I got a Quantum Calcu-Light semi-analog meter with an old camera which I quite like. It's a third the size of Sekonic meters which is nice. It can do incident and reflected light(aim it at spot you want to meter) Cons are it takes 3 357 batteries to power and the dials are fiddly. I call it semi-analog because your reading appears on a digital display which then needs to be aligned on the dial. (fiddly) I also like my analog Sekonic L28C2 because it needs no batteries.
spangst that’s awesome. Yeah I’ve seen those old semi analog and analog light meters. Never tried one though. Whatever works to get you a good reading!
Just brought a l-858d to use with my large and medium format camera... better investissent than a new digital body in my opinion, like a good tripod a good light meter is a necessity
I use the L-358, it has an Elinchrom 'module' installed so it works beautifully with my Elinchrom strobes. It's easy to use which works well with the K.I.S.S. principle.
The L-358 has an advantage that is not so well known - it has spot metering via an accessory that replaces the incident light cone. What is great about this modular method that it is possible to get 1 degree, 5 degree, and 10 degree versions. This makes it a very flexible meter, but I also love its over all simplicity. Some of these more computerized super-duper meters can get so confusing time gets wasted figuring things out, or explaining things to an assistant. The L-358 is so simple even the biggest dummies can use it without problems, and yet the features it does have are really well thought out. I love for example having two ISO buttons for using two cameras, which is normal, and the 9 memory functions that are easily accessible. Then there is the bonus that between buying the meter and a couple of spot viewfinder accessories is still cheaper than buying one of the super-duper models. For me it is L358 all the way! It is such a shame that it is now a discontinued model. Thank goodness for eBay.
but is the accesory spot meter as good as the built in one in the higher level ones? I want to buy a good lightmeter for a reasonable price that can meter incident light as well as spotlight and can make average spot metering for the streets, landscapes, whatever. I wanted the 358 for the good price but the spotmeter isnt there - will the attachment serve as good as the sekonic 508/558/758?
@@artistjoh yes, that’s what’s bugging me - the price for the attachment will be high and all together for the 358 with accessory will not be that far away from the price for the model with built in spot meter.
@@dzava No, it is not as well built and the connection is wobbly. Also, you lose metering sensitivity by using the accessory. Its okay if you want to travel light and want to have something just in case you run into a difficult lighting situation but it does not compare to having a Pentax or Minolta (or Gossen) spot.
I got my Sekonic lightmeter 358L used from b&photo and video in new York in June this year Ipaid $229 plus tax free shipping It's taking me a bit of time to figure out the toggles on the back and how to get the 1/2 stops to show up I would like to know how to set the fstop let's say to 6.7 and have the meter tell me the shutterspeed and ISO settings and still be able to toggle through the equivalent settings Someone Please tell me how to do this I had a minolta III light meter 30 years ago was perfect for the film portraits I did
I like the older L-358. Its very compatible to my advanced pro Minolta Flash Meter V. 558 is i think the last to use the mini receptor like Minolta for ground glass metering. I rly use thay the most in medium & large format
Hii there, I enjoy your videos and photos. Thank you. I just have a question, do you use spot meter function on sekonic meter for portraits, would like to know your point of view on that.
Hey Tony, I see you were using a Pentax 67 in the beginning, have you tested the accuracy of the TTL Pentax meter? I just picked up a Pentax 67 and wondering if I can trust the TTL prism. Thanks!
I used an external meter when I was shooting with the Pentax. It wasn’t mine and I wasn’t familiar with the meter so I opted for the external meter. I actually just purchased a Pentax 67 myself. Hasn’t arrived yet though. I’ve heard the meter is good but I usually prefer external metering. I’d recommend comparing the two if you have an external meter.
I have the Pentax 6x7 myself for many years (before digital). My model does not have the meter but I would not rely on the built in meter. That camera meter still reads as an average, just like most built in meters. Using a light meter you will learn so much more and you can be more confident in you exposers. At first it slows you down, but soon you will start to notice simlarities in scenes and you won't have to meter every exposer.
Do you have any information how long the battery will last with the L-858 since it has this large screen. I‘m not quite sure if I should get an older one or the L-858 since the old used ones seem to be almost the same price as the brand new ones.
i have a Gossen Digipro then the Sekonic 358. Somehow it seems the Sekonic measures about half to a full stop dimmer than the Digipro. weird. using the Pocket light meter as well with my iphone, its spot on usually.
Sorry mate, but you are not getting the point here. There is limitation of 1/250s reading beside the top model, and integration of modules for flash brands like Godox. This means that you can control everything from the flash-meter. With L-858 you can set your flash receiver to App mode, and set flash A, B or C as you want. It has simplified the calculations to nothing + HSS ability.
Agh nice. That is a super cool feature. I don’t typically shoot film with flash though so I don’t use external light meters then. Sounds like a super useful feature for people that do though.
This is so great! I use the L-358 and ran into the issue of metering landscapes this past weekend in Colorado. Wish I had a spot meter for that instead of just meter and pray haha
David Swidrak hahaha yep! I got sick of that and ended up buying the 558. I got a pretty good deal on it through FB marketplace so was stoked to have a spot meter.
The L-358 has spot meter accessories available in 1 degree, 5 degree, and 10 degree versions. The incident light cone is on a bayonet mount. Just twist and pull it off, and replace it with the spot meter viewfinder of your choice. I love this modular system and having choices between spot angles of view.
@@artistjoh I also have the L-358 but am having a huge problem. If the ambient light is any kind of LED (even just a phone or LED Headlamp) The meter won't work in Flash mode. My studio is LED so I am unable to meter anything unless I plug in an incandescent light to see by or plug my big strobes into AC and use the modelling lights for ambient. Are others having this problem and is there a workaround other than replacing the meter or just chimping?
Thanks for the info! I am thinking of participating in the Kickstarter campaign for the new Reveni Light Meter (since the first one is so good!). Looks like a cool gadget and it would be a perfect reason to learn an practice the zone system... Nevertheless, the light meter app you show at the end of your video is also great, at least for general purposes for a non-pro like me !
Wish I could find a 558 worth buying, unfortunately they are all ok in quality and they're still asking a heck of a lot of money for it. Might as well get the 858 if im spending that much, just dont like how long it takes to turn on and the touch screen honestly..
eggr17ify yep that’s why I got rid of my 858. I found a 558 on Facebook marketplace for $300. The trigger button was kinda falling off and I just taped it down. Otherwise it’s perfect.
When a phone app could give you similar results to a Sekonic...I just wonder if one of those cheap no-name light meters on Aliexpress could do the same job of a sekonic, for 50-100$. Sekonic's name seems to be like a monopoly in this field
@@eladbari the phone apps are pretty good just not always 100% accurate. Dedicated light meters are really good at helping you meter for an exact spot (spot metering) and offer that bulb for metering light hitting a person's face. Idk I use my phone for really dark exposures and my light meter for everything else. Pretty happy with my purchase.
I prefer to use an old Sony A7 as my spot meter, because it also gives a histogram and of course an EVF preview. Once you calibrate in your head (buy shooting a few test rolls and taking notes) how this translates to film, it’s more accurate than a Sekonic, which has a pretty horrible user interface. I understand this setup only works under certain conditions (because you need to switch the Lens from your Sony to film camera) but it’s a viable option.
His demonstration and commentary on use of the first (incident only) meter shows that he doesn't understand how an incident meter works. You do not flash it around pointing at the light sources unless you are reading (and balancing) multiple artificial or flash sources, which you rarely need to do outside a studio setting. Balancing light sources is when you use the light sensor in its retracted position. The rest of time (nearly all of the time), you use the sensor in its non-retracted position so that the meter can read and average light from all directions as it falls on your subject.
I appreciate the comment 4 months ago and today. Getting two views out of you, I must be special. This must be your second lap around RUclips writing negative comments. Thanks for stopping by!
![GEEK TIMË [OFFICIAL AUDIO]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ry-6RvkH880/mqdefault.jpg)
What light meter are you guys using and for what type of photography?
I got a Quantum Calcu-Light semi-analog meter with an old camera which I
quite like. It's a third the size of Sekonic meters which is nice. It
can do incident and reflected light(aim it at spot you want to meter)
Cons are it takes 3 357 batteries to power and the dials are fiddly. I
call it semi-analog because your reading appears on a digital display
which then needs to be aligned on the dial. (fiddly) I also like my
analog Sekonic L28C2 because it needs no batteries.
spangst that’s awesome. Yeah I’ve seen those old semi analog and analog light meters. Never tried one though. Whatever works to get you a good reading!
Light meter app on my phone
Mark Olwick nice! Which one?
Just brought a l-858d to use with my large and medium format camera... better investissent than a new digital body in my opinion, like a good tripod a good light meter is a necessity
I use a L-758 DR for portraits. Just fun to play around with this light meter... Thanks for the video.
Thank you for creating this video! Super helpful for someone looking to purchase a light meter.
Thanks for watching! What one are you going to get?
Very good, this is what I was searching for. Thank you
Sweet. Hope it helped.
I use the L-358, it has an Elinchrom 'module' installed so it works beautifully with my Elinchrom strobes.
It's easy to use which works well with the K.I.S.S. principle.
The L-358 has an advantage that is not so well known - it has spot metering via an accessory that replaces the incident light cone. What is great about this modular method that it is possible to get 1 degree, 5 degree, and 10 degree versions. This makes it a very flexible meter, but I also love its over all simplicity. Some of these more computerized super-duper meters can get so confusing time gets wasted figuring things out, or explaining things to an assistant. The L-358 is so simple even the biggest dummies can use it without problems, and yet the features it does have are really well thought out. I love for example having two ISO buttons for using two cameras, which is normal, and the 9 memory functions that are easily accessible. Then there is the bonus that between buying the meter and a couple of spot viewfinder accessories is still cheaper than buying one of the super-duper models. For me it is L358 all the way! It is such a shame that it is now a discontinued model. Thank goodness for eBay.
but is the accesory spot meter as good as the built in one in the higher level ones? I want to buy a good lightmeter for a reasonable price that can meter incident light as well as spotlight and can make average spot metering for the streets, landscapes, whatever.
I wanted the 358 for the good price but the spotmeter isnt there - will the attachment serve as good as the sekonic 508/558/758?
@@dzava It might be a moot question since accessories for discontinued models are harder to find than hens teeth.
@@artistjoh yes, that’s what’s bugging me - the price for the attachment will be high and all together for the 358 with accessory will not be that far away from the price for the model with built in spot meter.
@@dzava No, it is not as well built and the connection is wobbly. Also, you lose metering sensitivity by using the accessory. Its okay if you want to travel light and want to have something just in case you run into a difficult lighting situation but it does not compare to having a Pentax or Minolta (or Gossen) spot.
I got my Sekonic lightmeter 358L used from b&photo and video in new York in June this year Ipaid $229 plus tax free
shipping
It's taking me a bit of time to figure out the toggles on the back and how to get the 1/2 stops to show up
I would like to know how to set the fstop let's say to 6.7 and have the meter tell me the shutterspeed and ISO settings and still be able to toggle through the equivalent settings
Someone Please tell me how to do this
I had a minolta III light meter 30 years ago was perfect for the film portraits I did
Tony, you can disable the auto power off function of the l 858, the manual page 182 will help you with the setting, best wishes
Thanks so much!! That’s a great tip!
I did not realize that light meters were this expensive!
Thanks for this video. I am currently shopping for a light meter. This helps.
Glad to hear it helped!!
Very cool! Thanks Tony ;-0) Thinking of getting the Sekonic 358 ;-0)
That’s my personal favorite!
I like the older L-358. Its very compatible to my advanced pro Minolta Flash Meter V. 558 is i think the last to use the mini receptor like Minolta for ground glass metering. I rly use thay the most in medium & large format
Hii there, I enjoy your videos and photos. Thank you. I just have a question, do you use spot meter function on sekonic meter for portraits, would like to know your point of view on that.
Thanks so much. I prefer the incident meters for portraits. I only use the spot meter for landscape photos.
Hey Tony, I see you were using a Pentax 67 in the beginning, have you tested the accuracy of the TTL Pentax meter? I just picked up a Pentax 67 and wondering if I can trust the TTL prism. Thanks!
I used an external meter when I was shooting with the Pentax. It wasn’t mine and I wasn’t familiar with the meter so I opted for the external meter. I actually just purchased a Pentax 67 myself. Hasn’t arrived yet though. I’ve heard the meter is good but I usually prefer external metering. I’d recommend comparing the two if you have an external meter.
I have the Pentax 6x7 myself for many years (before digital). My model does not have the meter but I would not rely on the built in meter. That camera meter still reads as an average, just like most built in meters. Using a light meter you will learn so much more and you can be more confident in you exposers. At first it slows you down, but soon you will start to notice simlarities in scenes and you won't have to meter every exposer.
I use Sekonic L508
Great video, thanks
Francis Tsui thanks so much.
Do you have any information how long the battery will last with the L-858 since it has this large screen. I‘m not quite sure if I should get an older one or the L-858 since the old used ones seem to be almost the same price as the brand new ones.
Not sure how long the battery lasts but I’d recommend an older one. The big touch screen was overboard for me.
He is right! His presentation will not teach you how to properly use either an incident or spot meter. Maybe he actually knows how, maybe not.
Who can say?
i have a Gossen Digipro then the Sekonic 358. Somehow it seems the Sekonic measures about half to a full stop dimmer than the Digipro. weird. using the Pocket light meter as well with my iphone, its spot on usually.
Marc H yeah nice! Good idea to compare the different light meters. I need to try that.
Ahhhh. No need messenger anymore :D haha!
I have the 858 and don't care for the touch screen. It does have some cool feature but 99% of the time I don't make use of it.
Love your videos bro.
Sodacake thanks dude!!
Sorry mate, but you are not getting the point here. There is limitation of 1/250s reading beside the top model, and integration of modules for flash brands like Godox. This means that you can control everything from the flash-meter. With L-858 you can set your flash receiver to App mode, and set flash A, B or C as you want. It has simplified the calculations to nothing + HSS ability.
Agh nice. That is a super cool feature. I don’t typically shoot film with flash though so I don’t use external light meters then. Sounds like a super useful feature for people that do though.
Tony you strike again! Picked up an L-358. My wallet is not liking you right now.
Hahaha sorry!!!
Do you guys know of any good light meter apps for Android? I've been looking, but haven't found one yet.
No sorry. I have an iPhone.
This is so great! I use the L-358 and ran into the issue of metering landscapes this past weekend in Colorado. Wish I had a spot meter for that instead of just meter and pray haha
David Swidrak hahaha yep! I got sick of that and ended up buying the 558. I got a pretty good deal on it through FB marketplace so was stoked to have a spot meter.
The L-358 has spot meter accessories available in 1 degree, 5 degree, and 10 degree versions. The incident light cone is on a bayonet mount. Just twist and pull it off, and replace it with the spot meter viewfinder of your choice. I love this modular system and having choices between spot angles of view.
@@artistjoh I also have the L-358 but am having a huge problem. If the ambient light is any kind of LED (even just a phone or LED Headlamp) The meter won't work in Flash mode. My studio is LED so I am unable to meter anything unless I plug in an incandescent light to see by or plug my big strobes into AC and use the modelling lights for ambient.
Are others having this problem and is there a workaround other than replacing the meter or just chimping?
@@TonyWodarck Do you recall what you paid for it?
Thanks for the info! I am thinking of participating in the Kickstarter campaign for the new Reveni Light Meter (since the first one is so good!). Looks like a cool gadget and it would be a perfect reason to learn an practice the zone system... Nevertheless, the light meter app you show at the end of your video is also great, at least for general purposes for a non-pro like me !
Totally! That little reveni meter looks awesome.
Wish I could find a 558 worth buying, unfortunately they are all ok in quality and they're still asking a heck of a lot of money for it. Might as well get the 858 if im spending that much, just dont like how long it takes to turn on and the touch screen honestly..
eggr17ify yep that’s why I got rid of my 858. I found a 558 on Facebook marketplace for $300. The trigger button was kinda falling off and I just taped it down. Otherwise it’s perfect.
@@TonyWodarck dang wish I could find one like that, I just bit the bullet and got the 858. Really need that spot meter Ive tried it and I need it lol
eggr17ify yep totally. Someone told me there’s a setting to make it so the screen goes to sleep instead of turning off. Make sure you check that out.
When a phone app could give you similar results to a Sekonic...I just wonder if one of those cheap no-name light meters on Aliexpress could do the same job of a sekonic, for 50-100$.
Sekonic's name seems to be like a monopoly in this field
@@eladbari the phone apps are pretty good just not always 100% accurate. Dedicated light meters are really good at helping you meter for an exact spot (spot metering) and offer that bulb for metering light hitting a person's face. Idk I use my phone for really dark exposures and my light meter for everything else. Pretty happy with my purchase.
I prefer to use an old Sony A7 as my spot meter, because it also gives a histogram and of course an EVF preview. Once you calibrate in your head (buy shooting a few test rolls and taking notes) how this translates to film, it’s more accurate than a Sekonic, which has a pretty horrible user interface. I understand this setup only works under certain conditions (because you need to switch the Lens from your Sony to film camera) but it’s a viable option.
His demonstration and commentary on use of the first (incident only) meter shows that he doesn't understand how an incident meter works. You do not flash it around pointing at the light sources unless you are reading (and balancing) multiple artificial or flash sources, which you rarely need to do outside a studio setting. Balancing light sources is when you use the light sensor in its retracted position. The rest of time (nearly all of the time), you use the sensor in its non-retracted position so that the meter can read and average light from all directions as it falls on your subject.
I appreciate the comment 4 months ago and today. Getting two views out of you, I must be special. This must be your second lap around RUclips writing negative comments. Thanks for stopping by!
Mate this would have been a useful comment but the tone wasn't necessary