Boone Loc: Groundhog Town USA

The Sekonic L-308X-U is all the light meter you will ever need. Small, light, not expensive, very accurate.

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I998hpvzoc&list=PLHQJ_UBi_slA4UEiA8E6bnb8yliwOgOX6&index=4

Thanks,
Boone.

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

This photo was taken prior to my getting strobes and a boom stand. Uhaas2009 has it correct that I used three flashes (but if you really look, it is a male model), and I do believe I had a rectangular soft box on the model's right and an umbrella to the left, and a flash on the screen behind the model. With later equipment (I purchased a boom stand and 60" soft box for strobes), I also tried a clamshell effect and a 3 light setup similar to what Wirtz described. The reason I am considering a light meter is that I do not have a studio, and do not plan on having one. I am aiming at on site portrait and event photography, and so I would set up in random locations as I build a business. I feel that I will learn quicker if I do use a light meter and my setup will be quicker also. The other factor is that this coming out of retirement late stage career move (over 70) is very difficult during the covid situation, as I already have had events cancelled due to covid, let alone age discrimination. So those of you who agree that a light meter will help, I think you understand the practical issues facing me. As for using the 85mm at f1.4, that was a mistake as I was TTL at that shot and had thoughts of on location success where I wanted good bokeh. That will not happen again on a screen set up!! As usual, E.L., Thomas, and Burke show their guidance and teaching ability, and I am grateful to them.

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

Excellent video, worth watching several times. Thanks

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Age is only a number- keep up the hard work! I will be 78 in February and still working. Don't worry about "Bokeh" once you get your lighting line up you can power down enough to throw multicolored and paid background well out of focus. As you progress post, some of your stuff herein and/or the "Advanced and Professional Portraiture Section".

Up here in Ottawa, I got to know Yosef Karsh, one of the world's most well-known and iconic portrait photographers. He worked well into his 90s. His uncle, George Nakash, operated his Montreal Studio also, well in the 90s as well. Looks like we still have a good few years to make some good pictures!

Boone Loc: Groundhog Town USA

Your quite welcome!

Thanks,
Boone.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

I use a Sekonic L358 meter. It's a discontinued model, but the L308 is functionally very similar. The main difference is the L358 can be fitted with modular, internal radio triggers to work with some specific systems (I have the Pocket Wizard and Radio Popper modules), while the L308 cannot. Not a very big deal because if you wish you use the L308 or most any other meter in conjunction with an external radio transmitter to serve the same purpose.

Flash meters are "incidence" meters. This means they measure the light falling onto the subject, which can be a more accurate way of setting exposure. You point the meter at the light source to take readings. With multi-light setups, it can be used to test individual light output to establish ratios, as well as measure the the combined output of the lights firing as a group.

I carry my L358 most of the time. They work just as well with ambient light, indoors or out, as they do with studio lighting and flash.

Cameras' internal metering systems are "reflective". They measure the light being reflected back at them off of the subject and the rest of the scene in front of you. As a result, camera metering systems are highly influenced by the tonalities of the subject and the scene. This is why cameras have Exposure Compensation that allow the user to override the metering system and make corrections when shooting with the auto exposure modes. Exposure Compensation is not necessary with incidence meters, since it measures the light source and aren't influenced by the reflectivity of the subject.

Sekonic meters are good. They make a variety at different price points, with more or less features. I'm happy with a fairly simple one like the L358/308 that handles flash and ambient incident readings. Some also have reflective spot meters, but I've already got that in my cameras, as well as have a Pentax 1 degree spot meter.... don't really need another. Some of the Sekonic are still designed to work with very specific radio triggers, but AFAIK are no longer interchangeable.

Gossen and Kenko also makes some excellent meters. I've used Gossen in the past... As well as Minolta, which are what Kenko are based upon (Sony bought the entire photography division of Konica-Minolta in 2006 and immediately turned around and sold the metering system to Kenko).

A couple things to look for....

If you plan to travel a lot it might be good to look for a meter that uses a really commonly available battery such as a AAA alkaline. Some use rather obscure batteries that can be hard to find in an emergency.

If you buy used be a little careful. The reason I replaced my older Minolta flash meters was because they were more appropriate for film than for digital. They don't have the ISO range and shutter speeds needed for modern digital. It's possible that some even just a few years old may not have some of the ultra fast shutter speeds or ultra high ISOs found now on the very latest cameras. These things are only noticeable at the extreme settings and can be worked around pretty easily.

While I have some vintage ones in my collection, one of the oldest meters I still use at times is a Sekonic L298 Studio... which actually isn't a flash meter. It's an incidence meter, but only ambient light. It requires no battery at all, has an analog scale and is perfectly accurate even after 35 or 40 years. But, again, it's not a flash meter so wouldn't be what you want. I think the modern version of that is an L398, that's also not a flash meter.

B&H Photo appears to offer eighteen different flash meters. I'm not familiar with all the brands.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/products/Lightmeters-Accessories/ci/900/N/4077634543?filters=fct_lightmeter-type_1792%3Aflash

elee950021 Loc: New York, NY

Just take a shot! The image will have all the info and you can see the effects. I always use the camera meter for my first shot under new lighting.

Back in the day, I did use Sekonic incident and Gossen Luna-pro with my Nikon F.

Be well! Ed

Greg from Romeoville illinois Loc: Romeoville illinois

How about a free light meter? Use your phone with an app. I like "Light meter" from WBPhoto for Android or "Lumu light meter" for IOS.

BebuLamar

lumu isn't free.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

Can a phone meter flash? Most of this discussion has been about using a flash meter for studio strobes.

bwilliams

I like my Polars light meter you can read flash cordless or with a sync cord, reflected, and incident light. It uses an aa battery so they are easy to find.

anotherview Loc: California

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

Yes, great video, and the use of meter to explain the value of bounce flash, inverse square law, etc. He is very good at explaining things. Thanks for sharing.

anotherview Loc: California

Glad to help. His teaching brought me into the realm of artificial lighting. I set up a portrait studio in my house as a result.

frangeo Loc: Texas