Originally posted by WPRESTO I think it was favored because it was a particularly good incident meter.
Was the meter of choice when I was at Brooks Inst. in the 1980s, was part of the recommended kit.
Simple, durable, reliable, no battery to worry about.
I really got used to the linear display, and being able to "see" minute variations in light with it.
I've still got mine packed away with other legacy gear.
About the only down side to them was not very sensitive in low light, but fine in just about any daylight or studio (continuous source) situation.
The other thing that used to drive me nuts about them, is they came with a very long neck cord which many folks left long, they would swing around and knock into things, damaging either the meter or the other object.
I cut mine off short so it could be looped around my wrist when needed,