light meters

[ulrichsd]

What kind of light meters do you use for your movies. I am looking for a light meter and was curious what you might suggest. About a million go through ebay but most of them use the old mercury batteries which can no longer be purchased.

So what brand, what model, etc.? I know the loight meter does not have to have FPS as an option (such as regular still light meters), but I would imagine it would get annoying to have to continually convert the measurements.

I would kind of like to stay under $100 USD, but if that won't cut it, I guess I could spend more. Any shops with good deals would be nice info as well.

Thanks,
scott u.

[HH3]

You can find a Sekonic L-398 (also known as the Studio Deluxe) for about $90 on ebay and it's the best light meter for the money. Easy to use and accurate the Studio Deluxe is by far the best in that price range.

[souper8]

I use a Gossen Luna Pro. It works well and has cine frame exposure on the dial. I beleive they go for about 80-110 on Ebay.

[Nigel]

Sekonic 508, I love it but now that I have seen the 608 I think I should have waited and got it instead.

[ulrichsd]

Thanks everyone for the info. I ended up going with the sekonic L-398m Studio Deluxe 2. It seemed to be comprehensive and was in my price range.

It was $199 new at the local photography shop and I was hesitant to buy one used because who knows if the person who used it dropped it or whatever. But I ended up buying one on ebay and revieved it today, it is in great conidition and I payed $130. It seemslike thats around what most of them go for although the L398 Studio Deluxe 1 were about 10-20 cheaper I wasn't really sure if there were any real differences, but I figured the 2 was newer and less likely to be mishandled.

One question... would it be a good idea to take it to the camera shop and heave it calibrated? And how often do you need to have it calibrated?

Thanks again for the info. Next on my list to get: a nice projector. The thread that is currently running is great!

Scott