Depends on the purpose for which you want the meter. If you just want to use it to meter different areas of the scene (e.g. shadows, midtones, highlights) and determine an appropriate exposure for one of those areas my favorite meter for that purpose was the Pentax digital spot meter. It's a very simple meter that is excellent for that purpose. If you want something more elaborate or versatile you might look into one of the Sekonic models, they seem to be popular. It's tempting to buy a meter that will do a lot of different things. But if you don't use those different things you end up with a meter that's more complicated to use than you'd like.
I would recommend one of the Sekonic models that has the spot meter built in and it also does incident readings. Most handle flash and ambient readings.
It would help to know what you are shooting with the Contax , for studio work I'd recommend a meter that reads incident light, for other purposes like zone system applications a spot meter is needed.
I own about 4 or 5 meters.
"Horses for courses" ... as others have mentioned.
Who told you that and why/what context did they make that suggestion. That could give us a clue at recommendation / strategy.
Personally, I've got a Sekonic L-608 (out of production) that I picked up used on the FM boards that I love and will serve me for anything I run across. Prior to that, I only had an incident meter (using my camera's spot meter for reflective readings) that served me well for decades @ ambient applications ... so it really depends on your perspective / strategy / needs / approach.
If you're in it for the "long haul" ... like any great tool, a good one pays for itself over time ... and only gets better as you get more familiar with it ... and good light meters tend to hold their value really well (past initial "new" depreciation).
If you've never used one before ... you might consider renting one (very cheap) for a week to get a feel for them. If you're close to a rental house that you can personally visit, they can be valuable in helping you to understand how to use the gear. I find that rental people are better at helping you understand / achieve solutions than retail salesman who tend to "push products" rather than find solutions. From that experience, it'll be more clear what direction you might want to "invest" in.
HTH
Saw your last post after I wrote above ...
Sounds like you just need a simple incident meter, to help when a camera's reflective meter can get fooled for "proper" exposure.
Well, it is great light meter, has all the features someone can dream of, even i can use it for my film shooting as i need a 1 degree spot metering, so buy once and never look back, the only issue was the battery, but i solved this problem when i bought those rechargeable batteries compatible for this light meter, same battery can be used in my digital hasselblad spare battery pack.
I agree that L-308 is a great choice, just it may need a 1 degree accessory for more accurate reading maybe if necessary, also i recommend L-358 too, not much expensive over that L-308, almost half price of L-758DR.
It's unfortunate that some people choose to not help others on forums by suggesting products that are mostly expensive and useless to them. This is like suggesting a 2 seater sports car for a family of six....because you never know if you really want to drive fast some day
Put it in perspective for the OP's situation. I say as Brian says (buy used) Minolta Flashmeter IV, V, or VI. You will get a lot of use out of these as they are. If you find that you don't really need a meter you haven't spent much money.
The L-608 ... has 1 degree spot variable to 4 degrees, incident, flash, combined, memory, pocket wizard module option, etc. Not necessarily what the OP needs for his intended purpose, but a bargain compared to the L-758DR I'm sure, and "bang for the buck" is one of my better finds.
Not sure what more the L-758DR might have ... but I can't think of anything more that I'd want / need.
But, hey ... I'm a fan of "last year's Cadillac" ... If it was "world class" last year, what makes it any less so this year just because something else has come out with more bells & whistles or prettier paint? It isn't like light has changed much over the years.
That being said, some would consider a used Minolta Flashmeter to be like a used Rolls Royce.
