Light Meter or No light meter?
May 3, 2014 17:29:14 #
I was thinking of purchasing a sekonic 308s light meter or a sekonic l-358 light meter.(in my budget) Take mainly landscapes and photos of flowers. With today"s dslr built in light meters is there a place for handheld light meters? I know our dslr"s measure reflective light vs. incident light for handheld meters etc. For those veteran photographers who used light meters have you switched to no light meters. Thanks for your help!
May 3, 2014 18:10:15 #
redfordl wrote:
I was thinking of purchasing a sekonic 308s light meter or a sekonic l-358 light meter.(in my budget) Take mainly landscapes and photos of flowers. With today"s dslr built in light meters is there a place for handheld light meters? I know our dslr"s measure reflective light vs. incident light for handheld meters etc. For those veteran photographers who used light meters have you switched to no light meters. Thanks for your help!
You'll find there are strong light meter advocates out there.
And then there is the large majority of the rest of us who are quite satisfied with the metering capabilities of our current generation DSLRs...and more concerned about using it right.
May 3, 2014 18:21:49 #
Many handheld meters read reflective light. That said it is hard to find a reflecive meter better than the ones that are in our cameras. I use maatrix most of the time and have my func button set up to change to spot. I had a Minolta SRI and used a hand meter with it and thought that the behind the lens meter in the SRT 101 was the best thing since sliced bread. The one thing the hand held meter would be good for is that you need to check all your settings when you use it. The great thing with digetel cameras you can check your exposure as soon as you take the shot and you can fine tune in PP. A flash meter is great for studio light setups. - Dave
May 4, 2014 00:57:27 #
redfordl wrote:
I was thinking of purchasing a sekonic 308s light meter or a sekonic l-358 light meter.(in my budget) Take mainly landscapes and photos of flowers. With today"s dslr built in light meters is there a place for handheld light meters? I know our dslr"s measure reflective light vs. incident light for handheld meters etc. For those veteran photographers who used light meters have you switched to no light meters. Thanks for your help!
Although I use the meter in my camera most of the time, there are times when I am shooting a scene I cannot get to (lion cages, bear dens, Anasazi ruins, POTUS) that has complicated lighting (deep but important shadows AND bright highlights), in which case, I like having a 1° Spot meter which will allow me to choose an acceptable compromise. EXAMPLE: Sometimes shadows next to bright areas are not as dark as they seem and really don't need exposure adjustment.
For this reason, I carry and frequently use an incident meter. BUT it as definitely an OPTIONAL accessory. If you didn't fully understand the above and/or are not familiar with the Zone System (or any of its spin-offs), you do NOT need a separate meter. On the other hand, that's how I knew my new camera was over-exposing 1⅓ stops and was able to take it immediately for re-calibration.
May 4, 2014 01:12:30 #
Some argue the advent of the Histogram has made the light meter passe. After all, one test shot and review of the Histogram allow the experienced photographer to adjust settings for a good exposure.
I read sometimes of experienced photographers who swear by the use of a light meter in a studio setting for precisely setting exposure. This approach works as an alternative. Yet, via testing the exposure of one light at a time and adjusting its output and position accordingly allow the photographer to arrive at the overall exposure.
That said, a complete photographer may wish to learn the use of a light meter anyhow as an alternate practice for achieving good exposure.
I read sometimes of experienced photographers who swear by the use of a light meter in a studio setting for precisely setting exposure. This approach works as an alternative. Yet, via testing the exposure of one light at a time and adjusting its output and position accordingly allow the photographer to arrive at the overall exposure.
That said, a complete photographer may wish to learn the use of a light meter anyhow as an alternate practice for achieving good exposure.
May 4, 2014 02:46:58 #
jeryh
Loc: Oxfordshire UK
I use a lightmeter all the time- it helps check on my digital camera- and the readings do vary
May 4, 2014 08:05:12 #
mikegreenwald
Loc: Illinois
Some scenes - very bright, as snow or beach, very dark - night, large dark objects, are best represented by photos using incident light meters. There are many ways around that, and the choice is optional.
May 4, 2014 08:10:30 #
The Fonz
Loc: Queensland, mate!
Nice meters. I like using a spot meter occasionally, but find my incident meters fairly superfluous with my DSLRs. Mileage may vary. Nice to play with though.
May 4, 2014 08:39:03 #
Read and understand what the difference is. Then talk to someone who uses one and decide. Also read and understand light. Probably 95% of those who call themselves photographers will not consider using one because they do not want to spend the time learning how to use one. Everyone wants every thing to be automatic and run by a computer. Then when the photos they took do not turn out, they ask questions and want an answer as to what is the problem.
May 4, 2014 11:01:48 #
sirlensalot
Loc: Arizona
In general - I prefer the camera light meter for exterior, light meter for interior.
Are they necessary? Depends on your style, experience and how much time you can devote to experiment with changing settings and chimping results.
Like a particular lens, or camera with super high ISO capabilities, it can enhance both confidence and capabilities when you have it in your bag.
Are they necessary? Depends on your style, experience and how much time you can devote to experiment with changing settings and chimping results.
Like a particular lens, or camera with super high ISO capabilities, it can enhance both confidence and capabilities when you have it in your bag.
May 4, 2014 12:40:13 #
redfordl wrote:
I was thinking of purchasing a sekonic 308s light meter or a sekonic l-358 light meter.(in my budget) Take mainly landscapes and photos of flowers. With today"s dslr built in light meters is there a place for handheld light meters? I know our dslr"s measure reflective light vs. incident light for handheld meters etc. For those veteran photographers who used light meters have you switched to no light meters. Thanks for your help!
I use the hand-held for incident light readings. That is what they were intended for...or for spot readings. If you are just going to take reflected readings, your camera already does that for you.
May 4, 2014 23:27:33 #
redfordl wrote:
I was thinking of purchasing a sekonic 308s light meter or a sekonic l-358 light meter.(in my budget) Take mainly landscapes and photos of flowers. With today"s dslr built in light meters is there a place for handheld light meters? I know our dslr"s measure reflective light vs. incident light for handheld meters etc. For those veteran photographers who used light meters have you switched to no light meters. Thanks for your help!
You can boil all the arguments down to one simple fact. If the picture is important to you and exposure is critical, it never hurts to have a second, or even a third, reading. I carry a small meter with me in addition to the spot meters in two of my other cameras. People may think you're crazy to be looking at the same shot with two (or three) cameras plus a separate meter, but, to paraphrase chathn, the results are in the picture.
May 4, 2014 23:48:44 #
Our in-camera meters ARE amazing. But in challenging situations and certainly when mixing flash with ambient, an incident flash meter that reads out percentages of flash to ambient is invaluable.
If you are reading average scenes with your meter, it does do a fine job. I like keeping my meter (Sekonic 758) around,
If you are reading average scenes with your meter, it does do a fine job. I like keeping my meter (Sekonic 758) around,
May 5, 2014 00:03:50 #
CaptainC wrote:
Our in-camera meters ARE amazing. But in challenging situations and certainly when mixing flash with ambient, an incident flash meter that reads out percentages of flash to ambient is invaluable.
If you are reading average scenes with your meter, it does do a fine job. I like keeping my meter (Sekonic 758) around,
If you are reading average scenes with your meter, it does do a fine job. I like keeping my meter (Sekonic 758) around,
:thumbup:
May 5, 2014 08:21:50 #
stephena
Loc: Carmel, Indiana
The meter debate will go on forever which is probably a good thing because we all might learn a new twist. Two things: 1) If you have questions about your camera's meter, check the camera's review on a site such as DPR. They always check out the meter's quality on their camera reviews. 2) If you are doing close up work, or general macro work, an incident light meter may be better then the one in your camera. But that is a judgement call on my part. Many of the above are correct: today's cameras have excellent light meters and will match any light meter except for the incident types (measures incoming light on a subject). Steve
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