Sekonic L-358 Flash Master Light Meter

by Sekonic

Product Details

Sekonic Light Meter Brochure [1.9 MB PDF]

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Sekonic Light Meters for Cinematography [4.22mb PDF]

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Product Manual [1.90mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 1.9 x 3.5 x 6.7 inches ; 9.4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00007E89K
• Item model number: L358
• Batteries: 1 Lithium Metal batteries required.
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #1 in Camera & Photo > Accessories > Light Meters & Accessories > Light Meters
  • #13 in Electronics > Camera & Photo > Flashes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Since its introduction, Sekonic's L-358 Flash Master has become the best-selling digital flash meter in its class. Weather-sealed against the nastiest of working conditions, the L-358 delivers dead-nuts accurate flash and ambient light reading in both incident and reflected modes.

For mixed lighting scenarios, the L-358 displays the combined exposure values of both flash and ambient light sources, including the percentage of flash in total exposure in 10-percent increments. Dual ISO buttons allow for quick exposure factoring when working with two differing film speeds, film and Polaroids, or other situations where comparison readings are desired.

The head of the L-358 swivels 270-degrees allowing you to "walk the set" while maintaining constant visual contact with the LCD display. An indigo, backlit LCD screen with large text and icons allows for easy referencing under all lighting conditions.

Incident readings of three-dimensional subjects are taken using the Lumisphere, which can be retracted for selective, narrower-field readings such as contrast ratios for flash lighting. For reflective readings, simply replace the Lumisphere with the Lumigrid (included), which reads the center 54-degrees of the scene. For reflected spot metering, 1, 5, and 10-degree viewfinder spot attachments are available as optional accessories. Up to nine exposure readings can be stored and tagged on the LCD's analog scale. Electronic flash exposures can be taken wirelessly or with a PC cord. Plug in the optional Sekonic RT-32 Radio Transmitter Module and you can wirelessly trigger any PocketWizard-enabled flash system within a 100' range.

The Sekonic L-358 displays an f-stop range of f/1.0 to f/90.9, and a shutter speed range of 30-minutes to 1/8000th-of-a-second (1/1000th in Flash mode), both of which can be displayed in full, half, and third-stop intervals to mirror your camera's exposure display. When set to "full", the exposure is displayed in tenth-of-a-stop increments with repeat accuracy of +/- 0.1 EV.

For motion picture applications, the L-358 calculates cine readings from 2 to 360 frames-per-second. As with all Sekonic meters, the Sekonic L-358 Flash Master includes a 3-year warranty and the best customer support you're ever likely to find.

Sekonic L-358 FLASH MASTER
User-friendly, affordable meter with advanced features and Optional Wireless Triggering triggering.

• Exposures accurate down to a tenth-of-a-stop for both ambient and electronic flash light readings (in full-stop mode). Meter can also display shutter-speeds and apertures in half or third-stop increments to mirror the exposure settings on your camera
• Sekonic RT-32 Radio Transmitter Module installs easily, enabling wireless, Selective Quad Triggering of PocketWizard-enabled electronic flash units up to 100ft away
• Swivel-mounted head (270-degrees) allows for uninterrupted visual contact with LCD screen from any reading angle
• Incident readings of three-dimensional subjects are taken using the Lumisphere fully extended, and retract the Lumisphere for selective, narrower-field readings for flat-field objects such as artwork. For reflected readings, a Lumigrid (included) replaces the Lumisphere.
• Dust-proof and splash-proof (JIS Standard Water Resistance Class 4). Weather-sealed against dust storms, nor'easters, and the occasional rogue wave
• At ISO 100, the EV measurement range is -2 to 22.9. Aperture ranges from f/1 to f/90.9 with a shutter-speed span of 60-seconds to 1/8000th-of-a-second (1-sec to 1/1000th for flash). For cinema applications frame-rates can be set from 2 to 360 frames-per-second. ISO range can be set from 3 to 8000 in third-stop increments
• Up to 9 readings can be stored in memory for meter averaging and contrast evaluations in Aperture and Shutter priority modes
• Includes Lumigrid (Reflected Light Attachment), Carry Case, Strap, synchro terminal cap, CR123A lithium battery
• 1-Year Warranty, extendable at no charge to 3 years total (USA only) after registration, backed by our outstanding customer support team

Product Description

Since its introduction, Sekonic's L-358 Flash Master has become the best-selling digital flash meter in its class. Weather-sealed against the nastiest of working conditions, the L-358 delivers dead-nuts accurate flash and ambient light reading in both incident and reflected modes.For mixed lighting scenarios, the L-358 displays the combined exposure values of both flash and ambient light sources, including the percentage of flash in total exposure in 10-percent increments. Dual ISO buttons allow for quick exposure factoring when working with two differing film speeds, film and Polaroids, or other situations where comparison readings are desired.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

114 of 114 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Light Meter, June 10, 2005

By 

iPP - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This Sekonic L-358 light meter is an excellent meter. I have fallen in love with it. Lots of Today's 35mm SLR camera meters are TTL Meters (reflected light measurement meters). Sekonic L-358 is such a high precision instrument which measures incident, reflected, flash (cord & cordless). I got great digital photos after I have used the reading on 2 different cameras under normal & Flash lights.

The pictures are great out of your camera and do not require any editing if used properly according to the instructions. I like the built in Memory function to store readings, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, 2 ISO functions, Weather proof Seal, Can include optional radio transmitter + receiver modules to wirelessly trigger flash units, So far Battery Life has been Good. This meter does not use "AA" it uses CR-123A so you will have to always carry one spare with you.

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My first handheld meter-works great., November 22, 2008

By 

Bill "Bill" (Houston TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sekonic L-358 Flash Master Light Meter (Electronics)

I bought this meter because I bought a manual focus lens for my Nikon D50. This camera body does not meter with the old manual lenses. After a week of using it, I can say it performs well. It offers incident and reflected measurements. However, to switch from incident to reflected, you have to take off the lumisphere and mount the lumigrid. It offers shutter and aperture priority modes. I prefer aperture priority-choose an aperture, and the meter selects a shutter speed. You can choose 2 ISO settings. The meter will stay on ISO 1 until you push ISO 2 for a brief reading. When you let go of the ISO 2 button, it goes back to ISO 1.


The Sekonic L-358 also does flash metering(reflected and incident). This is helpful to me because my D50 will not do TTL flash with my older flash units-Nikon SB-80DX. It has flash corded mode-connect flash and meter with sync cord. It also has cordless flash mode. When you press the measurement button, you will have up to 90 seconds to fire the flash. It will even measure multiple flash bursts. However, it will not read them all if the bursts are too quick. I'd recommend leaving at least 1/2 second between bursts to take a reading. There's also flash to ambient light ratio readings.


Another reason I chose this model is you can buy optional spot meter attachments for it-1, 5, and 10 degree heads.

It also has many features I've never used and probably never will, so I can't comment on those. Such as wireless radio flash triggering(I think optional accessories are required), memories, averaging of multiple readings, and more.

Something that you should consider-not all lenses transmit the EXACT same amount of light. In theory they should, but that's not always the case. For example, one of my lenses needs about 1/3-1/2 stop more light than the meter suggests. Another needs about 2/3-1 stop more. And another lens just about agrees with the Sekonic. I think older zooms are more prone to needing more light. If you're getting underexposed images, run tests and take notes with each lens you plan on using with the meter.

And another thing-it uses a CR123A battery. Those can be hard to find, so carry an extra.

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Lightmeter - Great Value Too!, May 27, 2008

By 

Yo' Vinny (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sekonic L-358 Flash Master Light Meter (Electronics)

I purchased this light meter when I got a chance to use a film medium format camera for awhile. It has every feature that I could like and was so good at exposure measurements that I started using it on my Canon 30D digital when the time for the shot permitted.

At first when I purchased it I thought it was so 'old school' to have a lightmeter, but I knew I was going to have it to use the medium format film camera I had and I wanted to go with strobes eventually so I was going to need it as well for the best results. I was quite surprised to find out how much of a difference it makes on digital and it pointed out how even a good digital camera can only do so good of an exposure prediction because of color and reflection assumptions it has to make.

If you've got to get exposure right on, then get a good light meter. The L-358 is a great light meter for the money.