SteveLew Loc: Sugar Land, TX

I have an old Sekonic L-508 Zoom Master light meter that works perfectly. I bought this light for my medium format Pentex 6 X 7 that does not have its own in camera light meter.

I wonder if any of you use a separate light meter, rather the in camera meter for landscape or any other photography. I have the 610d which I really like and take mostly landscape shots but even though I shoot on raw often time my dynamic range is being pushed to the limit. Will a separate light meter improve my dynamic range?

I will try my separate Sekonic light meter and see if it will improve my dynamic range since it is measuring only reflective light.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

If you shoot raw and have exposure problems, read this.

As to hand held light meter, you need to calibrate it to reflect your camera real ISO as the ISO used now is not quite as precise as they were in the film era. One say 100 ISO and the other 50 ISO yet to get the same result from both cameras it is something in between.

The above statement does not mean handheld meters are not good anymore, far from it. It just means that you will be slightly off and you may want to compensate.

If you need a uniWB talon for your camera, search the internet, it is likely that someone has created a generic one. It should be close enough to match your need (if you think you can deal with this raw approach to exposure).

TheDman Loc: USA

No, a light meter will not improve your camera's dynamic range.

TonyP Loc: New Zealand

No, Im afraid it wont have any affect on the dynamic range your camera can collect. I also doubt you will get better exposure measurement for landscape photography (unless you do a LOT of walking around the scene :) ).
I would expect your 610d has far better light measurement capabilities (for Landscape especially), than an old Sekonic.

BebuLamar

I love light meters or actually just about any kind of meters but NO a hand held meter or any meter won't improve the dynamic range of your camera. With digital cameras and the instant feedback capability good metering isn't needed any more.

tsilva Loc: Arizona

The 508 when calibrated to YOUR camera, will tell you what the dynamic range is of your camera so that you can tell immediately if the scene can be captured in a single image, or if you will need multiple images. As stated it in no way makes the dr of your camera greater.

ken_stern Loc: Yorba Linda, Ca

There has been nothing said regarding hand held light meters that I would in any form disagree with -- However - I own & still often use one a Sekonic L-558 --- I have found at least percentage wise when I don't leave it at home and use it I generally get better looking less post processing labor intensive photos -- I too purchased mine when I shot film with an Canon EOS-3 --- Sure with the digital instant replay their are always workarounds -- But my old Sekonic gives me really white snow, great sunsets and that one degree spot really comes in handy for interiors --- I'm not about to recommend anyone running out & buying one -- But if you have one I say use it -- They are lots of fun to use and I think you may find as I have you sure fiddle around a heck of a lot less in post processing --- Now it all could be that I'm not all that advanced or observant as a photographer but I have not yet encountered any need for any additional calibration -- At least when used with my Canon 5D MkII

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

My Sekonic is gone, sold for an obscene price. I am saving for a goon Gossen Lunar Pre (Blue style). Right now, I am making my way with a very old Weston Master II. The only problem is having to convert ASA speed to Weston equivalents - and anything above 800 is darn near impossible. Still, I run into an occasional situation where I want to take two or three close readings and the Weston is a bit more precise than the cameras. So I guess I'll have that meter and my Gossen Sixticolor Color Temperature meter 'til I die.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

I do, not all of the time but I do. I'm a fan of hand held incident meters.




Not sure if you are getting your terms mixed up here but a hand held meter doesn't do anything but give you an accurate exposure number. Dynamic range of the scene is a different subject entirely.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Even if one does not have exposure problems, then it is still worth while reading. It then lead to another site for a quick refresher on histograms which refreshes our brains on how to use them:
http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-read-and-use-histograms/
Thank you Rongnongno for disrupting my complacent Sunday morning.... gosh I will miss church, your fault ... you will account for that on Judgement Day.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I use a Sekonic L-768DR, profiled for a couple of my digital/lens/ exposure techniques combinations, and for film. I rarely leave home without it.
--Bob

Marionsho Loc: Kansas

"gather ye pixels while ye may."
Preferably, to the right. :lol: :lol:
Thanks very much for the link.

wj cody Loc: springfield illinois

i never use an on board meter. all my work is done with hand held meters - both incidence and reflectance.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

I always carry a separate meter and frequently use it. I've got several, acquired over the years. My most-used/general purpose are all incident meters: a 30+ year old Sekonic 298 analog that uses no batteries and is still deadly accurate, a couple Minolta that also can meter flash... and most recently a Sekonic L308 incident/flash meter that can be fitted with a radio trigger (for studio strobes) and is better suited to modern digital cameras (it can read out in 1/3 or 1/2 stop increments & has a shutter speed range/ISO range that's more like my DSLRs can do, etc.)

I've used other meters over they years... Had some Gossen, Polaris, and more. Also have a couple old 1 degree meters (Soligor and Pentax, both set up for and used a lot when I was shooting B&W film with the Zone System)... And a small collection of vintage reflective meters, including my Dad's old Weston Master II (still works fine). But I prefer and use the incident meters for most purposes.

I do still use my cameras' built-in metering systems. There are plenty of times it's simply not possible or less convenient and practical to use a hand-held or incident meter.

And I often refer to the cameras' histograms.... Those are easily one of the most useful features of modern DSLRs, IMO.



That's true. But a light meter - used right - can help insure you're making best use of whatever dynamic range the camera offers. And, if needed, it can help you set up several shots to use in an HDR composite (which essentially compresses a scene's DR into something manageable with the camera and media being used).



I had to look it up, haven't used one personally, but it appears the L508 can do both reflective and incident readings. The DMan is correct that it won't help your camera's DR. But if the L508's spot metering capabilities are fine enough, you could use it to determine a scene's range by taking readings of the darkest and lightest tonalities you want to retain some detail in. Then, once you know how wide the range is, if need be you can take multiple shots with different settings to capture the full range and later combine the "correct" part of each in post-processing.

Alternatively, once you know the scene's full DR, you might be able to use that information to determine what strength graduated neutral density filter to use to similarly "compress" the DR into something manageable. Personally I think the multi-shot/post-processed method is far more versatile, accurate and effective than grad ND filters ever were. I have a set of them from my film shooting days that I used for a while with digital, but now are mostly just gathering dust, since I've learned several post-processing techniques.

Or, you can use the meter to help set up a single shot that captures what's important in a scene... I.e., what you want to capture in the image, while allowing the DR "clip" what's unimportant to you. A couple fairly extreme examples of this are very high key shots (deliberately blown out highlights) and silhouettes (deliberate loss of detail in the shadows).

You should run some tests and perhaps do some research on your particular camera, to determine it's actual DR at different ISOs that you'll be using. But it also depends a lot on what you'll be doing with the images. For example, no computer monitor I've ever seen has anywhere near the DR of a high quality print. I'm using a fairly good, graphics quality monitor myself, but often am pleasantly surprised by how much detail there is in both the shadows and highlights of prints, that wasn't apparent on the monitor.

So if you are making an image for online or other display via computer monitors, ideally you may want to compress the DR more than you would if making fine prints from the same image. Either way, the camera is probably capable of more than you're seeing, if you're judging it primarily from what you see on your monitor. And while it won't make the camera any more capable, the light meter is just one of several tools that can help you manage the DR you want in your images.

SteveLew Loc: Sugar Land, TX

Thank you for all your responses to my question.