Light Meter recommendations in 2023?

[sines]

Found a nice price for a Sekonic L-608 Super Zoom Master [non-cine] and wondering if it made sense to purchase for an all 35mm film production. I know it can dial in FPS and shutter speeds, but the  plain Jane version can't dial in shutter angle. Would you hold out, or pass altogether and use some iPhone app or digital camera for gauging exposure?

Todd

[Stewart McLain]

For a 35mm production I would want a proper light meter that was designed to handle whatever parameters I would need to calculate.   I don't think it even needs to be fancy.  Just accurate.  I think Roger Deakins still uses his old Gossen LunaSix Pro when he needs to take a reading. 

I imagine you could use false color or something similar on a monitor fed from the camera. Someone more exerienced will need to chime in on that though.  I wouldn't trust a phone app for the job.  I can't imagine using a phone for exposure readings would inspire much confidence from the cast and crew either.  

[Giray Izcan]

Spectra IV is a great lightmeter. It is one of the most reliable and accurate meters out there. I wouldn't do false color etc from the video tap as the specifications do not match the film stocks in terms of sensitivity and contrast etc. 

[Brett Allbritton]

I personally haven't shot motion picture 35mm film yet, but given the expense of the format, it's worth it to invest in a proper, well-calibrated cine meter to ensure the best outcome.

The go-to meter right now seems to be the Sekonic L-858D-U, but if you can live without the built-in spot meter you could go with the Sekonic L-748D-U instead and save some money. An alternative would be the Kenko KFM-2200, which has both an incident and spot meter and is cheaper than the Sekonic combo meter.

I second the recommendation for the Spectra IV-A. It's straight forward and reliable, but I happen to know that new ones are currently on back-order. Having said that, you can generally find good deals for used ones on eBay and have Spectra calibrate it for you. I use mine in conjunction with a Minolta Spotmeter F, which is an older meter but works great for my purposes. It might get annoying swapping back and forth between meters, but since one will generally be favored over the other depending on the situation, I find it tolerable for now.

I've never used it personally, but I also know that many people love the Minolta IVF or VF. Again, these are older, discontinued and incident-only meters, but they have cine settings and can be found for pretty terrific prices on eBay.

[Adrian Sierkowski]

I wasn’t a fan of the 858 at all and have replaced mine with a 758, which I would argue is the best all around meter there has been. The touch screen on the 858 was just too annoying to use on an on set environment (though I did enjoy it’s AA batteries.)

I also carry a Minolta IVF as well as a Sekonic 508 Zoom Spot in my kit, mostly as back ups. 

If I’m metering quick and dirty, I’ll pull the IVF, for anything important it’s 758. 

Rarely will i be changing shutter angle, and if I am I can adjust that with the EV offsets, or just do the simple calculations (e.g 90 degree takes 1 stop away— so maybe I’ll change the ISO down to compensate etc). 

Which ever meter you get, if it is used, make sure to get it calibrated. 

[Brett Allbritton]

On 3/18/2023 at 11:01 AM, Adrian Sierkowski said:

I wasn’t a fan of the 858 at all and have replaced mine with a 758, which I would argue is the best all around meter there has been. The touch screen on the 858 was just too annoying to use on an on set environment (though I did enjoy it’s AA batteries.)

I agree. I often regret not getting my own 758 Cine when you could still get it new. I admittedly haven't used it myself, but I was quite turned off by the touchscreen of the 858. Considering that a used 758 (when you can actually find one) now sells on eBay for higher prices than when it was brand new, I suspect that many people feel similarly.

[Jesse Aragon]

I recommend the 858, touchscreen hasn't been a problem for me and the internal spot meter readings are great and bright.  You can also use a digital stills camera for a partial reference.