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Well I'm currently hopelessly confused, I've been trawling Ebay looking at light meters and literally the prices range from $1-$500+, the types and ages are varied and I'm just not sure what I need.

Why am I looking for a meter ? The Leica I now own (M4-P) is meterless, so far I when I meter I have two options, guess based on the Sunny 16 rule, or use D70/D200 to meter the same scene and hope it matches up to what happening inside the Leica (I haven't developed any of the film yet, but I have been keeping a record of what I shot the images at, so I can get an idea of how they turn out.

I know previously people have got all excited about the $300-$500 awesome light meters, I know Chris was impressed with his etc Can one of the cheaper jobs do sufficiently so I don't have to use all my pocket money ?

This would be more than adequate Craig - Sekonic 308s $192.00 from Poon

Chris - I could maybe stretch the budget that far if I behave myself. Can this do for want of a better word spot metering as well as incident metering ?

I did some reading and it looks like it does.

Craig,

Speaking in very general terms, I think the minimum specification you should be looking for, and also keeping in mind potential future usage - would be that the unit has direct and incident reading capabilities (and I cannot think of any meter that doesn't provide that level of functionality) and it would be highly desirable to also have flash metering capabilities as well.

If you have those three bases covered, then all of your needs for the foreseeable future should be addressed.

And the Sekonic 308s that Chris mentioned has all of that and more.

You won't go wrong with a 2nd hand Minolta flash meter IV or V

if I had $100, id get a used minolta
if I had $200, id get a sekonic 308
if I had $400, id get the 558 or 778.

my first meter was a gossen digi6, it works well, its a flat pack, fits in shirt pocket nicely. big display.

after doing more studio stuff, wanted more, so upgraded to sekonic 778, love it.

since you want it for ambient metering, what about a used tiny one, like the little gossens? very small.

lol bruce, i don't think you can get a used minolta for $100. The autometers maybe but they're not that good.