do normal people use light meters?

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thewol

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hello,
just a quick question on lighting
do most people use in camera info
or buy light meters


many thanks
wol
 
I would say if you intend on getting into photography in a big way then worth considering,just my opinion.:)
 
Always handy to have one in your bag.
 
I think you will find that the majority of people don't use one; but those who do are normal, by all accounts :p

I think your question may be better addressed if you hint as to which field of photography you're looking to investigate? I don't do portraits / glamour / studio work, but I have a feeling that it's used in that field more so than others :shrug:

May be you could start a poll on this? Would be interesting to see the results.
 
just when playing with m mode
do most people play & play untill they can say
this photo is about a 1/100sec / f5 @ iso 100
or do they go click and there are the fig's

wol
 
just - i have been looking @ the pricing and most are the same price as a good dslr???
or am i just looking @ the wrong websites!!!
 
I don't know what normal people do, but then I'm not normal:)
Using ambient light, in some situations I use a handheld meter to make sure I get it right, but in most lighting situations I find that the built in meter does an excellent job (although often the results need to be 'interpreted' rather than followed blindly.

In the studio, I meter everything.
 
I have 2 light meters, does this make me normal or special?

The 308s is a great little meter( one of the ones I own) the only reason that I upgraded was to get a spot meter, which is supprisingly useful.
 
Most cameras these days with manual controls (especially Nikon & Canon digital SLRs ) have great built in meters, so there's just no need.

The only real reason to use light meters really is for flash using manual power settings. Even then, you get instant feedback on your exposure via the LCD & histogram, so you can adjust from there. In the film days a light meter was pretty much essential, but now, not so much.

Get one if you really want one, but why bother when there's already one built into your camera? The D100 does tend to underexpose a bit though. :)
 
I posted this on a different thread but the same applies here I guess:

I must admit I tend to setup for ballpark (say f/8 1/250 200 for studio or different for outside) then take a pic with each light in isolation to see the effect on the subject. Salt and Pepper to taste, checking histo and blinkie's along the way. Within a couple of mins bobs your uncle without the use of a meter.

With that said I have an L-358 which I used to use for double checking but is now largely redundant. Not sure I'll ever have the use for one again......
 
I think most "normal" studio photographers use a light meter. :bonk:
 
studio work: meter using a hand held meter.

Everyday out and about stuff: just use the camera to meter and go by the histogram/blinkies
 
Any of you see Joe McNally's latest blog post?

He says he never uses a light meter any more, apparently neither does Bob Krist.

http://www.joemcnally.com/blog/
 
I use one all of the time, it's essential with my film cameras and even speeds things up with my digital camera. One press of a button for an incident reading and I'm there.

I'm not surprise Joe McNally doesn't use a lightmeter, he doesn't use his lights in manual so there's no point.
 
He does use them in manual, just not all the time (or even much of it). Just because he uses an SU/SB-800, SB-900 or built-in flash as a commander doesn't mean he's not using them in manual. You can set manual flash power on SB-600/800/900 flashes with an iTTL commander.

Most of what we see in his instructional videos is specifically on using the iTTL system, but that's kinda the point. They're instructional videos on using iTTL, and yeah he does like it. :)

As you said, it's essential with a film camera, but it's really not with digital.
 
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