Has anyone come across any information on the soon to be released Sekonic L-608 light meter? I understand it was shown at photokina 2000 but Mamiya America is hush hush about any details yet.For you world travelers out there or just plain people with connections in other parts of the world, do you have any scoop for us in this forum. Thanks a bunch Andy Hall

-- Andy Hall (khall2@uswest.net), November 22, 2000

Answers

I could speak shortly with a representative of Sekonic about this light meter at the Photokina (it was not possible to actually see the meter there). It is very similar to the L-508 (which I am using). Regarding its sensitivity, it is listed to be the same as the L-508 (unfortunately not so good in spot meter mode).

Otherwise, it has more memories to store the light readings (16 instead of 3), and a new grey housing. A very nice feature compared to the L-508 is that it has a display of the measurement in the viewfinder.

-- Pierre Kervella (ke_pi@hotmail.com), November 24, 2000.

I have scanned and uploaded the sekonic L-608 brochure to: http://www.cs.kau.se/~nicke/private/photo/file/

Cheers, Niklas

-- Niklas Nikitin (Niklas.Nikitin@kau.se), December 18, 2000.

It also has a PocketWizard Radio slave option that can be plugged into the back near the battery. This will enable wireless operation to the strobes. A VERY nice feature for those who know what a pain the sync cable can be.

-- Jim Clark (jim@lpadesign.com), February 22, 2001.

Since its being distributed by Mamiya/Sekonic in the U.S. you can bet your boots it will be sold at a high markup in the U.S. market.

Check with www.robertwhite.co.uk who has a top-notch reputation.

Even current midline models such as the 308bII sell for US$100 less than in the United States at B&H.

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), February 22, 2001.

The back cover of Camera Arts has a full page ad for the L-608; there is an introductory "offer" -- the $90 radio trigger module is available for $25. I shoot with strobes, so this appeals to me. Can anyone comment on how this meter compares with the Gossen Starlite (obviously more bells and whistles -- see the 2 page .pdf on the Sekonic.com site) -- but what about down to earth things like entering a filter factor? I tend to like Gossen ergonomics. A trusted friend and pro shooter told me that the Starlite is very accurate. Best, Paul

-- paul chaplo (chaplo@usa.net), April 28, 2001.

i used the 608 last week. the pocket wizard trigger is very nice but seems to eat up the batteries (3 batt. changes in 5 days). for some reason the custom function for half stop shutter speeds will not allow readings to the tenth of a stop, only in thirds. while this is no concern for lf it is a pain when shooting daylight on an rz67. the 508 is better in this regard. the flash/daylight analyze function (a la minolta V) is a welcome addition, as is the readout in the spotmeter. the spot's lowlight sensitivity remains poor. it's a bit bulkier than the 508 and about $300 more (mac pricing).

-- adam friedberg (asfberg@hotmail.com), April 28, 2001.