External light meter

[mugge]

Should I invest in one. I have been seriously considering buying one and when Donald made the plunge I became even more keen because I do respect his opinions. Do not want to waste $300 Australian dollars for something I do not need. I am quite aware of the pro and cons of using incident light meter. Could the forum advice - more pros than cons?

[russellsnr]

Hi,Use one 99% of the time but!!!
What are you photographing?
Do you need a $300 light meter or would one of the less expensive models do what you need.
Suggest you look for Joe Brady on Youtube and yes I no he is in part trying to get you to buy a Sekonic meter but the information on the how's and why's of a light meter are well covered. Russ
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIP...xWeslcQ/videos

[george013]

And what do you think to gain with an external light meter?

George

[DanK]

Haven't used one in 40 years. As long as I have multiple metering modes, particularly spot metering, I find reflective metering fine. In addition, digital removed my last interest in incident metering because it is simple and quick to take a test shot and check the histograms (I set my camera to show all three), which is the most accurate and informative guide to exposure.

I'm not saying that they can't be useful--just answering with my own experience and preferences.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Manfred M]

I use one too, but pretty well exclusively for flash work, including outdoor flash work. I have not found any advantages to using one in any other work. I have both incident light and reflected light (1 degree spot metering) heads. I set up the general scene with the reflective attachment and will explore some other parts of the exposure (background and secondary parts of the image) to see what the flash drop-off is doing in order to tweak the lighting.

While Donald is quite right that the hand-held meters give you light readings to within 1/10 stop, but my camera cannot be set more accurately than 1/3 stop, so the additional accuracy buys me nothing. My studio flash, on the other hand can be set in 1/10th stop increments and small adjustments in my lighting position can have similar impact, even when I don't touch the power setting.

For outdoor work, I will bracket my shots, not so much as to ensure I get the right exposure, but rather so that I get several images that I can blend together, in situations where the lighting is tricky and a single exposure in not going to give me what I want. I suppose I could figure out which exposures will give me what I need, but bracketing is faster and easier, especially in hand-held situations.

Bottom line - situations where I control the lighting, a hand-held meter makes sense in my work flow. In situations where I do not, I find it doesn't buy me anything.

[rpcrowe]

As I mentioned in reply to another posting by Donald, I use an external light meter (mine is an "oldie but goodie" Sekonic L-718 which is possibly quite a bit over ten years old) for work with flash and when I am shooting with my Vivitar Fisheye Lens which doesn't connect to the camera meter. Despite being old, the meter is quite accurate.

I also do a LOT of exposure bracketing, for the same reason that Manfred mentions above. Bracketing is so very easy when using a Canon DSLR camera
1. choose the bracketing amount from 1/3 stop to 3 stops - I mostly shoot at 1 stop bracketing
2. select burst mode - I like high speed
3. press the shutter - the camera will fire three bracketed exposures and stop until the next time I press the shutter

The only caveat is that in the default setting, bracketing ceases every time the camera is turned off for any reason. I go into the camera menu and select "continue bracketing until the operator selects to stop bracketing". I got burned when I did not know that the Canon DSLR, in default, stopped bracketing every time the camera was shut off. I changed batteries down at the bottom of Carlsbad Caverns and instead of getting 3-bracketed exposures of every image (which I wanted for HDR imaging, I got three identical exposures of every image after I changed the battery in the camera (which, of course required me to turn the camera off)

The first things that I do with any Canon DSLR is to modify the bracketing turn off and also insure that the camera will not fire if there is no CF card installed.

Some other cameras do not bracket as easily as Canon DSLR cameras do. If you are working with such a camera, it is your choice as to whether bracketing is worth the work.

Note: I never bracket when I actually need burst mode such as when shooting sports or airshows.

BTW: I also sometimes use the external meter in incident mode when I am shooting video which I like to do in manual mode so that the total; exposure does not alter if something like a person in a white shirt enters the frame.

I might mention that I do not know if my meter has the sophisticated capabilities of Donald's meter. I will see if it does and will play with it. However, I have never had a bit of a problem shooting outdoors in daylight (and very little problem with night shots). Why fix something "if it ain't broke?"

[pnodrog]

It is not so much a matter of needing one but would you prefer one. Personally I never replaced the meter I lost over 40 years ago even though I was using 50 ISO Velvia slide film with very little exposure latitude. However there were the odd occasions when I needed to bracket the shots. Now days with 12-14 stops of dynamic range and instant review a standard meter is not part of my work flow. Manfred's use of one for flash work is understandable especially if he is using multiple flash units.

I know how to use a separate light meter but I also know how to use the metering on my DSLR. However I understand and can do a pretty accurate estimation of the exposure compensation as required in some situations. If I was doing photography full time I would probably have a good meter (flash capable) sitting in my kit but largely unused.

[rpcrowe]

Although I use the light meter for some portraiture, I don't use it for all my portraits, In fact, I never use it for my portraits of dogs. I have gotten so experienced and so used to the setup that I can just eyeball the lights. I will use the meter when I am doing different lighting setups.

In fact, if I were without a meter for daylight outdoor shooting, I would not be in too much trouble. I can pretty well guestimate outdoor daylight exposures.

This comes in handy, on the very unusual occasion when I have left my camera in some really different shooting parameters; like experimenting with ultra high ISO and forgetting to reposition the ISO to a mode realistic number. Realizing what the exposure should be, I am quickly able to change the ISO back to my normal shooting levels.

[William W]

Should I invest in one. I have been seriously considering buying one and when Donald made the plunge I became even more keen because I do respect his opinions. Do not want to waste $300 Australian dollars for something I do not need. I am quite aware of the pro and cons of using incident light meter. Could the forum advice - more pros than cons?

$300 can buy a lot of things. I can’t address your question without more information. It doesn’t matter much that you know the pros and cons of using an incident light meter –

BUT:

1. please supply a full list of HOW and WHY you will use one,

2. a general description of WHAT and HOW you photograph and what GEAR you have would put in context the purchase of an Incident Light Meter

Then best and experienced opinions as to whether or not an Incident Light Meter will be an “investment” or a waste of money for you, will surely follow.

Thanks.

WW

[mugge]

Thank you all for your valuable inputs. I also bracket my shots (four burst at 1/3) it has been fine. The only problem I have is that my main camera is an Olympus M1. The battery life is very limited, in fact it is terrible. I believe that the Olympus M1 Mark 2 has overcome that problem by 30%. I can only hope. I get the general view that if I really want one get one but it will not matter that much in the end.

[rpcrowe]

Ole wrote: "The only problem I have is that my main camera is an Olympus M1. The battery life is very limited, in fact it is terrible."

I have a couple of extra batteries for my 7D and 7D2 cameras. Purchasing non-OEM batteries has not been a problem for me and my cameras and are considerably less expensive. I have noticed that my 7D2 doesn't seem to have the battery life of my 7D. However, I am not sure if I had been using the batteries designed for the 7D2 (which are a bit more powerful) or if I had mixed up my batteries and used 7D batteries in my 7D2 camera. I am going to use a dab of paint or some sort of label in order to readily identify the 7D2 batteries...

I am wondering if the addition of a battery grip might not help solve the problem of low battery life. I don't know the prices of non-OEM grips in Oz but, new grips are in the $60 U.S. Dollar range on U.S. eBay...

[William W]

. . . I also [exposure] bracket my shots (four burst at 1/3) it has been fine.

If you are capturing in raw file format, then an Exposure Bracket in 2/3 Steps is arguably more than adequate for 99% of lighting scenarios and shooting situations and will provide you with a wider range of choice, in Post Production.

The only problem I have is that my main camera is an Olympus M1. The battery life is very limited, in fact it is terrible.

You can buy a lot spare of batteries with $300.

WW

[ajohnw]

Do you set up your E-M1 to show clipping in the viewfinder ?

I find the comment about battery life a little odd. Maybe you are leaving the rear screen on all of the time. The camera can be set up so that it only activates when a button is pressed. Preview can be seen in the viewfinder.

If the MK2 has more pixels I would be inclined to hire one some how before actually buying one.

John
-

[mugge]

Do you set up your E-M1 to show clipping in the viewfinder ?

I find the comment about battery life a little odd. Maybe you are leaving the rear screen on all of the time. The camera can be set up so that it only activates when a button is pressed. Preview can be seen in the viewfinder.

If the MK2 has more pixels I would be inclined to hire one some how before actually buying one.

John
-

John, I have spoken to other M1 owners, they too 'whinge' about battery life. I do not care about pixels, quite enough for my use.

[Black Pearl]

Thank you all for your valuable inputs. I also bracket my shots (four burst at 1/3) it has been fine. The only problem I have is that my main camera is an Olympus M1. The battery life is very limited, in fact it is terrible. I believe that the Olympus M1 Mark 2 has overcome that problem by 30%. I can only hope. I get the general view that if I really want one get one but it will not matter that much in the end.

For situations where you have the time to use a hand held meter you have the time to use the excellent viewfinder and rear screen on your camera. It can display - Highlight & Shadow - Live Pre-view - Histogram - all of which can be used to very, very accurately set your exposure, far more so than a hand held meter.

As above for flash work or where you are balancing multiple light sources a meter in invaluable but you simply don't need one for day-to-day shooting with a modern mirrorless camera.

[ajohnw]

My EM-1 has been used for hours and hours without any battery problems but I have 2 spares anyway. Olympus reckon 350 shots. Don't think I would argue however if the rear screen is on a lot I would expect that to come down. There is not much need to have it on. I have mine set on one the longer go to sleep times too.

Thanks to Robin for being more explicit about the shadow highlight display in the viewfinder. It knocks spots of a histogram. It doesn't take long at all to guess what will be available in raw however that may depend on what mode the camera is in for jpg's as some have more dynamic range than others. Used sensibly it's obvious when bracketing will be needed. I usually shoot in standard gradation which has circa 10 stops range.

They would need to fit a Canon's sized batteries to match the near 1000 shots they can do so a 1/3 increase isn't that much really. More viewfinder pixels can help in some areas but with a mild magnified view where it is now the gain is marginal. If you want more battery life a battery grip is probably going to work out cheaper than a new camera. That will take it up to 700 shots. Personally I prefer the small size but might consider it for studio use but I don't do any.

John
-