Light meter

[bass_junkie83]

I am soon to be new to the world of studio lighting and will be looking to purchase a light meter.
Has anyone had experience of any of the cheap ebay offerings, ie
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Digital-L...in_0?hash=item2556195a7b&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

I know buying cheap is generally a false economy, but i am already looking at going significantly over budget with the lighting itself.
If the cheap meter are no go, why not? And alternatively are there better models that are available second hand regularly that don't cost the earth?

 

[Garry Edwards]

It looks to me (and I could be wrong) that this particular meter won't do for you because
1. It only measures continuous light, not flash
2. It only reads in lux, you'd need to convert the readings to EV (exposure values) even if you were using it to measure continous light. In other words, it seems to be designed for measuring light in factories etc not for photography.

In my experience all flash meters seem to give pretty consistent and accurate results, regardless of price. The more expensive ones e.g. Sekonic also have lots of features that may or may not be important to you and the very expensive ones e.g. Minolta/Kenro are very strongly made.

 

[bass_junkie83]

Ahh cheers, i should have looked a lot closer at the desription.
I'll keep my eyes peeled for second hand known brands then.