Light Meter: Sekonic L-508 ??

[InglesFam]

Hello,
I'm thinking about purchasing a Sekonic L-508 light meter, and would like any
comments on it.
Thank you much, Mike Ingles. (ingl...@aol.com)

[Jan Schledermann]

6 months ago I switched from a Gossen Lunapro Six to the 508.
Overall I am quite pleased with the change. There are however 3 areas where
I find that Sekonic has seriously goofed on the design:

1) Some settings can only be set uing a DIP switch. What bothers me
here is the multiple flash switch. It should be
on the outside of the meter.
2) The lens cap keeps falling off. Why didn't they implement a thread
or a bayonet???
3) The memory only works in shutter speed mode NOT in aperture mode.

Otherwise it's a nice tool.
best regards
jan

InglesFam wrote in message <19981210092516...@ng114.aol.com>...

[Michael Liczbanski]

IMO It is a v. good meter with the following caveats:
- bulky (doesn't fit in a "regular" pocket")
- not too sensitive in the reflected light flash mode (f:5.6 to f:128, v.s.
f:1.0-f:128 in incident flash mode, which may or may not matter to you)
- the lens cap is easy to misplace (get a lens cap keeper - this is not a
joke)
- the optical surfaces need to be cleaned often (again, get a good
micro-fiber cloth)

Other than that - I love it!

Michael

[Krishm1]

I'll concur with all the problems stated, except that it doesn't fit into a
regular pocket. That may be true, 100%, but golly gee, why would you want to
put it into your pants pocket?

[Krishm1]

Oh yeah, Fergot...I have it, and I love it. Never had another light meter, but
it's been a breeze to use. Wouldn't give it up even if I had to scrounge for
food.

[Jack Isham]

I also have a 508. My main objection to the meter is that in strong ambient
lighting conditions, it will not trigger from a flash input in the non-cord
mode. You must use Cord mode in order to get the meter to trigger with flash
under these conditions. My Minolta IV Flash Meter will trigger under the
same conditions.

I also had trouble with the lens cap. I took black plastic electrical tape
and put a layer on the inside of the cap. That seems to do the trick.

I also think for this amount of money, they could have included a way to
show the amount of flash and ambient (contribution of each to the final
reading) using one reading as the Minoltas do.

But I do like the spot meter.

Jack Isham

Jan Schledermann wrote in message <74p2f4$l...@news3.euro.net>...

[Jay Andriot]

The 508 is the best out there, love mine,

Jay

[Willis B. Boyce]

I agree with most of the comments provided so far.

My biggest gripe is that the lens cap keeps falling off. Like one or two
other people, I stuck some tape on the inside to reduce its diameter. The
lens cap seems almost like an afterthought.

Another gripe I have is that if you are in aperture-priority mode and set
the meter to say f/4, then take a reading, the meter will sometimes give you
something like 1/60 at f/4 9/10 instead of 1/125 at f/2.8 9/10, which would
be closer to what I wanted (almost f/4 instead of almost f/5.6). I suppose
that the thinking is that you're using aperture mode because you want a
certain DOF, and if the meter reduced the f-number, the DOF would be
reduced, so it always increases the f-number.

I've not found the DIP switches to be a problem. They just turn various
features on and off. I just turned them all on except for the half shutter
speeds (my Bronica doesn't do half speeds).

If you really want a spot meter, then the 508 isn't going to cut it; get a
dedicated spot meter. But if you usually take ambient readings and want a
spot meter for occasional use, the 508 is probably the best choice.

Willis

InglesFam wrote in message <19981210092516...@ng114.aol.com>...

>I'm thinking about purchasing a Sekonic L-508 light meter, and would like
any
>comments on it.

[Michael Liczbanski]

I travel light: A Fuji 6x9, two filters and the Sekonic. The Sekonic is
the only item that doesn't fit in my "regular" pocket ;-)

Michael

Krishm1 wrote in message <19981210154412...@ng113.aol.com>...

[Lalezo]

I se a Photographer's Vest ... the L-508 fits perfectly...

Lloyd

[InglesFam]

Michael,
Thank you so much for your response. It has been informative and appreciated.
Mike Ingles.

[RocknL]

I also have a 508 and love it. On the comments about the lens cap -- Throw it
away and just keep the meter in it's protective case when not in use !! I did
and haven't had any trouble.

This meter has saved me a number of times as it is much more accurate than my
in-camera meter.

Rocknl

[JRSchlau]

I bought a 508 a month ago. I managed to lose the lens cap in under a week.
Is this a record? Richard