[stevebrot]

Just a quick side note...vintage light meters with the "Weston" name have no relationship to Edward Weston (legendary photographer) or any of his family. They are named for the company that made them, founded by a different Edward Weston (a chemist). Photographer Weston used a Sekonic, IIRC and was famous for his unique and non-systematic way of addressing light with the meter. He drove Ansel Adams crazy. (They were neighbors and sometimes went into the field together.)

Just some trivial...


Steve

[Class A]

But if I want an actual proper light meter, what should I look for/ avoid?

If you want to use it for flash photography, be aware that almost no light meter is capable of dealing with HSS (high-speed sync).

If you are using HSS, make sure your light meter choice reflects that.

[stub]

The phone app meters are actually fairly accurate.... But dont extend to flash metering.... Something from the Sekonic range would be my recommendation....

[timw4mail]

Via online auctions, I actually found an inexpensive, if old, light meter.

It's a Sekonic Auto-Lumi 86. It's a Selenium cell meter, but it does seem to work pretty well. Judging by the condition, and the fact that it came with the original box and manuals, I don't think it has seem a lot of use.

[Eyewanders]

Via online auctions, I actually found an inexpensive, if old, light meter.

It's a Sekonic Auto-Lumi 86. It's a Selenium cell meter, but it does seem to work pretty well. Judging by the condition, and the fact that it came with the original box and manuals, I don't think it has seem a lot of use.

Resurrecting this one... how has the old Sekonic worked out for you?

I have the tiny Sekonic Steve mentioned, the Twin-mate L-208. It's so tiny and light I lose it in my various bags/packs regularly, but it's also pretty bang-on useful.
But my main meter is a Minolta Flash Meter VI which I absolutely adore. Works for flash (obviously) ambient and 1-degree spot - compact and ridiculously useful and intuitive. I like it heads-and-tails above the newer Sekonics that are at all similar. It's still made by the company Kenko who took over the patent and manufacturing some good while ago (and improved it slightly) as the model KFM-2200. The Minolta version can be found used as well, though it for some reason isn't as common as the IV and V models.

Also, incidentally (pun intended) Quality Light Meter in Hollywood can sort out absolutely any meter you find that's worth its salt. Fix, recalibrate, you name it... and George (the proprietor) is just ridiculously pleasant to deal with... approaching the level of John Goodman (Mr. foam seal kit).
Just thought I'd add this info to the thread.

---------- Post added 04-08-18 at 04:08 PM ----------

Photographer Weston used a Sekonic, IIRC and was famous for his unique and non-systematic way of addressing light with the meter. He drove Ansel Adams crazy.

That's hilarious I'd never heard that.

[morenjavi]

If you plan to work with flash light (manual mode), or mixing natural and flash light is important to you, I would suggest the Sekonic 358. It seems that is discontinued now (I don't know why), but maybe you could find one second hand.

In my case, it was a before and an after. Using the meter allowed me to setup my lights in little time, and to be confident on the results. On Pentax cameras, a +0.3EV correction is recommended; it's the compensation I use at present, with good results.

Regards.

[timw4mail]

The old Selenium Sekonic works pretty well, the only catch is the wide metering area.