Sekonic L-308S Flashmate Digital Incident, Reflected & Flash Light Meter

Simple instructions and I was up and running in minutes. I did Ytube reviews on how to use it before I bought it. I shoot with speedlites inside and outside. I use a grey card and or color checker passport before all my shoots. I calibrate my monitor every two weeks. I wanted to try the light meter to add to my workflow. So far, I can see where I can gain time as well as increase the quality of my pictures by using light meter. I would recommend it to anyone. I have used it about 30 times including practice sessions. I think it would be helpful for anyone still honing their exposure skills. It gives you a great place to start with the correct exposure then you adjust based on your creative needs. Most of the time I shoot in the manual exposure mode. I use it to get ambient, ambient and shutter and with flash. While it gives you the EV it also allows you to convert to show you the F stop, shutter and ISO setting for the EV. Sorry I don't waste time or carry a EV chart around with me. Easier for me to set the ISO on the camera and light meter and let the light meter give me the shutter speed and F stop. If I want to change one of those the light meter gives me the correct matching change. i picked this model because it was flexible and at a reasonable price. I wasn't sold at the time if you needed a light meter with the capabilities of my Nikon D600 and D7000 internal metering. I am glad I bought it and find it very very accurate and useful.

For those Photographers who are just getting started or have been shooting photos for a while. This Sekonic is a great item to have. Digital Cameras have built in meters. But I have found this Sekonic to really cut the guessing time and depend on it. I chose Sekonic, because it is a product that has established credibility in photo meters. I shoot a lot of landscapes and ocean, beach scenes. Please read the reviews by amazon because many of them are very good and informative. I was convinced after reading all of them. This meter operates different modes giving you the opportunity to use it accordingly. Im sure you understand that Exposure is a real challenge when taking photos. Please familiarize yourself with some of the challenges of Exposure . There are books , e books written , as well as on-line classes. Once you understand the concept of exposure; using this meter really makes the different and saves you a lot of time and guess work. I get my reading from the meter and use the aperture priority mode. The meter will give me an aperture reading as well as a camera speed reading. I set the camera to the Aperture reading and allow the camera to adjust the speed. Almost all my photo results turn out with a well balanced exposure result and a very fine photo. I also do bracketing and have found that the meter is very much on target. Please note. You will get outstanding results, save a lot of time, and almost eliminate the guess work. But , do acquire some instruction the the challenges of Exposure. This meter has become a life line for my photos. Just to give you an Idea, if I bracket I can shoot 200 photos in a short while. The meter really keeps me in the ball park and editing has become much more enjoyable. This is a must have for any photographer enthusiast .

Sekonic is a name that I have known and trusted for decades as a professional photographer. So, I knew it was a name I could trust when purchasing a meter for strobe / flash lighting. I am thrilled to report my faith has been rewarded. This unit presents great dollar value. Metering both incident and reflected, strobe and ambient light, the readings produced are absolutely accurate down to 1/10th of an f-stop (adjustable to 1/3rd increments) if you like that degree of accuracy. The unit also comes with a snap on adapter to read flat lighting for copy work. The meter can be connected by a pc-sync cord to the camera or remotely. Simply push the button on the meter, leave it in place, and fire the strobe. The meter will retain the reading. This is surprising simple to use, compared to its quality and reliable accuracy. About the size of a larger cell phone and surprisingly light weight also.

Gavin Hoey turned me on to this item (You can check him out on YouTube). Works great! Has already saved me setup time when I'm doing studio work and it alleviates the minor concern that the camera back or monitor you are reviewing pictures on during the shoot might be miscalibrated. Quick and easy to use. Just put it in flash mode, match the ISO and shutter speed to your camera settings, hold it near your subject toward the light to be metered, press the test button on the meter, test fire your flash(es), read the results, and adjust the flash until you get the aperture reading you desire.

I am a professional photographer who owns several different light meters. The more expensive versions are nice in that they do more, but the truth is that most of the extras are not stuff I ever use. For instance, one of my meters will "do the math for me" and tell me the ratio between my main and my fill. The thing is, I am so used to calculating this manually, that I don't use the meter for it. If you understand how f-stops work, then you don't need that feature. And anyone buying a $500 light meter probably knows how f stops work. Further, I don't use pocket wizards (as all my studio lights are now Baja B6s). As such, I use the Dynalight triggers that came with the strobes. And before that, I used Photox triggers. So, again, it is a feature I don't use. I also don't like the touch screens of the newer models. Anyway, I find that this little guy gives me all the information I need, and does it well. In truth, I do actually use it's big brother in the studio, but really this is only because I happen to own the big brother. If my light meters all broke and I had to replace them, I would buy two of these guys. And while I don't use it in the studio, this guy is in my bag, and gets used any time I am on location.

Sekonic Light Meter does just what I want, for off camera flash exposure mode with just a test, reflective light mode, available light mode, Just set your ISO and Shutter speed that your going to use, and it will give you the f/stop, and your ready to set your camera for your image. Recommended to set your EV steps to 1/3 stops as the same used in camera, (when first time to set up the meter.) Also recommended for doing your settings in manual mode (working in manual.) Comes with a neck strap for easy carry. Some photographers think that this is just another gadget... As they say they don't need one. True, if you experiment with your settings to find the correct exposure for your image. To me it finds the correct exposure faster then experimenting around, and saves time. Can be used for night photography also as the shutter speed go way down past tripod use. Very handy to use, and I love the way it works, easy to use, I think it's worth the money.. I rated it five stars. Thank You.

I bought this to use with a vintage meterless film camera. It's easy to use, and seems very accurate. I've not had it long enough to comment on durability, but it seems OK. The buttons all seem to be tight and to be making the proper contact with their counterparts. That it will also meter for flash brings a bonus functionality to the old camera. I'm pleased with how well it works. I'm less pleased with the design aesthetics. The lack of polish to the design is immediately evident. Simple details are missing. The cap over the PC terminal is a tiny plastic plug that is nearly impossible to remove. Once it is removed the only thing that can possibly happen is that it will get lost. Why Sekonic did not use a hinged "door" over the terminal, like every other device does, is beyond me. Besides the Operating Manual, the meter comes with a Quick Guide printed on nice card stock. The logical place to keep this cheat sheet would be in the cheap vinyl pouch, but alas, it does not fit, by about 3/8" of an inch both in length and width. It fits with some scissors surgery, but part of the printing has to be sacrificed. Why Sekonic did not print this on a card to fit the pouch is beyond me. The Lumidisc comes in separate draw string pouch of cheap vinyl that is difficult to open because it is so small, and of such stiff material. Why Sekonic did not use almost any other container is beyond me. At ~$250 this is not a cheap device. For that price, I expect some attention to even the non-electronic details. This got none. I'll dock it two stars for that.

Pros: Easy to use. Easy to learn how to use. Has a wide range for selecting film ISO. Aperture is more precise and has readings as fractions within each stop interval. Allows incident and reflected light reading. The carrying case, which is a leather bag the size of a wallet, is of premium quality. Lanyard is included, which makes carrying it easy. Another item was included, which included a piece of leather and a string. I am not sure what it is for. Cons: The materials convey a sense of low quality and cheapness, although this may not be true for the sensor and the electronics inside the device. The materials do not feel durable. Overall: Very satisfied with this purchase.

If you're new to the world of Light Meters, Sekonic is a brand that seems to have been around forever in this space and is very well respected; it was an easy choice for me. I purchased it for the flash meter function - I just got my first studio light set so rather than rely on trial and error for set-up I thought a meter would be a bit easier. The meter itself amply fills the palm of your hand and has all the buttons where you need then for single handed operation. It's very simple to use - you just tell it the camera ISO setting and shutter speed and set it to 'get ready to meter', hit the flash test button on your light's remote trigger and up pops the settings - spot on every time so far! The wireless system that came with my lights made it easy for me but even if your flash uses a cable trigger the Sekonic has a cable connection which means you can trigger stobes directly from the meter. As well as a flash meter it also provides incident and reflected light readings. While this might seem out-moded I've found myself using it instead of the camera meter a couple of times already for certain subjects; it also makes you look like you know what you're doing... It comes with a cord, carry case, battery and a different diffuser and as well as normal light metering and flash, it can also be used for cinematography and provide EV readings that can be converted to LUX via a table in the manual. At 118x64x24mm (140x87x24mm in the case) my only gripe is the large size and light weight - if it was the same weight but smaller it would be great for travel but it is quite big and as such I fell it lends itself better to studio work, for which more weight would have given it a higher quality feel. For this reason I was tempted to give it 4 stars but it's nothing more than a personal preference and you can't really argue with the price/operation/accuracy making it a very good product, so for me it definitely gets a 5* rating.

It is a cute little light meter, giving you accurate F stop, ISO and Shutter speed measurements. The handling is so simple, you can get used to it withing ten minutes. The reading given by the meter is accurate and no more guess work while exposing difficult to expose lighting conditions. It gives reading for both incident and reflected light along with studio flash readings. There is lumidisc provided which can be used while photographing flat artwork or while measuring contrast of flat surface. It runs on 1.5 volt single AA battery. I suggest you better use High Quality Alkaline battery, instead of using ordinary manganese batteries. NO NI-MH rechargeable batteries as they do not have 1.5 volt rating. A high quality alkaline battery should work for more than six months, if you are not using the meter continuously. In short a good piece of camera accessory to have if you are after HQ photography.

He hecho varias pruebas y pese a que a simple vista el Sekonic L308S parece un juguete, su uso es sencillo y la configuración por pasos enteros, medios o tercios es muy sencilla. Trabaja con prioridad a la velocidad, y aunque muchos se quejan es idóneo para poder sincronizar con la velocidad de los flashes en manual, cambiar el f. es tan sencillo como variar los parámetros de ISO/velocidad con los botones o calcularlo. Tiene un modo de cine para calcular según los fps utilizados en la grabación y medición reflejada/incidente para luz natural, flash o flash con cable. El peso es muy reducido por lo que llevarlo encima no te resultará un problema. Con el precio que tiene es un producto 100% recomendado.

This is a good useful stuff!

... ma grande nella praticità ed affidabilità. Facilità di utilizzo, precisione nella misurazione, singola batteria stilo (quindi reperibile ovunque). Insomma un prodotto eccellente! Consegna in meno di 24 ore dall'ordine... pienamente soddisfatto!