[Leica] Sekonic L-508 - The Last Post

[Larry Kopitnik <kopitnil@mra-inc.com>]

I received my Sekonic L-508 back from Mamiya/Sekonic service (Mamiya USA is
the US distributor of Sekonic) yesterday, just four days after they
received it. I'm impressed; they're in New York and I'm in Kansas City. And
the two times I've used Nikon's service, I've been without equipment five
to six weeks.

My particular sample apparently did need major repair; the service order
shows they replaced two circuit boards (the light meter equivalent of
Tina's R8 shutter, perhaps?). But in testing this morning, I find it now
works perfectly. Readings from the incident meter and the spot meter off a
Kodak grey card are consistently within 2/10 stop. And since Sekonic says
the repeatability of the meter is 1/10 stop and Kodak says their grey card
accuracy is within 1 per cent, that seems well within everyone's standards.

These posts started in response to Lucien's question about the L-508. So,
here's my final thoughts: It is fairly large, as incident meters go. If all
a photographer needs is an incident meter to supplement their in-camera
meter, there's smaller and less expensive options out there. But if a tight
spot meter in addition to an incident dome is beneficial, I now find the
L-508 to be excellent.

It's easy to use (the dial to change settings, as oppossed to the small
buttons I've experienced with other meters, is particuarly nice). It offers
numerous functions and features, including storing and averaging up to
three readings; single and multi-pop flash measurement, both corded and
cordless; retractable dome for contrast measurements; lit screen; can be
set for aperture-priority, shutter-priority or EV readings; accepts Minolta
plug-in accessories; even has a tripod socket for studio use.

The spot meter, at one degree, is very tight. To put it in perspective,
that's about 2/3 the size of the spot area read by my Nikon F4 with a 180
mm lens attached. And the R8's spot meter area, according to figures I've
seen, is about half again as large as the F4's.

The only crticism I've read of the L-508 is the lack of readings visible in
the spot finder (you have to pull the finder away from your eye to see
readings on the meter's body). But Mamiya/Sekonic has explained that would
have made the meter much larger.

If the features the L-508 offers can be helpful to one's photography, it's
well worth the price. But I highly recommend testing it thoroughly. To make
sure all the circuit boards work.

Larry