Do you use a light meter?

mark_pw

mark_pw

Established
Local time
3:20 AM
Joined
Jun 18, 2013
Messages
135
While using some cameras without metering, do you use a light meter?

I am new to those cameras and I believe some kind of metering is needed. Instead of buying a real light meter, I found there are some light meter apps in iPhone. I tried them and did some comparisons. I put the results in my blog. Did I do the tests right? :rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
Yes, agree with Chris. Whenever possible I use a hand held meter, in my experience incident meter gives better results than reflected meter. I use Sekonic 308s.
 
Only with my meterless Blads.

My Fuji GF670w has an inbuilt meter and given the latitude of film I have found it very accurate.

With digital cameras I have never bothered with an external meter.

I use a Sekonic 758D, on of the best pieces of photographic equipment I that does not take pictures I have owned.

LouisB
 
I don't find I need metering in ordinary outdoor conditions, so sometimes if I'm just going for a walk with a meter-less camera, I'll rely on Sunny-16 (or Crappy-weather-5.6, in the UK). I still can't rely on my intuition indoors or at night, so I'll always use a meter then. I have used a phone lightmeter app sometimes, in a pinch, but more often a 308S.

These days I only have two meter-less cameras I use regularly anyway, so much of the time I'll have a meter in the camera.

The test of the lightmeter apps is useful, thanks.
 
The only meterless camera I have is an M4-P and it came with an MR-4 which I sold. I rely on Sunny-16 and adjust accordingly. I'll occasionally use my 308 in really dark conditions, but in daylight I don't take a meter with me. I have recently discovered the iPhone metering app, so I have a backup plan now.
 
Sekonic 508 in incident mode if I need to meter something specific I can switch to spot meter with a twist.

If I'm out shooting with my C3 I just use sunny-16 or my iPhone light meter.
 
Sekonic 408 for an all-round meter (5degree spot, Incident, Reflected, ambient and strobe), Minolta Spotmeter F in the studio or when shooting large format where I can control exposure and processing for each individual frame, or if I'm running light or I forgot my handheld meter, the free Light Meter app for the iPhone is perfectly accurate and I always have it with me.
 
When using film, I only shoot B&W and never use a meter. Since I've been out of things for a while, I have been making my guess, then checking with the Android version of the myLightmeter app that you like, when that's convenient. When choosing that particular one, I tried a bunch of Android meters, but that was the only one that tracked closely enough with my handheld meter to be accurate.

The Android version offers incident readings, and on my phone, a Samsung S2, the incident readings are all over the place, and wrong, I suspect because for incident it uses the front camera, without a diffuser, so it's giving a backward "reflected" reading, not a true incident reading. The results swing wildly depending on where it's pointed, which doesn't happen to that extent with real incident meters.

One thing to be aware of with meter apps was that the biggest problem with them appeared to be that they don't handle a wide range of light levels well. The one I'm using was the only one that would give me good results under all situations. Consequently, your test really needs to span a variety of situations from full-on daylight to as dark as the meter will read.
 
Light Meter

Light Meter

I Always use a lightmeter when using my meterless cameras. I recheck if the light changes.

Regards,

akitadog
 
hepcat said:
I have recently discovered the iPhone metering app, so I have a backup plan now.
Click to expand...

I have used this too on occasions when I have forgotten my meter. It works surprisingly well although I would again state that the latitude of film, especially for scanning and digitising is much wider and forgiving than digital.

LouisB
 
I suggest you pick up a *small* meter. The phone meters are handy in a pinch, but they are a pain in use: 1- unlock the screen 2- launch app 3-take reading using two hands (if your phone is average size).

With a little Twinmate, Digisix, or even a Pilot, all you do is point and read. These meters are small enough to fit in any pocket and weigh next to nothing.

Of course, much depends on what you are photographing and what degree of control you want over exposures. There's no such thing as the perfect exposure. In most situations, your exposure will be a compromise and a light meter will help you decide how to compromise to best achieve the image you are picturing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom