lux meters

Hi,

 

Does anyone have experience with lux meters - for example, like the ones offered

on ebay for low prices? Seems hard to find good reviews about them on the

internet. The ones I'm looking at go from .1 to 100,000 lux. I have found some

good info about converting lux values to the ev scale. This is what the auction

says, but is it believable?

 

"This lux meter features an extremely precise accuracy (?4% rdg) through

0.1-100,000 Lux readings in four ranges...Photo, and Film Enthusiasts have rated

this as the HIGHEST QUALITY and BEST SELLING Lux Meter on eBay."

 

I work mainly using the sunny f16 rule with pinhole and an old minolta srt with

a broken meter. The info from this site, http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm

has helped me a lot with estimating exposure values but I think a meter would

definitely improve things. The lux meter seems like a good option as it's

affordable. A .1 to 100,000 lux meter can meter on the EV scale from roughly EV

-4 or 5 to EV 15, which is good enough for me. But again the question is, has

anyone used these kinds of meters with success? I suppose they just read ambient

light and not reflected light which is ok with me for now.

 

Thanks for any input,

 

Steve

Can't tell much from the photo, but if this meter reads out only in lux you don't want it. Lux is a measurement of light intensity (I believe one lux and one lumen are the same but double check that.). All meters read lux. But rather than giving you a reading in lux, they usually translate it into an exposure setting of a given f-stop and shutter speed for a given ISO. If they only gave you the lux reading and you had to go look up in a chart what that translates into for exposure, that would be a step of about 50 years backward in the way that exposure meters work. Not sure, but a lux/lumen/footcandle meter might be used in some cinematography applications, but not generally in still photography. If you want a meter, get a standard meter. Sekonic is probably the most popular brand.

<p>Here's a chart for converting EV to Lux with the meter set at ISO 100</p>

<p><a href="http://www.sekonic.com/support/support_2.asp">http://www.sekonic.com/support/support_2.asp</a></p>

<p>I'm just using my Sekonic meter in EV mode.<br>

I got interested in this issue because I'm thinking of adding video ceremony coverage to my wedding work.</p>