light meters?

[sam_cobb]

ok. i have another newbie question but what is a cheap light meter. i don't

know anything about them. i cant understand what any of the slang you guys

use. Please help and thanks again.

[j_smith6]

I guess that a cheap light meter is just a light meter which is cheap! :) Probably someone meant the most basic one, which should be cheaper and has fewer functions.

[lex_jenkins]

For general usage go with an incident light meter. This is used to measure the light source itself where it falls on the subject.

 

The meter in your camera is a reflectance meter - it measures the light reflected from the subject. Incident meters can be converted to reflectance meters by removing the diffuser (usually a dome, sometimes a flat diffuser).

 

Spotmeters are also reflectance meters, but measure a very narrow angle. Some cameras include spotmeter modes.

 

Adorama sells affordable light meters and flashmeters under their house brand.

 

The Polaris meters are reasonably priced.

 

Any good used, reasonably priced Sekonic, Minolta or other major brand meter made during the past 20 years is a worthwhile addition as an adjunct to your camera's meter.

 

I just gave away an old Bertram Bewi Automat incident/reflectance light meter. Fifty years old, still worked fine. You can find 'em on ebay for five bucks or so. Can't guarantee they'll all work tho' - those older selenium cell meters don't usually last 50 years!

[colinsouthern]

The cheapest lightmeter on the market is the free one that's built into your camera - the trick is knowing how to use it.

 

You might find this discussion useful ...

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00O4yz

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

What is it you want to do, Sam?

[GerrySiegel]

Hi Sam. The toughest part is when you are starting out fresh. When I used

Vivitar flashes and wanted to use them off camera for studio type lighting I decided to buy a flash meter. These come in two flavors as you must know. Incident and reflected light readings. ( I don' think anyone here has the wordpower nor time to give you all the scoop on those) The cheap vs not so cheap versions from what I see depends on how many fancy features they have, and how easy they are to use. The major brands have not changed a lot in recent years. Sekonic and Gossen are the industry standards and Sekonic makes some nice entry level models. Check www.bhphotovideo.com website for download of their Professional Lighting catalog. It is not a bad way to get a flavor of the shopping market and what can do what.Here is a cutie, Intro to Light Meters. Check it out Sam.

 

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/Product_Resources/intro_metersComu.jsp?cm_sp=RP-_-Resource-_-Introduction_to_Light_Meters

 

 

 

 

 

Noone can answer the basic question of why you feel you need a separate meter outside your camera. I would be insulting you if I suggested some book readings on use of flash. When you get down to " would you reecommend low cost Brand X over low cost Brand Y I know your newbiequery will pay off better. Good luck. It aint easy being green. But we all were not so long ago. Best.GS

[troy_taylor]

If your doing night photography without flash a good light meter is way better that trying to use the meter in your camera but if you have enough light using what you have in your camera is good enough.

[mr. sullen]

The light meter you buy depends on the how you intend on using it. As for the "lingo" this might help a bit. http://en.mimi.hu/photography/index_photography.html

[papasan]

The light meter in most of todays SLR or DSLR (and even P&S cameras) are quite sophisticated and certainly adequate for 99% of the situations you may find yourself as a self proclaimed newbie. Even the entry level DSLR have light meters which operate in various metering modes such as spot, center weighted, partial, and computerized pattern metering. Each mode has its own area of application. At this stage, you probably dont need more than that. I would suggest you get familiar with the various modes available for your camera meter and learn to use each mode in various applications. You can learn a lot more about metering in many excellent books on photography, or on the web. Good luck

[saskphotog]

What michel said.

 

I also want to add that if you want a meter that will do things the camera meters can't, it won't be cheap.

[GerrySiegel]

Whatever your reason for wanting a separate light meter, I can offer you one that may not be apparent. Which is that using a separate meter will help you to learn more about light, exposure, how to mix flash and ambient light and lots more. Where you point the camera and where you point your meter are often different as you know. I don't reject all conventional wisdom,nor urge you to hang something else on your neck at this point you may not understand at all,but heed the foregoing thought re learning value of a separate meter. (a nice one comes in around 200 bucks new) If you want to get an education in exposure control, a used Gossen Luna Pro would be a fun thing to play with. Otherwise, one of the lower priced Kenko models that use the famous Minolta design are worth looking into. Anyway, I use my camera meter most of the time too. But I trust my Minolta and my old Luna Pro with the variable angle attachment because it helps me to think more.

[sam_cobb]

thank you all i found a minolta Auto Meter 3 for a 100 bucks. cant pass that up

[GerrySiegel]

you didn't want flash metering.