Light Meter for Canon Rebel XT?

Hi All,

I am looking to purchase a handheld light meter for my bf for his birthday.

He owns a Canon 350D so i am wondering which light meter would be great to pair with his camera.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Aisa

is he going to be using studio strobes? I do not know why he would need one if not, unless he wants a spot meter, which he can get with a Sekonic L-558 flash meter. I have the L-358 and I love it, just no spot meter.

Actually no he has no studio equipment or anything. He's just a student photographer. Though i wanted to get him something useful for his birthday. He already has an external flash 580ex as well.

How about a nice lens or some filters? What lenses does he have? How much do you want to spend?

For lens he has the ef 24-70mm, and of course the 18-35mm. I'm not sure what other lens to get him? Will a macro cost a lot? I'm thinking of about a few hundred dollars since christmas is coming up as well.

I thought a spot or flash meter would be useful. I'm not sure what photography students need. I need to talk to his teacher LOL!

Well, you could go for some B+H polarising filters for his lenses - they're pretty pricy and good.

The lenses are pretty decent. Maybe something a bit longer like a 70-200?

It depends how much a few hundred dollars is.

Yeah, I'm not sure if a light meter would be the best thing -- I don't have one and I don't think I've ever felt the need for one.

I'm not familiar with the 18-35, did you mean 18-55 kit lens? That's the one the 350D comes with...

It depends on what he shoots and stuff. A 70-200 f/4 might be nice - theyre something around 600 though so might be too much.

You might want to maybe consider printing equpiment or something.

And B&H sells gift certificates -- I think that's something that would please any a photographer.

Tell him he gets nothing till christmas and combine the two lol.

There is the 100mm f/2.8 macro. I've heard good things about it - almost $500 though.
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …SA&addedTroughT​ype=search

But it would be good because he doesn't have anything in that focal range - it's very sharp - and it's a macro lens. But again, everything boils down to the style of photography.

unless he asked for one, I wouldn't buy a meter right now. Lenses are always a nice addition, but you should find out what type of stuff he shoots. Primes (fixed focal length lenses ie 50 f/1.4, 85 1.8, 30 1.4) lenses are really nice in lower light and allow a little more control at times. A longer focal length zoom lens like the 70-200 range start at around $5-600 for some of the more popular ones. If you think he would like to shoot close up shots (macro), then I would suggest at least getting one that is 100mm in focal length or longer. Gift certificates are also a great way to do it, that way he can choose it. Like stated above, a circuolar polarizer made by B+W or any of the other makers would be a great addition to his kit. They make a huge difference especially with landscape type work. Crusie around the different areas in the forum. There's lots of info that might help you out. Good luck. Nice of you to get him such a nice gift.

How about a nice Canon 100 f/2, great lens for the price.

hey guys,

Thanks so much for your great feedback! I am going to consider the Canon 100f/2 for his christmas gift since it's about 500$. I've decided on either a circular polarizer filter for his 24/70 or a 2 gig compact flash card(he only has a 1 gig and it fills up really fast) or both!

Once again Thanks and i really appreciate it!

MissSayuri wrote in post #2135304
hey guys,

Thanks so much for your great feedback! I am going to consider the Canon 100f/2 for his christmas gift since it's about 500$. I've decided on either a circular polarizer filter for his 24/70 or a 2 gig compact flash card(he only has a 1 gig and it fills up really fast) or both!

Once again Thanks and i really appreciate it!

You might want to hold off on the CF card - they drop in price rapidly - so much so that I'm a firm believer in minimalisation.

if it's CF card, hold out still the last minute (no really last, but close enough). 10 months ago i bought a 1gb ultra II for 130 bucks. now, the 2gb ultra II is about 75 or so. prices do drop fast, but they do have a bottoming out point. difference between 2gb and 1gb cards is not much, between 1gb and 512 is almost non-existant. best bang for the buck though, 8gb cards. reletively good one (remember, these cameras can't even write past about 5mb/s, so ultra IIs are just as good as extreme III/IV) will be just under 300 bucks, which i'm assuming is good for you (8gb+8mp sensor=800-1000 shots/card)

I paid GBP 25 - GBP 30 each for 128MB CF cards between July and September 2003. You cannot buy 128MB cards now. The minimum size is now 256MB and 1GB now costs half what I paid in 2003 for a 128MB card. Per gigabyte cards have dropped to 1/16th of the 2003 price. That's in just 3 years. Work out that ratio of price decline! By Christmas I'd expect (unless there's a pre-Christmas plateau) 2GB to be going for the price 1GB goes for now.

In July of 2005 I purchased a 1GB CF card. It cost me $110. That same card would now cost me $20-$25. That's a drop of 80% in 15 months.