Review on Gossen GO 4032 Light Meter by Russell Robertson

Even though you can get an instant preview from a digital camera for free, a handheld meter is good for measuring contrast. An image with too much contrast is easy to capture in RAW but very difficult to print. How do you like this particular gauge? This is the best I've ever used, way better than the old Minolta standards. Requires a standard 9V battery which is widely available. It only has six buttons and their functions are obvious. I was able to use all but one of the meter's modes within 60 seconds of putting the battery in, without even reading the manual. 99% of what you need to know from the manual is printed in four sections on the back of the meter. The measuring device is ideal for calculating lighting conditions. You press the measurement button once to take a snapshot. You press and hold it while sweeping the meter across the scene, and the Luna-Star F2 draws a graph at the bottom of the contrast range indicator (e.g. f8-f16). Each time an instantaneous reading is taken, the meter also displays the ambient reading with a subtle small bar on the same graph. In contrast to Minolta counters, you do not need a "reflected light nozzle" and "reflected light nozzle". The Bare Meter measures reflected light. Add an incident plastic element and you can measure the incident light. Add a small viewfinder and you have a 5 degree spotmeter. It has a great design and is smaller than competing products. Nit: It only measures EV-2.5.