When you need accurate tonal gradients, usually in studio or product photography. Incident light meters measure the amount of light falling on a subject, so it doesn't care about what the subject looks like. If it reflects more light, the camera will see a lighter colour, if it reflects less light, it will appear darker in the camera. Also, when you use studio flash, you may need one to check for metering.rafiano said:hi there...just wanna ask about lightmeters...when is it an essential tool? any recommendations for a lightmeter and how much does it cost? where can i get it?
rafiano said:hi there...just wanna ask about lightmeters...when is it an essential tool? any recommendations for a lightmeter and how much does it cost? where can i get it?
waileong said:With histograms these days, it's not really necessary...
However, it does allow you to achieve consistent exposures if you use it, rather than rely on "matrix" metering or such.
What kind of light meter are you refering?rafiano said:hi there...just wanna ask about lightmeters...when is it an essential tool? any recommendations for a lightmeter and how much does it cost? where can i get it?
waileong said:With histograms these days, it's not really necessary...
However, it does allow you to achieve consistent exposures if you use it, rather than rely on "matrix" metering or such.
blurblock said:When was the last time you had used a light meter?
Last I know histograms tells you the colour distribution and nothing to do with exposure.
blurblock said:When was the last time you had used a light meter?
blurblock said:Last I know histograms tells you the colour distribution and nothing to do with exposure.
rafiano said:ask about lightmeters...when is it an essential tool? any recommendations for a lightmeter and how much does it cost? where can i get it?
forward said:If on a budget go for the famous Sekonic L398M Studio Deluxe II
which is using Selenium photo cell and does not require a battery.
The Weston Master V Exposure Meter is another option but for outdoor use only.
This meter also uses selenium photo cell.
I use light meters very often.. in fact for every shot I'm taking, the camera light meter will tell me the exposure. If you're referring to handheld (incident) light meters, I use them as and when I think exposure is critical or when the subject's colour and tone is difficult for a reflected light meter to give a correct reading. Even though my handheld can do reflected light and spot metering, I do not use those function because the camera can do it well enough.blurblock said:When was the last time you had used a light meter?
Last I know histograms tells you the colour distribution and nothing to do with exposure.
:thumbsup:fuwen said:On and off I still use light meters. I use them for a few reasons:
1. To calibrate camera meter
2. For situation where I need a 1 degree spot
3. When I am lazy to do exposure compensation so go for incident light measurement
4. To figure out the exposure biasness of centre averaging mode of cameras
5. When I use 2 flashes in manual mode to determine the partial power output of flash and lens f stop
I'm using a Sekonic digital model which is no longer in production. I find Sekonic pretty accurate and easy to use. You may look for one of the digital ones which fits your budget. I think AP or CP may be able to get for you.rafiano said:thanks guys..as i wll be doing a lot of studio shoots and using strobes..guess will go for a lightmeter....any model recommendations? i heard the only place u can get one is from Ruby??
Is that new or 2nd hand?Tumbleweed said:The Camera Workshop in Peninsula is selling the Sekonic L-308S for about $330.00. You can find out more about this lightmeter and other models at...
www.sekonic.com
KNIGHT ONG said:Nope .. histograms cannot be used to tell the accurate light falls on the model or whichever area you want to measure .. :nono:
Example you got a shoot to do, you have to use light meter to measure the accurate lighting before you shoot, dun think that with DSLR you can trial and test your cilent to get the rght exposure .. if that is the way photographer work then good luck to him. :sweatsm:
waileong said:If you are a real pro you would have a tethered DSLR and can see the image immediately on your monitor. You should then be able to see much more than on an LCD.
Even if not, you can zoom in to the face and shoot a test shot before you zoom out for your composition, then you can see immediately whether the highlights are blown, even on your LCD if you don't have a tethered DSLR.
But you're right that histograms cannot help you much with lighting ratios.
Wai Leong
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lsisaxon said:Is that new or 2nd hand?