sekonic 558c

neal · July 8, 2004

Hi,

new poster to the forum, have been reading it for awhile though.

just wondering, has anyone used the sekonic 558c? i'm guessing it's a new model. i know alot of people have 508Cs.

i have a meter that's painfully old (it may exceed me in years, though i'm young :) ) Just in the market, looking to upgrade.

Thanks

Neal

oscar jimenez · July 9, 2004

Hi, I do own a L - 558, as far as I remember, the 558-c has additional features for cinematographers, such as Shutter angle in 15 degree increments ( I think it was ) and maybe that it gives light readings in thirds of a stop. I remember that I bought my 558 at B&H instead of the 558-C because these "features" made the meter about $100 more expensive, and it's something you can compensate in your head if you are used to it, so I stuck with the 558, pretty good meter ( for now ) If you are planning to read incident, I do suggest Spectra Cine, they are pretty much sturdy and can handle a lot of wear and misuse without going out of calibration.

Regards.

Bob Hayes · July 9, 2004

I own an L-558 C and it has become the only meter I use. It works great but my criticisms are as follows.

1. The auto turn off setting is set for 20 minutes if you forget to turn off the meter. This should be adjustable or set at a shorter interval. The batteries are very expensive.

2. Because it is a dual functioning meter. It is easy to think you are metering incident and you are actually reading the spot meter pointing off in the wrong direction.

3. The spot meter comes from the factory is 1/3 of a stop off. Sekonic gave me a song and dance about how there is no standard. Say what? I stumbled on this when I bought it and was comparing it to my Minolta spot on the night before my first shoot with it. You need to go into the menu and adjust the sensitivity to match the incident reading.

4. The incident reading ball must be twisted out to use it and retracted to put in your pouch.. That is a bit annoying.

Despite these criticisms I am very happy this the meter.

Bob

oscar jimenez · July 12, 2004

Hi, Exusse my ingnorance, but as far as Im concerned, The luminaces and illuminances of a spot metering or incident reading are not supposed to be that ultra close exact match. Assume your incident reading of iluminances on an area ant then spot meter luminances in that same area, depends on reflection capabilities of a gray card or object. Excuse me if Im wrong, but anyway, should not be over half stop anyway.

neal · July 13, 2004

Thanks very much for the responses. I'll probably e

Oscar - I believe you are correct on the matter. My understanding is that the ANSI standard for calibrating a meter is 12% reflectance gray. A standard graycard is 18%...apparently a half stop difference. So if you take a flat incident diffuser reading at the gray card's position, and compare it to a spot reading, the two will not compare. Though, I could be wrong about this. (I belive there's a discussion over at CML about this).

Though I don't believe that was quite what Bob was referring to. If you compare two spot meters' readings of a gray card, they should be the same.

Correct me if i'm wrong,

Neal

oscar jimenez · July 14, 2004

NO NEAL, YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!!!. BUT ASSUMING VINTAGE OF METERS YOU CAN SAY THAT THERE IS ALWAYS SOME DIFFERENCE, AS A MATTER OF FACT, I BOUGHT MY 558 LIKE 3 MONTHS AGO AND UPON ARRIVAL I DID COMPARE IT TO MY MINOLTA IV F AND THERE WAS A 1/3 OF A STOP DIFFERENCE, BUT I ASSUME THAT'S MY MINOLTA WEAR

BEST REGARDS

Bob Hayes · July 17, 2004

If meters are set based on 12% gray card reading why are most of the gray cards sold 18%?

Mitch Gross · July 17, 2004

You should check the archives over at cinematography.net for the fallacy of 18% gray." An interesting read, although all it proves is that reference standards are still a relative thing. John, it must drive the kids over at Kodak a little nuts to hear this!