Why should I use a handheld light meter?

[kuzano]

Actually my reason is a little more sinister....

Actually my reason is a little more sinister....

If you can imagine how much it pisses off street people when you point a camera at them, can you imagine how "hacked off" they get when you leave the camera down, point a goofy gadget at them, then pick up the camera, fidget with it, and point that at them also.

It's a real kick in the pants.... back side😀

 

[semilog]

Because it won't give an accurate reading inside the Pelican case.

 

[thirtyfivefifty]

Mainly, as mentioned before, for consistency purposes--with incident and 1% spot metering--no matter the medium. I'm very particular about how I expose my shots, as it's part of my personal signature as a photographer, and TTL hasn't picked up on it, yet. It's also convenient that I can interpret scene to make creative decisions without picking up the camera or wasting a frame.

 

[jmarcus]

Thanks for posting this question. I didn't ever take reflected light into account.

 

[Fawley]

I think it's very practical to be able to set the correct exposure before actually lifting the camera. I can imagine this being especially good for them ninja street shooters, not having the camera in your face other than just before the snap.

I didn't start useing a hand held until my first non metered rangefinder came along. The more I worked with it I realized it was nice knowing what the light was like before I lifted the camera up. It helps working around people.

 

[Spicy]

Because it won't give an accurate reading inside the Pelican case.

This is the only acceptable answer. Thread over.

 

[21-135 Apo All Good]

I use a 40 year old Luna Pro I've had since age 12. Also have a Minolta 3F, but the Luna Pro is smaller and fits in my Leica bag easier.

Roger Hicks hit the nail on the head!

ALL an in-camera meter can do is read a scene and give you a reading based upon 18% gray scale. So cakes get under-exposed and tuxedos get over-exposed, for example. No matter how fancy the TTL meter, it wants to turn everything into 18% gray, which is just fine if you're photographing gray cards or gray suits. Matrix, select area, mumbo-jumbo still doesn't have the human element--the ability to not let yourself be fooled through miss-interpretation.

Here's the best example I can give with regards to proper exposure:

At the Smithsonian Sea-Air-Space Museum in Washington DC, they have on display several Apollo Mission Hasselblad cameras. On a metal plate secured to the cameras tops is a reminder to expose the Ektachrome 64 at 1/60 sec. @ F-16 in bright sun! So 240,000 miles away, the proper exposure was "sunny 16"! INCIDENT LIGHT RULES! The Sun is about 93 million miles away, so the 240,000 to the Moon is a drop in the bucket, nearer or farer!

An amusing side note to this Museum trip was seeing the 200 exposure 70mm Hassy backs that were only supposed to hold 70 exposures of regular double-perforated 70mm Ektachrome 64. NASA paid Kodak millions to make long-roll Ektachrome extra thin and yet not break or tear in the void of space!

 

[timor]

This is the only acceptable answer. Thread over.

Really ? I have no idea, what is it with that pelican case. Can you please, explain closer this random statement ?

 

[EdwardKaraa]

Imho, incident light readings are much easier to interprete and take creative decisions than reflected ones. But very often when I'm shooting negative film, I rely on the camera meter and overexpose a bit. With slides the incident reading is a must.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I notice a lot of you guys often use handheld meters. I've never really understood why this is necessary - except of course using flash meters in studio work. But other than that, what advantage is there in using a handheld reflective light meter have over the TTL reading from your camera?

Manual cameras before the SLR age: no TTL metering. When a camera did have a meter, it was an incident meter.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Because chicks dig 'em.

Don't assume that all people have ever understood the point of that!

 

[Roger Hicks]

When a camera did have a meter, it was an incident meter.

Dear Gabriel,

I can't think of any. Early ones were usually broad-angle selenium cell; later ones, rather narrower-angle CdS or silicon.

Cheers,

R.

 

[sevo]

I can't think of any.

The first and second generation Nikon F Photomic finders (those with the external cell) came with a screw in incident disc attachment.

 

[cambolt]

My M2 has no meter. I just guess the exposure. On HP5+ and other B&W neg films I shoot, you have an exposure latitude of about 2 stops anyway. When I'm indoors I use a light meter app on my ipod touch. I've never had a problem with poorly exposed shots.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Dear Gabriel,

I can't think of any. Early ones were usually broad-angle selenium cell; later ones, rather narrower-angle CdS or silicon.

Cheers,

R.

The Leica Metrawatt meters had that "incident light" cover that allowed you to use it as such. Many cameras that had the selenium cells also came with this attachment to use their meter as an incident light meter.

 

[Richard G]

My mother's Zeiss Ikon Contina II has a Selenium meter beneath a spring-loaded trap door that opened upwards shading the meter. A circle finder is rotated to coincide with the meter needle read out, and an EV number is read off a scale which is then dialled up on the compur shutter setting ring of the lens barrel which then aligned the aperture setting with the corresponding shutter speed. Rotating the matched rings so aligned keeps the light input the same for fast, wide or slow narrow apertures. But the fast subject was long gone. So Sunny 16 or hand held was quicker.

 

[timor]

Imho, incident light readings are much easier to interprete and take creative decisions than reflected ones. But very often when I'm shooting negative film, I rely on the camera meter and overexpose a bit. With slides the incident reading is a must.

How you can make creative decision based on incident reading ? Honestly I tried and could not figure it out. Imho incident metering is no more no less then sunny/16 rule with strong tendency to overexpose. As it might work with TX, will not with Tmax. (I don't shoot slides do, so I don't dispute it.) I think, only the spot meter will give you bases for "informed" decision, the rest has an element of a guess.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Yes, several cameras had adapters to allow incident light metering, but that's not the same as being equipped with incident light meters, if you see what I mean. I must simply have misunderstood the original statement as meaning that they were fitted only with incident light meters: sorry.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Roger Hicks]

How you can make creative decision based on incident reading ? Honestly I tried and could not figure it out. Imho incident metering is no more no less then sunny/16 rule with strong tendency to overexpose. As it might work with TX, will not with Tmax. (I don't shoot slides do, so I don't dispute it.) I think, only the spot meter will give you bases for "informed" decision, the rest has an element of a guess.

The old name for incident light metering is the 'artificial highlight method', which explains its advantages. With slides, or with digital, where your main concern is not to 'blow' the highlights, it is the quickest, easiest and arguably best way to meter.

With negatives, where you are concerned with shadow detail and can let the highlights fend for themselves, it is pretty hit or miss, or requires a great deal of interpretation. With long brightness ranges, the danger of underexposure is greater than the danger of overexposure unless you have an unusual metering technique.

Cheers,

R.

 

[EdwardKaraa]

Incident readings are only second best to multiple 1 degree spot readings, but much faster. I can make a quick decision whether I want to expose for the highlights or the shadows by changing the angle of the white dome (not sure how is it technically called), or use an average of both readings. When I used the zone system, my Minolta spotmeter was essential, but nowadays I'm mostly shooting snaps for my personal pleasure, and getting the super perfect exposure is not important anymore.