[heatherslightbox]

I'm looking for a meter that would be good for landscape and macro work when I have the camera mounted to my tripod and want to take readings from several different places within the frame. Someone has recommended the Sekonic L358 to me, but if there are less expensive options (either new or used) that would work just as well, then I'm open to those, as well.

I'm not that well-educated on how meters work or what I really need to accomplish what I want to accomplish with one, so what should I be looking for?

Thanks!
Heather

[Ratmagiclady]

Hrm, I'm afraid I really don't know about what's good for macro metering, but I guess the Minolta IV-F and V (Kenko took over making one of these when Minolta went away, I forget their model number) meters are nice all around meters for the money: They may need attachments for macro.

A spot meter is good for landscape, though it's used differently, but that's what I'd most want.

[woof]

Someone has recommended the Sekonic L358 to me...

I LOVE my Sekonic L-308S Flashmate. It doubles as a flash meter, and does incident and ambient light. You can generally use it to meter different segments, but this takes practice. I don't see how the L358 would do better. Bought my L308 for 125.00 used but in mint condition on eBay. I use a lot of cameras from the 50's on, but the L-308 is my meter of choice.

There's always the L-208 as well. Very small and compact.

I'm looking for a meter that would be good for landscape and macro work when I have the camera mounted to my tripod and want to take readings from several different places within the frame.

If you really after accurately measuring different segments within a frame and averaging or weighted averaging, or working out the best exposure in some manner from multiple readings, you may well really be wishing for a spotmeter.

Seriously consider a Pentax Spotmeter V. It takes modern non-mercury batteries and it's just what you need for accurately taking multiple readings.

These are generally less than $200.00 now and you should be able to get one for less than $150.00 if you work at it.

woof!

[Wheatfield]

I'm looking for a meter that would be good for landscape and macro work when I have the camera mounted to my tripod and want to take readings from several different places within the frame. Someone has recommended the Sekonic L358 to me, but if there are less expensive options (either new or used) that would work just as well, then I'm open to those, as well.

I'm not that well-educated on how meters work or what I really need to accomplish what I want to accomplish with one, so what should I be looking for?

Thanks!
Heather

Personally, I think you should be looking to the meter in your camera and the instant review/ histogram. With these tools avalable to you, there really isn't any point in owning an external meter, unless you are shooting with studio flash and need to be able to work out lighting ratios.

[heatherslightbox]

I got to thinking about it and I'm wondering if a small p&s would work as a spot meter. When I was at a photography workshop last month, I remember seeing one of the other participants using one at an early morning landscape shoot, but I didn't make the connection until this morning. If I could find a p&s with decent manual controls, I might be able to kill 2 birds with one stone--a small camera + meter. Hmmm...

Heather

[Ratmagiclady]

I got to thinking about it and I'm wondering if a small p&s would work as a spot meter. When I was at a photography workshop last month, I remember seeing one of the other participants using one at an early morning landscape shoot, but I didn't make the connection until this morning. If I could find a p&s with decent manual controls, I might be able to kill 2 birds with one stone--a small camera + meter. Hmmm...

Heather

You can, kind of, though, why not just use the built in meter for that? P&S's can meter but sometimes their meters say a little different than they should, and usually have variable-aperture lenses on there. It's tempting with a P&S with a long zoom at times, but the aperture range is limited and the precision may just not be there, so I'm not sure that's quite so convenient.

A K20d actually makes a nice spot-meter substitute, if you don't mind the 'spot' being pretty wide, I use my guy that way when I'm carrying a meterless film camera, too. (I'm guessing you want to use your K20 in a fixed position and take the meter readings without moving it, though?)

[heatherslightbox]

A K20d actually makes a nice spot-meter substitute, if you don't mind the 'spot' being pretty wide, I use my guy that way when I'm carrying a meterless film camera, too. (I'm guessing you want to use your K20 in a fixed position and take the meter readings without moving it, though?)

That's the idea--in the type of situation where I'd want an external meter, the K20 would be on a tripod and ready to shoot. I do have a second DSLR body that I could use as a "spot meter" to the K20.

As I was researching the matter, I ran into this site:
Spot Metering (Spot Meter): Digital / 35mm / Medium Format!
It listed the *ist D as one of the best spotmetering cameras manufactured--how about that?

I may have just saved myself $200+.

Heather

[ChrisPlatt]

Determining proper exposure for macrophotography using a handheld meter or second camera body will be difficult,
especially if you will be using extension tubes, a bellows or reverse-mounted lens.
Using the taking camera's built in through-the lens light meter will be much easier.

Chris

[Ratmagiclady]

It listed the *ist D as one of the best spotmetering cameras manufactured--how about that?

I may have just saved myself $200+.

Heather

That may be good, especially since the macro guys say you want to use TTL. There are correction factors and such involved with any kind of bellows or tube that... especially with digital where you can chimp and bracket to your heart's content, may just not make the other convolutions worth it. If you have another worthy digital and lens you can point around, you have a bulky spotmeter that also takes images.

See, what I really want, they just don't make anymore. I want a Weston Ranger 9: little wearable thing with a peepey-viewer and a physical calculator dial I can look at the whole thing of when I'm trying to balance five things and am too tired to hold that many numbers in my head cause someone never got over digital watches seeming cool.

Just put some modern sensors in there, bing.

[Wheatfield]

Determining proper exposure for macrophotography using a handheld meter or second camera body will be difficult,
especially if you will be using extension tubes, a bellows or reverse-mounted lens.
Using the taking camera's built in through-the lens light meter will be much easier.

Chris

I just can't figure out the desire for an external meter if a DSLR is being used. In the time it takes to meter the scene and transfer those numbers over to the camera, take a picture and review it for correct exposure, it's possible to take a picture, review it's histogram, adjust the controls and take another one several times.
OTOH, people do like to make the simple into the complex.
All I know for sure is that I have two Zone VI modified meters and a Gossen Lunasix, and have never felt any urge to have any of them in my DSLR kit.

[kenyee]

Not sure why you'd use a lightmeter for macro work either.

Studio, yes.
Long light night exposures where the K20D's built-in meter max of 30sec is overrun yes.
Film where you need to know the exposure for a frame rate, yes.
Multiple flash exposures, yes.

[Ratmagiclady]

I just can't figure out the desire for an external meter if a DSLR is being used. In the time it takes to meter the scene and transfer those numbers over to the camera, take a picture and review it for correct exposure, it's possible to take a picture, review it's histogram, adjust the controls and take another one several times.
OTOH, people do like to make the simple into the complex.
All I know for sure is that I have two Zone VI modified meters and a Gossen Lunasix, and have never felt any urge to have any of them in my DSLR kit.

Well, ...there's incident readings, for one, I also like em for the street and events, (And of course for any meterless film cameras I may be carrying) ...it can be useful to sort of map things out before you start pointing a camera everywhere. (Not something I generally carry a meter for if I'm not also carrying it for those other reasons, but if it's there, it'll often come out for those kinds of purposes. I find it can really help me get in the right headspace to sort of walk along an area to sort of map out what's going on with the light, and calibrate my metering-by eye. )

Obviously Heather's got a point in her set-up shots where the idea's come up where she'd like to insert some separate metering, ...I'd imagine she wants to keep her composition as the light changes and have some more positive metering.

When I was back up north, I'd find it happening rather a lot that I'd be wishing for a true spotmeter to pull in a reading off something more distant among all the snow and stuff.