Re: [Leica] light meters

[Charles Babington <cbabing3@swbell.net>]

Jeff -

I know what you mean about the wait for the 308 to get ready for
action.  It sometimes does seem like eternity.  Have you considered the
Quantum Calculight meter?  It takes a reading instantly when you press
the metering button, which gives you a number in an LED window.  You set
this number under the incident or reflected mark on the calculator dial,
depending on the mode you're using, and get the usual analog set of all
combinations of aperture and shutter speed.  (The LED numbers give 1/3
stop  increments.)  ISO is always visible, as is EV if you ever use
those numbers as a shortcut to check brightness range.  The meter really
works very easily one handed, and is much faster to use than to
describe.  I do like the dial readout of all exposure combinations, and
the fact that the dial stays put until you move it, unlike the 308 which
resets to zero when it turns itself off.  The Calculight is not easy to
set when the light gets low, but then you can't read a 308 in the dark
either.  (I carry the tiny Maglite flashlight in each of my camera bags
for work in dark places, like theaters.)

The Quantum is about the size of the 308 but a slight bit thicker.  Sits
nicely in the hand, though.  The only downside (IMO) is that it takes 4
of the 76 size batteries, which are not readily available late at night
on Sunday in the middle of nowhere.  OTOH, it only draws current when
the button is pressed to take or recall a reading, so I suspect the
batteries last forever.  (The second button on the meter, opposite side
from the metering button, recalls the last reading in case you couldn't
see it when you took the reading, or just want to reconfirm it.)  The
Quantum also doesn't do flash (unless you get one of the flash models,
which I understand are not at all convenient to use,) but I use other
meters for that purpose.

On the whole I like the Quantum, although I admit I use the 308 more (it
almost always matches my M6 meter reading - on topic.)  The current
Quantum (XP model) is about $120 new (B&H), but I bought mine from KEH
for about $90.  KEH has one of the older models in their latest catalog
for under $50, as I recall.

Cheers,
Kip Babington