Recomend a light meter or tell us which you use

amyl0359

amyl0359

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Can any one Recomend a light meter if not just tell us which one you use :)
 
Sekonic L358 isd pretty much the most used and useful however for a starter I'd not go past the Sekonic L308 - small and simple and effective
 
Do you want to measure flash as well? If so, the Sekonic L308-S is the one I've got and it does the job just fine.
 
+1 for the Sekonic L308 small and easy to use, great little tool
 
Sekonic L758D. Over the top for beginners but if you want one to learn and develop into then it has an extremely good learning curve
 
Sekonic 308. Has anyone else got one? :D
 
Another vote for the Sekonic 308S! It's not without its faults though, the battery cover has a tendency to slip off, plus I would have liked it to have had an aperture priority mode.
 
Weston Master V with invercone and leather case

Allan
 
Minolta Autometer III. I was in the original Minolta UK advert for this meter 25 years ago and have liked it ever since. Simple to use, accurate and still easy to get batteries. Cheap enough on Ebay.
 
I remember watching open mouthed many, many years ago as a young man in Dixons tried to supply a replacement battery for a customer's Weston meter. It was funny until he got out a jewellers' screwdriver.....It's rude to interfere but sometimes you just have to.
 
EOS_JD said:
Is that not what the camera does?
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No, the camera takes photos. :p Then there's the problem of having a meter less camera, or if you want an incident reading. The L308 meters in Tv or EV values (useful for a Hasselblad and my Rolleiflex). Higher end Sekonics do Av though. It's not a big deal since I can guess an exposure within half a stop now, but I remember it frustrating me when I started out since I tend to prioritise aperture since that usually has the biggest effect on how a photo looks in most conditions.
 
Had my eye on the Sekonic L358 I thought the 308 would be ok but don't think it triggers flash which I would be wanting cheers guys :)
 
amyl0359 said:
Had my eye on the Sekonic L358 I thought the 308 would be ok but don't think it triggers flash which I would be wanting cheers guys :)
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The L358 only triggers flash remotely with the appropriate Pocket Wizard module inside and the appropriate Pocket Wizard receivers on your lights. They are costly. If you don't have PWs they both pretty much work the same with flash.

Both the L308 and L358 will see the burst of light produced when you press the test button on your radio transmitter (the small radio module that sits on your camera). You can remove from the camera and press the test if you prefer to do so too. :)

So although the L358 can do that, it costs much less to press the test button on the radio transmitter than it does to invest in a pocket wizard system. If you have PWs great go for it but otherwise both will work in the same way regards seeing the burst of flash and providing the appropriate aperture value.
 
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FruitFlakes said:
No, the camera takes photos. :p
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It does lots of things other than just taking photos :p

FruitFlakes said:
Then there's the problem of having a meter less camera, or if you want an incident reading. The L308 meters in Tv or EV values (useful for a Hasselblad and my Rolleiflex). Higher end Sekonics do Av though.
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Now I understand what you mean but really it's just the way it does it and is VERY easily amended to get the appropriate aperture. For an incident reading you set the SS and it tells you the aperture. To amend to get the aperture you want you can adjust the SS - literally takes an extra couple of seconds and can be done between walking from subject to camera. I never found that an issue.

FruitFlakes said:
It's not a big deal since I can guess an exposure within half a stop now, but I remember it frustrating me when I started out since I tend to prioritise aperture since that usually has the biggest effect on how a photo looks in most conditions.
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If you are within half a stop all you would need to do is adjust the SS up/down one or two clicks and the aperture would change so that when you get the aperture you wanted just read the SS - So very simple to work in any mode.

Yes the L358 is better and therefore more expensive but both basically do the same job.
 
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EOS_JD said:
The L358 only triggers flash remotely with the appropriate Pocket Wizard module inside and the appropriate Pocket Wizard receivers on your lights. They are costly. If you don't have PWs they both pretty much work the same with flash.

Both the L308 and L358 will see the burst of light produced when you press the test button on your radio transmitter (the small radio module that sits on your camera). You can remove from the camera and press the test if you prefer to do so too. :)

So although the L358 can do that, it costs much less to press the test button on the radio transmitter than it does to invest in a pocket wizard system. If you have PWs great go for it but otherwise both will work in the same way regards seeing the burst of flash and providing the appropriate aperture value.
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Cheers well I might go for the 308 then save some dosh I don't mind pressing a button t trigger flash lol I don't have pocket wizards just bowens and the tx and card
 
amyl0359 said:
Cheers well I might go for the 308 then save some dosh I don't mind pressing a button t trigger flash lol I don't have pocket wizards just bowens and the tx and card
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What do you mean tx and card?

You need a radio tx (on the camera) and receiver that fits in the flash head. The receiver goes on the flash and if you have more than 1 flash you can either get another or set the one one without the receiver to optical so it will fire when the other does. Works fine in the studio.

THe 308 is a perfect meter to start with
 
EOS_JD said:
What do you mean tx and card?

You need a radio tx (on the camera) and receiver that fits in the flash head. The receiver goes on the flash and if you have more than 1 flash you can either get another or set the one one without the receiver to optical so it will fire when the other does. Works fine in the studio.

THe 308 is a perfect meter to start with
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Yeah I have the radio tx and receiver card in one flash and other wired to my camera :) cheers
 
What triggers do you have?

The transmitter fits to your camera (it transmits the data to the receiver)

The receiver (it's not normally a "card") fits to the flash

Or maybe I'm missing something?
 
I'll add another vote for the Sekonic L-308s... It's a damned good little light meter for the money. I bought one for my daughter for Christmas last year. :thumbs:

I use the Kenko KFM-1100 though. :)
 
EOS_JD said:
What triggers do you have?

The transmitter fits to your camera (it transmits the data to the receiver)

The receiver (it's not normally a "card") fits to the flash

Or maybe I'm missing something?
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Hey sorry if iv confused ya heres the 2 products i use to trigger my flash units :D receiver card & tx

http://www.bowensdirect.com/index.php/accessories/radio-triggers/pulsar-receiver-card.html

http://www.bowensdirect.com/index.php/accessories/radio-triggers/pulsar-tx.html
 
Never saw them before Amy but perfect :) Just when you called it a card it confused me lol

Thanks for posting
 
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sorry lol they are awesome :) and just ordered sekonic l-358 :D cant wait til it comes hope it comes before sunday as i have a newborn shoot :)
 
amyl0359 said:
sorry lol they are awesome :) and just ordered sekonic l-358 :D cant wait til it comes hope it comes before sunday as i have a newborn shoot :)
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Point meter at the light source from subject position (with the bulb out) and done :) If you have other lights in the set up measure them individually.
 
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