 Lisa W. Illingworth |
The basics of a light meter What should I look for in buying a light meter and what is the basics in how they work. I read one response to this and I still am not sure I understand. When you say the meter needs to reflect back at the camera, I am assuming I need to always use the tripod then?
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Andrew Laverghetta |
Let's see, I'm assuming you have an SLR film camera. When you press the focus or metering button on the camera, usually the shutter button (halfway down), your camera takes a meter reading based on the amount of light that is refelected through the lens (TTL). This is one way that the light meter can take readings; you hold it where you are standing and where you are taking the picture from pointed at the subject just as if it was the camera. The meter will also read incident light, which is the amount of light that falls upon the subject. In this case, you hold the meter very close to the subject, pointing back to where your camera is or will be. I don't believe you need a tripod to hold your camera if you can properly estimate exactly or about where you will take the picture from. If you ever see a real professional photographer taking portraits, they will often hold the light meter right up to the person's face. That's because they are metering the amount of light that is falling on the face so they can get a perfect exposure of the face and stuff around there. The reason why it needs to be pointed back towards the camera is so it doesn't get too much ambient light from extra stuff in the room or outside. Forgot to mention incase you didn't know, the reason why this method is the best is because different colors reflect different amounts of like. A person with a bright white shirt will appear slightly darker because it reflects a lot of light. More than the 18% gray that the meter adjusts the exposure for. On the reverse side, something like a black suit will look too light because it is really dark and the meter tries to make it lighter because black doesn't reflect much light. Again, when you point the meter back to the camera, that's gathering the light that really matters. Also, you can get creative by metering in different directions, but try it out and become familiar with it before you use it as a serious method. Some meters are also a flash meter which meters off of the bright strobe that it sees. Usually used with studio strobes. You can also connect some flash meters to the PC cord that you connect to one of the strobes. This will work on both reflective and incident modes. Also, you will need to make any necessary adjustments for any filters that you are using such as black and white contrast filters or polarizers. Hope this helps a little bit.
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Michelle Ross |
I too am needing this information . . . I understand the concepts of the light meter. . . but I'm confused what I need if I will be using studio lights. I have a Novatron 3 light setup. . . Can someone help me with what kind of light meter I need and what brands might be better choices. I will be using a a Digital SLR(Minolta Maxxum 7D) to shoot the pictures! If I don't have a light meter is the camera metering accurate at all if I hold it close to the subject?
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Patrick Perron |
I use my digital camera as a light meter (Panasonic FZ10). The LCD screen adjusts the image the camera will take according the f# and the speed. This allows me to preview the picture before taking it :-) It also works as a flash meter. I hook it up to my studio lights with a PC cord.
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