Light Meter Recommendations?
JulieLawsonPhotography
Registered Users Posts: 787 Major grins
For my next purchase, I think it's time for me to buy a light meter, but, I need to know what kind should I get, how does it work...etc. Any recommendations? I have a Nikon d90, in case it matters.
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Since you already have a meter built into your digital camera, how do you intend to use the external meter?
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Julile, spend an afternoon shooting with me sometime and you can borrow my Sekonic 358 and see if you think it is helpful. It will meter flash, trigger a PW, and meter ambient light as well. But the truth is, I rarely use it except when setting up studio lighting.
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Thanks guys. That is really what I needed to know...do I need one, if so for what purpose..you know? When I'm on location doing a session, it seems like I'm always having to fiddle with the settings to have the subject properly exposed but to have ambient light....I know that probably isn't coming across very well. Maybe I don't know what light meters really do?
I just wanted to make sure. Jim, I would love to meet up soon....I really have some questions about lighting...I need to write them down because I can't think of one question right now...usually the questions come up while shooting. Would it be better to tell you when I'm available or you tell me? I could meet you at ISU.
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YMMV, but IMHO the only reason I know a person may need a lightmeter is when you deal with multiple light sources, and especially flashes (strobes).
If you don't own a flash, or only have one speedlight that you always use in a shoe - save the money for something else. You will not be able to benefit from this (relatively expensive) device.
I have the same and love it, make sure you get it with the PW trigger module. It's great for testing studio light and is tons cheaper than using another PW as a trigger (and smaller and easier to use.)
The 358 is a nice meter that you'll keep as your gear grows.
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A light meter is kind of redundant with digital photography because you can take a photo and see what it looks like, or if in doubt look at the histogram. One situation in which I have used an incident light meter is taking it with me location scouting to get an idea of what the lighting was like at the place because I was too lazy to bring a camera and take a pic. I have used incident and reflective light meters when doing lighting for film, but it's kind of a hassle to be honest, you'll be spending a lot of time reading lights and calculating f-stops instead of focusing on the "big picture," what your images should be about (this is one of the reasons why directors of photography for movies use gaffers)
That said, Sekonic incident light meters, the analog ones can be pretty cheap and they are good meters for what they are supposed to do. I never needed to use any better ones (except for reflective light meters but those do something slightly different)
I know if I hired someone to shoot even just a portrait for me and they started chimping....I would demand and instant refund right there and then.........If I see a photg pull out a meter and take a reading then I have a much better feeling that he actually knows what he is doing......If you shooting landscapes or even in studio and doing commercial product photography then chimp away......but portraits and weddings all call for a meter.......
Polaris also makes a decent incident flash meters......in the upper price ranges is also Gossen....but I really like the Sekonic line better than Gossen.....
I intend to start using a meter, mainly for multiple flash use. But I think it's a good skill to have in general, just in terms of being a better rounded photographer. So I'm sold there.
However, Art, you mean to tell me that it's OK for someone to look at the output of a light meter, but unacceptable to look at the camera's histogram or watch for blinkies? Now that just seems like a double-standard that I can't get my head around.
Cheers,
-joel
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This is the only lightmeter I've used (they had one for the class I took at the college where I teach) and I really liked it. That said, I'm not sure how I would use it outside the context of studio lights - I wouldn't know where to start! Accordingly, following this thread with interest....
If your shooting and stop to look at the histogram or blinkies...you're still behind the camera and your client is wondering what you are doing and then starts the thought process of (as they begin to get nervous)......... does this person know what they are doing.........at some point the client will ask, "What are you doing?? "...U...Looking for blinkies.....CLIENT.....what the hell is a blinkie??
Or studying my histogram to make sure the exposure is spot on...CLIENT...doesn't the meter tell you that???.....well not the in camera reflective meter, for that I would need a Handheld incident meter and I do not own one as I shoot digital so I can just look at the historgram.....
When you use a meter you are still engaging the client....because you will be near them with the meter, when you use the histogram it alienates the cleint....also then you have to stop reading the histogram or looking at the blinkies and go make contact with client again to change the pose ..........much more efficient (and professional looking) to meter.... shoot, repose meter...shoot......
In the time it takes to move from subject to camera you have evaluated the meter reading and your ready to adjust SS or Aperture......
Waay back when I 1st came to Dgrin someone stated that handheld meters were really a waste of time and money since everyone could learn to read a histogram and chimp.....so I went to a neighbor photog and asked her what she thought...since she is a little of 20yrs younger than I am to see if I was that arcane.......She laughed.....and said that no REAL photog earning their living with a cam would not even think of shooting without a handheld incident meter....
So no it is not a double standard.....it is giving the client the impression and confidence that the photog really does know what they are doing.....also it is a time saver and in the business of photography....time is MONEY........
My exposures are never off by a 1/4 stop, which is so easy to fix in LR........Sorta like a sniper.....One shot One VERY Good Image....I photograph like I hunt.....one shot one kill.....no waste of time or ammunition ...........
The reading from an incident meter will always be more accurate than from any reflective meter.....
......if you have a very contrasty couple (one very dark skinned and once extremely light skinned) and they wearing solid black and white clothing that incident meter will give a proper exposure without a problem....with in cam meter your back to chimping and trying to evaluate the histogram...this is time consuming.....
Teh photoclass you took should have had everyone use that meter for shooting in ambient light also....whether the ambient was sunlight or just the nasty fluorescent lights of the room...............
can an incident meter be fooled....like a reflective meter can.....Not that I am aware of.....I have never read or heard of a sceanario to that effect and that is why I rely so heavily on my incident meter.........plus I do not want to have to chimp....
every now and then I will show a particular shot to a client and remark on how that shot really captured their essence and that is with a client that is really nervous or self conscious .....my only chimping is for closed eyes........I would love a twin lens dslr in the price range of the D300.........
Good stuff!
-joel
Link to my Smugmug site
Both incident and reflected meters may be required to properly meter a scene, but knowledge and experience can allow a photographer to interpolate a scene pretty well with either metering system.
If you do use an incident meter make sure that you calibrate it to your camera. Assuming that they are automatically calibrated to each other is asking for problems.
My external meter of choice is the Gossen Luna Pro "F", and it is capable of incident and reflected light metering in ambient or flash modes. One of very few "null" meters ever made, it is both accurate and fast. No longer made, they are becoming collectibles.
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Joel, I guess we can all agree that if the primary goal is to look professional, then one has to switch to Large Format camera first...
Other than that, I would like to repeat: lightmeters are very helpful (sometimes invaluable) tools when dealing with *complicated* lighting situations, such as multiple light sources (especially a mix of strobes). OP's question didn't describe the need for those (I'm judging by the "how does it work" part). Hence my recommendation to skip the purchase for now and use the funds for some other needs (tripod, etc).
Cheers,
-joel
Link to my Smugmug site
I recently found a Weston Master III in perfect condition at a flea market; a bargain for $5.
I also have a Minolta Auto Meter IV F with all the bits & kits which I use occasionally.
Incident light metering for 99% of the time I'm shooting, and using the camera's meter for the times when there isn't time to take a reading from a hand-held.
Check out eBay - there are some amazing bargains to be had, especially as hand-held metering is no longer in fashion.
HTH -
- Wil