Light Meter - recommendations?

[Dringo]

I am looking for a light meter for landscape photography. I'm guessing that it needs to be:-

> Light (as I'll be carrying it)
> Not too many bells & whistles
> Not designed solely for flash
> Able to pinpoint exposure of shadows/highlights from a distance
> Cheap(ish!) as I won't be using too often but you never know

Thanks in advance

 

[HoppyUK]

Leaving aside the question of why you would want one when you already have an excellent meter in the camera, including the invaluable assistance of an LCD with a histogram and blinkies which no meter can match...

... the asnwer is probably Sekonic, though the ones with good spot facilities are not cheap.

 

[Dringo]

Leaving aside the question of why you would want one when you already have an excellent meter in the camera, including the invaluable assistance of an LCD with a histogram and blinkies which no meter can match.

I'd wondered about that too. Its just to avoid, when metering for grad filters, having to move the camera once its set up with a composition but judging by the price of some of the meters, I'll just move it!

Thanks for the reply

 

[paulcamcas]

If you have an iphone, the "Pocket Light Meter" app seems to do the job and it's free or 59p for a version without ads.

> Able to pinpoint exposure of shadows/highlights from a distance

Not being a landscaper, I'm not sure if it will be accurate enough for this part of your brief.

 

[Alastair]

You'll probably get better answers in the Film and Conventional section..

The Sekonic L-358 has an optional 1-degree spotmeter attachment. There doesn't seem to be such a thing as a cheap spotmeter, but the Sekonic is at least reasonable in price as these things go.. in that you can buy the meter body for c.£220 and have a perfectly usable meter whilst you save your pennies for the 1-degree spot attachment at c.£160.

 

[Dringo]

You'll probably get better answers in the Film and Conventional section..

The Sekonic L-358 has an optional 1-degree spotmeter attachment. There doesn't seem to be such a thing as a cheap spotmeter, but the Sekonic is at least reasonable in price as these things go.. in that you can buy the meter body for c.£220 and have a perfectly usable meter whilst you save your pennies for the 1-degree spot attachment at c.£160.

Thanks for the advice Alistair