I use a Sekonic hand held meter (digital) which ran around $350 if my failing memory is correct.

Mine works fine but a meter is only as good as your knowledge of how to use it and your camera.

What type of camera are you using?

The meters on my Nikon is definitely smarter then I am and changing the way it meters will usually give me the desired results. Though I still take a baseline with my hand held and use my hand held exclusively in the studios as on camera meters are not equipped to handle studio strobes.

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That said, a hand-held incident meter is an indespecable tool. If you don't need flash metering capacity, you can get a nice unit for under $100. I don't think you need to spend much more than that for a good flash meter.

Spot meters also have a place in your camera bag, but their use is more specialized and requires more understanding of light.

Reflective meters are worse than useless.

HTH,

T.C.

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A hand-held meter is much more difficult to use for a novice than the one built into the camera. That being said, my personal hand-held meter of choice is the Gossen Luna Star F2 -- but it isn't cheap.

~ GaySatyr

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