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Home >> Photography >> Accessories Sekonic
Auto-Leader L188 As part of my desire to do some more photography during my workplace breaks, I purchased the Manfrotto 190 and 308 small tripod and ball head combination and pulled my elderly Konica S2 Auto compact rangefinder from the cabinet with a small brick of Kodak Portra 400CN B&W ready to go. Just one small problem with the kit above, the Konica S2 Auto has a broken meter and the cost for repair would be in the $75 range. I pondered this for a moment and the first thought is no big deal, I can always use my Sekonic L508 handheld meter. A bit big and perhaps a bit too good for what I wanted to do (also a bit expensive to be leaving at work all the time too). I could also see myself forgetting to bring the 508 home from the office on the Friday before a wedding shoot, not a good choice. Instead of doing the obvious of repairing the Konica S2, I looked for a used handheld meter, the battery-free selenium cell type that one can sometimes find in the used bins. I went to the most likely source for such a meter, Leos, and although I did find a variety of used handheld meters, none were what I found suited for my needs; read cheap, really cheap. Okay no used meters but I knew that Sekonic did have a selenium cell handheld meter in their product line for a reasonable price new, so I enquired about it and was promptly told that the L158 was in fact a discontinued model. Bummer, but wait, what was that nice small Sekonic on display that looked like the L158. Why it was the L188, same size but instead of a battery-less selenium cell, the L188 uses a button cell battery to power its reflected meter. And wouldn’t you know it, Leo’s had one or two L188 meters left from a pricing screw-up by the distributor and I could pick up a new L188 for the same price as the L158, about $50 off its regular list price. What the heck, I bought the L188 for $100 CAN, a small price increase over fixing the Konica S2, whose meter I would not have trusted anyway, fixed or not. The L188 is tiny, comes with a small pouch for travel and a short wrist strap (more shoe string than strap). Sekonic provides a battery for it in the box and the L188 takes the ubiquitous LR/SR-44 type cell, one that can be found nearly anywhere for about $5 and will likely last for over a year or more. There is very little to the L188 meter. A dual rotary gauge is the main feature, a small inset one for dialing in the ISO or DIN number and the other for setting the exposure setting.
A small button on the upper right side is the metering on button. Push it and watch where the needle stops within the window space. Hold it and then rotate the exposure dial so that a green reference pointer can be matched to the needle. Release the metering on button and then read the corresponding exposure information. That’s it, very little to the operation of the L188 and as simple as can be. Since the L188 is not an incident meter, one cannot hold it at a 45-degree angle, as would be the case with an incident meter. Instead, one points the front of the L188, where the small metering cell is located, towards the subject to obtain a reading. In some quick informal tests and comparisons to come other meters, the L188 appears to be as accurate as anything else I might use. These include:
Accurate enough for critical slide film users? Used appropriately, yes by either taking a reading from a neutral tone subject or using the palm of the hand and then compensating by plus two-stops on the camera. Bracketing obviously recommended. Accurate enough for negative film users? More than enough so given the latitude of negative films and my general default of rating these films by at least plus half a stop. The L188 at its regular price of $150 would not have been something I would have wanted and I would likely have attended one of the big swap meets held a couple of times a year for one of those selenium cell meters I mentioned at the beginning of this report. However, at $100, it was low enough to trigger my subjective impulse for purchase. One last note about selenium cell meters, as these cells utilize a chemical reaction (I assume light hitting the selenium), these cells have a limited life span and will eventually become a paperweight. However, if the meter is used and then put back into its dark pouch or pocket immediately, then they can have a very long life. General features of the L188:
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The
blue rectangle seen in the image at left, is for checking the battery
in the meter, as long as the needle meets the blue section when the
battery test button is pressed, the battery is good.>>
<<The
meter of the L188 as indicated by the red arrow in the image at left.