Spot Meter

Janice

Janice

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Janice
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Hi all.... can anyone help me here please?
I am after buying an exposure/spot-meter.

I cant afford the Sekonic brand which have spot in them at £300 or more.

I had opted for the Polaris Dual 5 meter...which I can get new for £155.
This, however only has a 5 degree spot meter...not a 1 degree.
Is 5 degrees going to be enough?

Also., I have discovered I can buy a Sekonic L558 dual meter on ebay from Hong Kong for an extra £50 and they have a 1 degree spot meter.
If I got the 1 degree, would I ever say "Damn I could do with it being wider for this" or is 1 degree going to be all I will need?

I am happy to save up another £50, although I am a bit worried about if I get charged customs...how often does this happen and how much could it be?

SOrry for all the questions but I have been saving up for so long for this, and I dont want to get it wrong. :crying:

Janice
 
>Is 5 degrees going to be enough?
Probably not

>If I got the 1 degree, would I ever say "Damn I could do with it being wider for this"
Very very unlikely. You'll most probably get into the method of taking a range of readings from around your scene to see where you're brightest and darkest spots are sitting and where these are in relation to the subject. You cant have too much precision with a spot meter.
 
Had another thought....... yeah two in one day... whatever next. :eek: :LOL:

I can't see me needing to use mine anytime soon so if you want to borrow my sekonic for a while to see how it works for you, you're very welcome.

It has a zoom so it's got a range of 1 deg through to about 5 IIRC. Then you'd know if 5 is good enough or if it has to be 1.
 
No brainer Janice... get the L558 if you have give to up none essentials for a week like food. ;)

The whole idea of spot metering is that you choose the area of the scene from which you want to meter using your own judgement, so the 1 deg meter gives you the finest choice of where you meter from without other tones getting in the way. With a difficult scene you can always take readings from two or more points. It needs a bit of judgement but that's what hand held metering is all about and you'll have no probs there anyway judging by what I've seen of your stuff.

If I was buying a meter it would be the 558 - incredible bit of kit.
 
Sorry Daz... but at least we seem to agree, :D
 
Janice said:
I am happy to save up another £50, although I am a bit worried about if I get charged customs...how often does this happen and how much could it be?

Janice
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The customs thing is a bit of a lottery to be honest, sometimes I've been charged and sometimes I've got away with it. A lot of dealers who import to this country are aware of the duty thing and mark the packages as 'GIFT' which are exempt from duty. You could always ask them to do that anyway.
 
CT said:
A lot of dealers who import to this country are aware of the duty thing and mark the packages as 'GIFT' which are exempt from duty. You could always ask them to do that anyway.
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Point is though it's not them who get done if the package gets stopped.

The liability for honest declaration is on you and a false declaration leaves you open to the duty, a penalty and even confiscation of the goods. Not worth that risk IMO.

Any time I've imported something I've taken the price and allowed for up to 25% for duty, handling at this end and VAT
 
duh... I cant afford it then :shake: £200ish is my limit really.
I think i will have to try the hong kong way, they say they mark it as a gift.
Its the only thing I can do........I would never be happy with the 5 degree knowing the 1 degree is better.

Thanks for your help everyone.
I will let you know how I get on. Thanks for the offer of a loan, I dont know if I dare, as I might get attached!! ;) Is yours the L508, they are even more expensive arent they?
Id better decline the kind offer or I would then be disappointed with one which wasnt a zoom.

Grrrrr.......I HATE choices! :bang:
 
Is yours the L508, they are even more expensive arent they?
Id better decline the kind offer or I would then be disappointed with one which wasnt a zoom.
Click to expand...

Yup, it's the 508. I have no idea where it fits in to the range. It's years old so I figured it's probably below base spec by now but it meters, so that does for me.

When used with a metered camera, the zoom is good for getting moved accidently and making me wonder why I'm not getting in very close and that's about it. To take a more average reading than 1% it's just easier to use the camera.

If you change your mind it's just sat here in a drawer getting lonely. :)
 
Janice said:
duh... I cant afford it then :shake: £200ish is my limit really.
Click to expand...
This site might be of help then, even though they are just over your budget.

They send from Hong Kong but refund any import charges you might get lumbered with. I've ordered a couple of things from them and delivery takes about a week or so. I didn't get any import charges with my orders but I heard of many people that were charged and recieved a refund with no problems.

Main site:- http://www.onestop-digital.com/catalog/
Sekonic products page:- http://www.onestop-digital.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=44_49&osCsid=bf640256e647e0572bb61a2dfb5bda0d
 
Thanks Sonsey....that is a fantastic site. That extra £20 or so on the item would give me peace of mind in case the duties are payable.
Thanks for the link. :)
 
Your welcome Janice :)

They are normally very well priced anyway, but as you said, any extra is worth the extra few quid for piece of mind.

Just in case you havn't seen it, questions 7, 8 and 9 in the frequently asked questions section deal with the import charge refunds.

http://www.onestop-digital.com/catalog/faqs
 
http://www.onestop-digital.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=44_49&products_id=80

I used these guys to buy my gitzo 2228 which i got for about £270

Good service & they will refund any vat if it comes to it.

I had no problems at all, really well packaged, goods in A1 con

You get a small discount if you put the funds direct in to their bank (over the counter) they'll provide bank details for you if you wish to do so. That's what i did and the goods were with me in days
 
As an aside, I got my Sigma 70-300 from One Stop last year...very reasonably priced...incredibly friendly guy too.
I placed the order with them and it was with me within 4 days or so IIRC.
 
Fai is the guy that runs One-Stop. I have had conversations with him before about Items and he will usually price match any new price from any other Hong Kong Sellers on Ebay and other sources.

Just remember that when these items to come to the door, the delivery agent may still demand the VAT and Duty to be paid before you receive the items. You have to pay this and then claim it back from them. So you will still be down that extra few quid (maybe hundreds depending on the item) until your refund come in.

I am not sure whether he pays the additional admin fee (NOT the VAT or the Duty that Customs add on) but the Admin fee of UPS that they add on as it holds up the delivery and adds more paperwork for them.

Something to consider also when purchasing from HK.
 
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