Light meter recommendations

July 23, 2014

Hey,

My name is Martijn and I study film and television in Belgium and the past year I have discovered that I'm very into cinematography. And lately I started thinking about maybe buying a lightmeter. Now I was wondering if there were any specific models that you guys would recommend a film student? And the price of a professional light meter is pretty steep but is it worth the investment?

Thanks in advance,
Martijn

Adrian Sierkowski · July 23, 2014

Sure it's well worth the investment. A sekonic L758 Cine will last you a long long time, but start with a 398 (Studio Deluxe IIA, I think it's called) which is an analog meter from Sekonic which i always keep as my backup just in case anything ever happens to my main meter (like it getting stolen)

Bill DiPietra · July 23, 2014

Now it's the L-398A Studio Deluxe III. Same meter, jazzier name.

John E Clark · July 24, 2014

Hey,

My name is Martijn and I study film and television in Belgium and the past year I have discovered that I'm very into cinematography. And lately I started thinking about maybe buying a lightmeter. Now I was wondering if there were any specific models that you guys would recommend a film student? And the price of a professional light meter is pretty steep but is it worth the investment?

Thanks in advance,

Martijn

I've had my Minolta Spot meter for about 20 years, and before that I used the Pentax Spot meter. Since I've gotten in to 'moving pictures', I bought the Sekonic L-308DC meter, which has a 'footcandle/lux' read out. Since most pro 'light' data is given in terms of footcandle/lux it makes it easier for analyzing and adjusting lights.

I find using a light meter on location scouting to be of benefit as well.

Satsuki Murashige · July 24, 2014

Get a digital meter, they are more accurate, more sensitive in low light, and less prone to losing calibration.

For an incident meter, the Spectra Cine Pro IV is a good one. For a dedicated spot meter, the Minolta Spotmeter F. For a spot meter/incident meter combo, the Sekonic L-508/608/558/758 series are fine.

You can get used meters on eBay - the important thing is to get it calibrated before use. Quality Light Metric used to be the place to go, not sure if they're still in business. Try them here:

Quality Light Metric

(323) 467-2265

For the Sekonic spot/incident combo meters, you need to specify that the spot meter be calibrated to 18% grey so that it matches the incident reading. They are factory calibrated to 11% for some reason.

Satsuki Murashige · July 24, 2014

Just noticed that you are in Europe. Not sure which company calibrates meters out there, maybe someone else has a recommendation?

July 24, 2014

Thanks Satsuki that was very helpful! I just saw you were the first camera assistant on "I believe in Unicorns", beautiful trailer. I really like the Super 16 look! I can't wait to see it!