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light meter to pick
Sekonic L-758DR DigitalMaster Flash Meter vs Sekonic Litemaster Pro L-478DR Light Meter which one would you buy thanks  Apr 13 16 12:33 am Link I have the Sekonic L-478DR that replaced my old Minolta IV-F that fell down a mine shaft in the desert. Wish I still had the Minolta over the Sekonic too. It was much faster to use, no tiny touch screen that is often unresponsive for me and my big fingers (I smashed a phone's touch screen from being unresponsive and pressing too hard.). It's harder to see in bright daylight too. Sekonic now make 5 versions of the L-478 series depending on the radio triggers you own which could be handy, plus their expensive $135 calibration card if you want to calibrate custom profiles for your gear. I did it, but now forgot how to retrieve the darn things out of it much less read them and apply them now. Almost requires you to carry a manual for the menu - too much of a geeky meter maybe? The Minolta IV-F is the same meter now sold under the Kenko label here: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/5 … Meter.html The Minolta/Kenko was much easier to operate being button and toggle driven over the touch screen. Not as heavily menu driven as the Sekonic. Battery lasts almost forever over the Sekonic too. The Minolta screen is easy to read in daylight too. Least I still use the Minolta case that fits the Sekonic as it comes sans case (It maybe a bit smaller than the Minolta was too.) and the case is also a $25 option with the Sekonic. As for the L-758 with the 5 degree viewing spot, no knowledge of its operation. I have an old one-degree Pentax Spotmeter V but rarely use it these days as it doesn't operate with flash. Bought it for some Zone System B&W class way back. The 478 offers some $110 attachment to make it a spotmeter if you really need one. Good luck. Apr 13 16 07:33 am Link Unless you REALLY do a lot of critical metering, just go with what's cheaper. Or like GRMACK says, find a slightly used Minolta IV. I still have mine. Must be like 20 years old now. Use it al the time. Used it last night for some headshots. I don't need spot metering. I don't need 98% of all the things either of these Sekonics do. If you do, then by all means get one. I aim at a light. Meter. Adjust if I have to. That's it. Sekonics are great meters. Find a good used one. Before, we'd pull a Polaroid to check and go by the Polaroid for exposure. Now I check my Histogram. Yes, I realize it's a jpeg. Perfect. That's what I'm shooting 90% of the time anyway. But even if I were shooting raw I'm still fine. Apr 13 16 07:43 am Link If you have a chance to test them side by side, find out which one is more sensitive/reliable in low light conditions. So many cameras now work well at high ISO and don't need as much flash power any more. Consequently I find myself trying to meter tiny pops of light. (Also test to see which meter can better detect tiny flashes when there is ambient light present.) Often my meter can't catch low power flashes and so I wind up having to chimp. Built in pocket wizard transmitter is nice if you use PW regularly. Kind of a luxury, really. Apr 13 16 03:00 pm Link I have the Sekonic L-758DR and a friend the L-478. I'm very partial to mine, but I see B&H has the L-478 on sale for $299, ending tonight at 11:59pm. That's $100 off regular retail. Another option is if you can find a clean, used L-358. It doesn't have the spot metering, but does just about everything else the L-758 can do. I recently paid less than $200 for one. Apr 14 16 01:51 am Link regarding sekonic, i had mine (358) chipped to fire pocket wizards but that feature never worked right. and sometimes it seemed like the light meter would just go crazy and return nonsense readings. for my part i'd be open to a different brand the next time around. Apr 14 16 07:37 am Link Don't be afraid to buy used gear, I have owned my Minolta Flashmeter IV for twenty years and it's never let me down. If I were to replace it, I'd find a clean Flashmeter V or Sekonic 358 with Profoto module and be quite satisfied. Apr 15 16 02:59 pm Link tcphoto wrote: I own 4 meters. I use a Seikonic L-358 as my main meter because it triggers my Pocket Wizards. I had the Minolta but I didn't need them both. I also have the Sekonic L-508.; I've had it a while. It does have the spot feature, but it was made before Pocket Wizard support. That was why I got the L-358. I use the 358 indoors and the 508 outdoors. Apr 15 16 03:54 pm Link I bought a used 358 and works great. There are a lot art and film schools where I'm from and you can usually get a good deal on a lightly used 358 from Craigslist once the school year ends. I think I paid about $130. Apr 19 16 08:37 pm Link BlueWolf Photography wrote: What are the situations in which you are using your light meter? What features do you need? Apr 20 16 03:46 am Link |
