Photographic Light Meter Question

dixonduke

I know absolutely nothing about light meters, and to be honest the thought of one has never, ever, crossed my mind. Until now.

I have a need to do some light surveys with where I work, and am thinking that I might kill 2 birds with one stone.

Will photographic light meters also tell you ambient light readings in LUX.

I need to ensure my work sites have a minimum of 300 lux as defined by IESNA. I am confident that my work sites are there, but I need to be able to prove this to one of my customers.

If they can display ambient light readings in LUX. Which one would your recommend?

Thanks in advance,
Duke

Art Scott

AMPROBE is a very trusted in the electric field and I am sure this
AMPROBE LIGHT METER will do the job for you.......however it is not built for photo work, but there may be a formula for conversions to shutter and aperture.........

As for photographic meters go I am a huge fan of SEKONIC.....and for somone just starting out in the world of flash photography a SEKONIC 358-L would be fantastic......there is a video on the site to show why a meter is better than reading your histogram........................

dixonduke

Thanks.

That will fix me right up, for sure.

I am still google'ing for a multi-purpose type light meter that I can throw in my camera bag too.

It looks like the Sekonic L-758c can read LUX, but I don't think I can find one before Friday here in Houston.

While I prefer not get a "uni-tasker", due to the March 8th deadline, that is what I may end up having to do.

Thanks for your help.

Art Scott

As big as Houston is i would try and rent one of the amprobes and go with a less expensive Sekonic 358-L for photo use for now........unless you think you might really need the 1 degree capability of the 758c......but still you have to learn to convert EV's to shutter speed and aperture for still camera usage............GGOD LUCK with your endeavor.................

ziggy53

I suggest reading the following document to acquaint yourself to IES specifications and then contact IES to see if they have a recommendation that would accommodate both needs.

http://www.iesna.org/PDF/100Papers/062c.pdf

http://www.iesna.org/about/contacts.cfm

dixonduke

Thanks for the tips Ziggy.

I do have the IESNA Lighting Handbook (9th Edition) on my desk at my office.

Part 10-9 details the 300 lux minimum for my work main work areas, 100 lux for ancillary areas.

The hand held meter which ART SCOTT provided will do well, for this verification.

I am just being open minded and seeing what I may be able to find on the market to satisfy my own personal want as well as my more important needs.

Makeroftoys

dixonduke wrote:

**snip**
Will photographic light meters also tell you ambient light readings in LUX.

I need to ensure my work sites have a minimum of 300 lux as defined by IESNA. I am confident that my work sites are there, but I need to be able to prove this to one of my customers.

**snip**
Duke

will the IESNA allow calculated Lux values? If so, almost any photographic light meter should work, as there are conversion factors for foot-candles and other direct measurements, as well as simple formulae for figuring Lux from lumens, given an accurate distance figure.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux for details.

ziggy53

Makeroftoys wrote:

will the IESNA allow calculated Lux values? If so, almost any photographic light meter should work, as there are conversion factors for foot-candles and other direct measurements, as well as simple formulae for figuring Lux from lumens, given an accurate distance figure.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux for details.

I would have thought so too, but after reading the the first link that I posted above I do not believe that a conventional photographic meter can be calibrated to IES standards. Proper calibration just before testing is an important part of their procedures. There is also a problem with the sensor technology.

Read the link and see what you think?