 BetterPhoto Member |
Light Meters I enjoy landscape photography. I want to invest in a light meter. How do you use one correctly. Also what should I look for when buying a light meter. Thank You
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Terry L. Long |
Recently I purchased a 4x5 system which, you know, doesn't have a meter. So...I invested in a handheld meter (Sekonic L-508). Since I spent all my money on the camera, lenses, and other necessary accessories I couldn't afford a brand new meter and bought one off of our favorite auction site. What I looked for was the ability for it to "spot meter". I love spot metering and am pretty good with the technique, so spot metering was a must. Also, I wanted to be able to take "ambient" meter readings. So, another feature I looked for was the ability of the meter to take ambient readings. Most handheld meters are ambient meters while some are spot meters. I wanted both so I opted for the Sekonic which has both type of metering capabilities. I use the spot metering, of the Sekonic, just as I would with my built in meter in my Canon EOS 1N. I look for a medium toned object in the scene I'm shooting and take a spot meter of that portion. What the numbers indicate on the meter is what I set my shutter speed and f/stops at (I can compensate or use different speeds/stops by turning a dial on the meter which is pretty handy). If I don't have a medium toned object in the scene I usually pick out something bright (usually a white object) and take the meter reading. I then adjust for compensation just as I would with my Canon. For ambient readings, I swith the meter to ambient mode and raise the diffuser (the Sekonic has a retractable diffuser). I then hold the meter up to the subject I'm going to shoot and point it towards the sun and take a meter reading. I set the shutter speed and f/stops to what the meter indicates and shoot away. Another nice feature of the Sekonic is the ability to take three meter readings and have them stored. Then at the press of a button I can get an average of the three. The newer Sekonics allow more than three readings for an average. I highly suggest you look for a "newer" meter with the features I mentioned above. There are other meters out there that are better and other ones that are worse. I took the middle of the road and am completly satisfied with the results. They're expensive though. Sekonic has a web site/fourm at sekonic.com which you might want to take a peek at for further information. Good luck.
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