Incident Light meter; where to point at

[jaifo]

Hi,
I have purchased new Gossen Sixtomat Digital meter (http://www.gossen-photo.de/english/foto_produkte.html) following some of your opinions.
It's a nice meter. Slim and compact.
I will use it as an incident light meter.
As the dome is placed on top (and not on the front, as many meters) i don't know how to hold it.
Let's say i want to meter the face of the subject;
-Do i have to to hold the meter with the dome pointing at the camera (logical, isn't it?). But that seems a really strange way to hold it (with the display facing down....).
Thank's for your help

 

[drewbarb]

Point the dome at your camera lens. The dome is rounded so it mimics 3D shapes in the real world, things like faces. The idea is to put the meter dome in the same light as the subject, with the same amount of highlights and shadows on the dome as are on your subjects. It might be a weird way to hold it, but it's probably built that way for carrying ergonomics or something. Push the button once to take the reading- don't hold it down- and it should hold the value on the display, so you can move the meter to read it.

 

[kuzano]

Correctomundo... and ideally

Correctomundo... and ideally

The dome should be pointed toward the camera position, and if possible directly in front of the subject pointed toward the camera. That way the meter is reading the light falling on the subject, or "incident" to the subject. The other method is "reflective" where the meter (domeless) is pointing from the camera position toward the subject and measuring the light reflected from the subject.

Incident metering should result in a better overall exposure than a reflected reading, when you consider all the variables in a scene, such as front lighting, backlighting, highlights and shadow, etc. that can affect reflected light readings.

 

[v3cron]

I often leave settings fixed when shooting a series of images for the sake of consistency, even if the lighting is slightly different between them. Then again, I use Tri-X and Rodinal, which is very liberal in latitude.

 

[Sam R]

You meter collects light, simply make sure it's the same light that alluminating your subject. This will give you the same correct reading as a reflecked meter and grey card.

 

[jaifo]

Thank you all

Thank you all

Your responses have been of much help! Thank you all.

I thought the same as you all said (point the dome to the lens) but was a bit confused as it, the dome, was placed on top...
I also tend to meter the scene once, trying to catch the real atmosphere, and continue shooting as the lighting conditions don't change too much...

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

I also tend to meter the scene once, trying to catch the real atmosphere, and continue shooting as the lighting conditions don't change too much...

You've got it.

Expose for the light not for the subject.

Unless you're in the Twilight Zone / X Files the light is not going to change while you're working so set it once and don't fiddle.

The meter manufacturer may have thought the layout a good idea, but we clearly have a different view of their expertise in ergonomics.

 

[oftheherd]

From the photo you provided a link to it looks like it would be used very much like the Sekonic L28c2. Since it swivels, you can still point the dome at your camera from the subject and see what the readings are. Also, I would expect the readings stay on the display for a while, or are recallable. If you are shooting landscapes, you can also often either step in front of the camera or from the camera position, just hold it up high and take the reading with the dome facing the same direction as if it was way in front. Just make sure the light is the same, and that there are no shadows on the dome that don't appear in the scene. You will enjoy the incident use of your meter.