It's Sekonic's 70th birthday! And there's a commemorative light meter on the way

Sekonic 70th anniversary
(Image credit: Sekonic)

Specialist light meter and color meter manufacturer Sekonic is celebrating its 70th anniversary – and it is marking the occasion by releasing a commemorative, limited edition light meter. 

Sekonic was founded on 01 June 1951 as Seiko Electric Industries Co. Ltd, by Ryuichi Mitani, as an engineering, manufacturing and design company for light meters and selenium purification systems. That same year it released the Sekonic L-1 and is today renowned for making some of the best light meters for photography, changing the company name to that of its flagship brand by 1960. 

• Read more: How to use a light meter

"We are immensely humbled and proud to be celebrating our 70th Anniversary in 2021," announced Sekonic in a discreet press release.

“For 70 years, we have designed and manufactured the most innovative and sophisticated light measuring instruments in the photographic and cine / video industry," added Kenji Sawai, Sekonic director and COO.

"Our commitment to meet and exceed the demands and expectations of our customers continues with more passion than ever. Sekonic is a company that never wants to forget where it comes from, while still focusing on innovative products for the future." 

The manufacturer is responsible for many firsts, including the first all-weather meter, the first combination spot and incident meter, the first flash meter with radio triggering functionality, the first flash meter to create and display exposure profiling, and the first handheld spectrometer to measure flash and SSI.

It also holds some significant photographic honors, such as when the Sekonic L-518 Digipro X-1 meter was chosen by NASA for use in the space shuttle missions that it launched in 1984.

Nothing has yet been revealed about the commemorative light meter, but the manufacturer will be spilling the beans next month. "Sekonic will launch a special limited edition light meter to celebrate this milestone. Details will be released to the public on 01 July."

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James Artaius
Editor

The editor of Digital Camera World, James has 21 years experience as a journalist and started working in the photographic industry in 2014 (as an assistant to Damian McGillicuddy, who succeeded David Bailey as Principal Photographer for Olympus). In this time he shot for clients like Aston Martin Racing, Elinchrom and L'Oréal, in addition to shooting campaigns and product testing for Olympus, and providing training for professionals. This has led him to being a go-to expert for camera and lens reviews, photo and lighting tutorials, as well as industry news, rumors and analysis for publications like Digital Camera MagazinePhotoPlus: The Canon MagazineN-Photo: The Nikon MagazineDigital Photographer and Professional Imagemaker, as well as hosting workshops and talks at The Photography Show. He also serves as a judge for the Red Bull Illume Photo Contest. An Olympus and Canon shooter, he has a wealth of knowledge on cameras of all makes – and a fondness for vintage lenses and instant cameras.