The company bringing some of the most affordable deals on analogue film today has added a light meter to its product line. Reflx Lab’s new Light Meter comes in black or silver, weighs only 25g, and features 30-degree average metering along with exposure compensation adjustments from -2 to +2.
Powered by a CR1632 button cell battery, the Reflx Lab Light Meter works on an aperture or shutter priority mode basis. Users plug in the ISO and either the aperture or shutter speed and the remaining setting is calculated by the meter sensor. Shutter speeds start from 30 seconds and go up to 1/8000 while the aperture ranges from F1 to F32. ISO settings available range from ISO 8 to 6400.
The meter is packaged with a shoe bracket, extra screws, and a screwdriver. The placement of the shoe bracket can be changed to suit the camera it’s mounted on. While the shoe bracket does have to be changed with screws, the battery compartment doesn’t. If you are familiar with other light meters, you may know that for some of them, to change the battery you have to unscrew the compartment each time. Reflx Lab has made this easier by designing a latch that quickly opens the battery compartment door. Not that you’ll be changing the battery very often as they rate the standby battery life for as long as one year.
Measurements of 35mm x 28mm x 11.5mm make this meter very portable. Reflx Lab states it can work in temperatures from -12°C – 60°C. The metal shell is made from aluminum and zinc and the lens housing the sensor is weather and dust-proof.
For a product demo, visit Reflx Lab’s Youtube video here showing how to use the different functions of the Light Meter:
Priced at $45 (USD) at the moment (on sale from $50 (USD)) the Reflx Lab Light Meter is one of the more affordable options seen on the market. To read more reviews on 35mmc about the various light meters available, see the link here.
Find more information on the Reflx Lab Light Meter product page linked here.
Thank you for posting this. This is going on my Leica M3ds ! It’s got to be better than my original old dead one. Looks good too.
they are stylish for sure!
There were no comments about the accuracy of this meter. I have two models of the meters made by Doomo. One which is a copy of the Voightlånder is a half stop off which is consistent with one of the reviews. The other Doomo is consistent with my several Gossen meters. Does the author have any comments regarding the accuracy of the Reflx light meter?
Hi James, I’ve used the light meter actually and it is accurate to the other metering I’ve used which includes my phone app and sunny 16, although I have not compared to any other external light meters.
It’s very difficult to tell if a light meter is 1/2 a stop off. What do you compare it with. It’s not accurate comparing it with a digital camera because wide open the camera lens has vignetting and its Fstop is different from its T ( transmission) stop.
I have a cupboard full of light meters that each give different readings. Several Gossen’s I have are obsolete because present day batteries give false readings.
Check the Gossen web site about that. Best to be familiar with the meter you use and adjust your ISO to compensate if necessary.
This style of meter is very useful ( I have a similar Doomo ) not only with film cameras but also mounted on DSLRs etc. You can check exposure and set it without lifting the camera to your eye. If you are using adapted lenses they often don’t allow correct exposures through the lens, but a shoe mounted meter takes care of that.
It looks as though the price is good.
PS I walked along a beach for a couple of hours with my Doomo mounted on my Nikon FM a few days ago. Came back to my car put the camera on the passenger seat. At home putting the camera away I discovered the Doomo was missing. It was sitting on its own on the passenger seat fortunately not falling off on the beach. The two screws holding the shoe on had loosened off. They were still in the shoe still on the camera. I’d correctly installed them but they only hold by a few threads. I’m reinstalling the screws using Loctite plus some medium strength glue between the meter and shoe. It’s unlikely I’ll ever need to remove the shoe again. Probably summer / winter temperature changes on the brass body had caused loosening
OK Molly,
I just ordered one. I was looking for an inexpensive meter to use on my Leica & Leitz-Minolta CL. My old Voigtlander meters are wearing out after almost 10 years.
I use a meter to get a general reading, then dig into the little gray cells of experience to tweak the final exposure.
I’ll see how it work’s out.
Dan
that’s great! sure those grey cells know what they are doing but meter is nice to have for a second opinion 🙂