Reviewed by
twoblink , Intermediate

Price Paid
$156.00 at From a Friend

Photography Experience
2-5 years , Other

Summary
My friend who's a pro, wanted me to buy a Minolta meter. They were a bit big, and there were a lot of functions that I thought I'd never use. The meter I finally fell in love with was this Sekonic. It fit my four primary requirements:

1) Small enough to fit in my shirt pocket.
2) Uses AA batteries
3) Easy enough to use without an instruction manual
4) ACCURATE (After all, if it's not accurate, everything else is useless right?)

Well, a friend of mine wanted a meter recommendation, and I told him I was going to buy this one for myself. So he bought one. He felt the use of a meter too cumbersome, and so he decided to sell it. I bought it off of him for half price, and have been using it ever since.

It's small, and it does one thing and one thing only, gives you an accurate metered reading. That's exactly what I wanted. It is very accurate (tested it against a bunch of bigger sekonic models as well as Minolta models, and it yielded the same consistent results. So far, it's been near perfect. I would make a few adjustments, but overall, wonderful. I would have liked to have another button that would have let you switch between shutter priority vs. aperture priority. Also, I would have preferred a decimal vs. the bar system. I would have also preferred that the battery test didn't show up right away when you powered up, it does indeed, steal precious seconds. I would have preferred had you held the power button for a few seconds, it would show the battery level, or gives a warning when the batteries are almost dead. I have used this meter with slide film, and it gives accurate exposure. It's solid, no real moving parts, and have been very reliable, in fact, more reliable than my friend's other meters. It's got a leather case so you can carry it on the belt, but I usually carry it in the shirt pocket. One of the advantages of it's size. Repeatability of metering is excellent. I love the compactness and simplicity. It's easy enough for a beginner, but is pro level on all fronts.

Strengths
Small, Light, portable, uses 1 AA battery (this is important, as you can get AA's pretty much anywhere in the world), runs forever on 1 battery (mine is about to be out of juice, but have been using it for over a year on the same battery!) and of course, very accurate. The Flash metering is accurate as well.

Weaknesses
Lack of Aperture priority
Battery test comes up first, wasting time
Sometimes forget to read the bars, and so you might be as much as almost a full stop off.

Similar Products Used
Minolta IV, Minolta V, Minolta VI.

Customer Service
None needed thus far.

Reviewed by
Christiano , Professional

Price Paid
$425.00 at foto avc

Photography Experience
11-20 years , People

Summary
This is really a PRO meter at a amateur price.It is as simple as that.It follows me everywhere even at the studio for flash measurements and it is so light and easy to use.Its like a box of small cigarettes -wauw.It is so very precise and accurate and i use it often with my beloved Pentax 67 and others and the pics get Awesome!
Bravo Sekonic( next time make it with a spot meter please!)
Buy it .Now.

Strengths
All

Weaknesses
no spot meter

Similar Products Used
many from gossen minolta sekonic and alike

Customer Service
none

Reviewed by
alcyone , Intermediate , from Rochester, MN, USA

Price Paid
$130.00 at eBay

Photography Experience
2-5 years , Fine Art

Summary
This lightmeter has all the features I need to take good pictures.
I take this meter wherever my camera goes, whether I take wedding pictures, sports or portraits.

Strengths
Light weight, cheap, multifuntional. Uses very little battery. Very accurate also. PC socket may be used very conveniently.

Weaknesses
Has low sensativity in low light situations. Has cheap feel to it.

Reviewed by
johnr55 , Intermediate , from Lake Jackson, TX, USA

Price Paid
$175.00 at Houston Camera Excha

Photography Experience
21+ years , Outdoor

Summary
I've owned many meters and this is my favorite. I don't need anything fancy, just reliability and consistency. This meter succeeds in spades. I've had 2 Luna-Pro's, for example, and both required repairs within a year, based on the moving needle and rotating exposure dial. I love the 'no moving parts' about this. I had two Gossen Pilot meters, loved their tiny size, but again, they weren't consistent and ended up going in the shop. I've had this meter more than two years and it's worked perfectly. And, no, I'm not hard on equipment, but do a lot of walking, vibrating, etc. I love this meter!

Strengths
NO MOVING PARTS!!! Easy battery replacement, accuracy & consistency.

Weaknesses
None I've found for my photography.

Similar Products Used
Gossen Luna-Pro, Gossen Luna-Six, Gossen Pilot, Gossen scout, Weston Master

Customer Service
No service needed!

Reviewed by
Clive Robert , Intermediate , from UK

Price Paid
$116.00 at Photo store chain

Photography Experience
21+ years , People

Summary
I've just bought this beautiful little Sekonic L308BII at a good price and I am absolutely pleased as punch!! It's great. I have a Sekonic L778 Dual Spot which is 9 Years old and very accurate athough quite cumbersome to carry about which is the reason for buying this truly pocket sized meter that will go anywhere. The first thing I did was to compare the L308 with the spot and I was astounded at the results. Both meters matched - exactly! Ambient measurement reading with the L308 precisely matched the spot reading of a Kodak grey card. Reflected reading off the grey with the L308 precisley matched the L778!! Nine years between the two meters and they match exactly...I tried to explain to my wife what all this meant and how significant this all was but the look on her face just told me perhaps I should 'get a life!' Anyone reading this will know how it feels when you buy a new peice of kit and find that it more than lives up to the sales blurb and really does deliver the goods...you relax happy knowing you've made the right choice. The money saved by not buying something which would give me a shed load of features which I would never use I can now spend on film and D&P.

Strengths
Build quality
Truly pocket sized and lightweight
Accuracy and consistancy
AA Battery
Comes with a really nice pouch that can attach to you belt
Also comes with a Lumidisk attachment

Weaknesses
To make this meter absolutely perfect I would add:
Aperture and shutter priority
Memory function
If this added another say £20 to the price it would be worth it

Similar Products Used
Sekonic L778 Dual Spot
Minolta Autometer III (Bought secondhand and found to be three stops out)
Westonmaster V with Invercone (given to me by my father inlaw - accurate but I thank my maker I was b

Customer Service
Not needed yet - but just take a look at Sekonics web sight and compare to Minolta''s!