Re: light meters

Light meter selection wizard:

1. Do you shoot nightscape or low light scene?

2. Do you use flash?

3. Do you need a 1 degree spot, 5 degree spot, or no spot at all?

4. Do you shoot in freezing cold weather?

If you do nightscape work, the meter with best low light capability is
Quantum CalcuLight XP, which is discontinued but with patience you can
find one used for the price of a new unit when it was still available.

Regarding 2 and 3, I find Sekonic L-408 very easy to use and
versatile. I didn't think 5 degree spot would be useful but it is
sometimes very useful and is worth carrying around, especially because
it can come without the bulk of regular 1 degree spot.

I learned this the hard way. L-408 uses one AA dry cell. I know dry
cells can't deliver power well in low temperature, but I thought it
should be ok because the meter doesn't eat much power. That was
wrong. But it turned out that Energizer Photo Lithium Technology AA
cell (1.5V) worked perfectly in freezing winter. CalcuLight uses
silver oxide cells and it never failed in cold winter night. All these
are probably useless to those who exclusively shoot in studio.

--
Ryuji Suzuki
"Well, believing is all right, just don't let the wrong people know
what it's all about." (Bob Dylan, Need a Woman, 1982)