50ISO... the first one was the value I had to use for 100ISO film)

-Third, they cost a lot more than alkaline batteries and last only a few months.

So, word of wisdom to all: Even though Wein Cells can work wonders in some meters, they don't work properly in all. If you can, stay away from meters that require them.

[formica]

thanks for all the suggestions everyone! just hours after i originally posted this i went in to work to find that a friend had stopped by and left a light meter for me! he said "consider it a gift". it's a sekonic auto-leader l-188.  need to load up some of my cameras that have more options on them and give it a test spin.

              william

[Skorj]

I use a little Digital Gossen that slips into my flash shoe, but the Sekonic is also an excellent machine. As always engage brain between reading and camera, and you'll be fine! Skj.