Sekonic401-208 Twin Mate Light Meter (Black/White)

Purchased this because I needed a compact, reliable, and lightweight meter when I go shoot with my Hasselblad 500CM with a Phaseone P25 back with an eye-level prism.... a very very very heavy setup! Prior to this, was using an iPhone app for metering but I needed something lighter and easier to operate. The Sekonic Twin Mate is the solution.I also tried a few mini hot shoe mount meters like Reveni Labs, TTArtisan, Keks to name a few, which are all good choices, but I still prefer the traditional wear-around-the-neck handheld match-needle meters. Most of all, it is a Sekonic! The Twin Mate also comes with an additional hotshoe mount adapter, but I am content wear it around my neck or in my pocket.Meter has a lumisphere cover- incident mode mostly for portrait and macro, or reflective mode I always use. Rotate dial to set film speed, point lumisphere at the subject to get a reading which activates the "green" needle, then rotate dial to match red needle over green to get your correct f-stop and shutter speed. It has an EV reading if your "older" camera uses EV system for exposure.Love it! Highly recommend it!

The included instructions were clear and concise and the light meter is very simple to use. I like the feel of this "manual" meter as opposed to a digital meter. The price is also right if you don't need a digital meter. For other novices who don't want to spend a lot on their first meter this is a great choice. It's very light and compact and comes with a hot-shoe attachment, carrying case and lanyard and is capable of testing direct or indirect light and switches back and forth between modes quite easily. I haven't used the hot-shoe attachment so I can't comment on it. The only complaint I have about this meter is that the dial to change the ISO speed is right on top of the dial for the Indicator needle. The meter is small and my hands are big so I often have to quickly re-meter because I've changed the ISO speed after testing and accidentally moved the indicator knob. That being said, metering is quick and easy and the red indicator needle freezes in place for a few seconds (15, I believe) so you have plenty of time to adjust the dial(s) and take your reading.

This is a nice, old-fashioned analog exposure meter. I am using it mostly when I want to use old lenses that don't communicate with my cameras. It works well and seems correctly calibrated, though I have not really been able to measure it but only compared it to the internal exposure meters in my cameras. Just to give you an idea, its grey zone limit for low light, using an ISO 400 setting, is at 1/30 at f/2.0. I assume the measurements below the grey zone are not precise.It is lightweight, all plastic (aluminum would be nicer), but seems quite sturdy. Some reviewers complained about the ISO dial is too easy to spin. Mine is quite tight and can only be moved if you do it intentionally, using the raised switchcover knob. Due to its small size, you can easily fit it on a camera (into the flash shoe) once you've screwed on the little piece for it, which can be mounted in a couple of ways, allowing for the meter sitting centered, to the left, or to the right.

I love this little meter. It's small, goes almost anywhere, has a lanyard as well as a cold shoe mount. It also does incident readings. If your brain is still analog or if you just like doing things the old way, it's the way to go.I've many old cameras with broken meters, or no meters. This is what I use with it.

Best I can say about this meter is that it is small and easily portable. For street photography where a larger meter might stand out, this small light meter seems discreet. A must have for film photographers using older cameras without a light meter. Meter sensitivity is linear, meaning the meter does not seem to have any built-in K-factor. The downside is that the copy I have reads two stops higher than my other light meters. I have to set the ISO # two stops slower to get the correct settings. To get an accurate reading that matches what the light meter in my EM1 and my old Pentax spot meter say, I have to set the ISO two stops slower. An inconvenience, but, since the readings appear to be linear, not a real show stopper.As with any light meter, test with your film and developer combination to determine the correct settings for your film selection and development process.UPDTED REVIEW!!!After using this meter I noticed that the battery cover came off and was lost. I now no longer have a battery cover. Considering this, I cannot recommend this meter at all!

Though it's EV range doesn't make it great for very low light work, it's great for most "normal" photographic conditions. I've used it as an ambient light meter with my digitals when I want that type of metering, and in both modes with my collection of old film cameras. I also use it to verify the metering of old film camera metering systems when I repair them. Obviously it's not a flash meter.It works well and I carry it all the time in my bag. It seems fragile, but despite being banged around constantly, it continues to function perfectly. It's compact enough to mount on a flash shoe and comes with a piece to do just that.I find the ambient light mode helpful for my slide shooting where I don't trust my cameras internal meters to give me the correct exposure. By getting close in reflected mode (when you can do that) it allows something akin to spot metering.Overall, a nice thing to always have in your bag, taking up little room but giving great utility.