light meter

gumpractitioner

gumpractitioner

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glenn
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Hi, just joined so this is my first thread.
I bought my first light meter two days ago - gossen digipro f - and took it back to the shop the next day because it underexposed everything by about 1.5 to 2 stops. I don't know much about light meters but they seem pretty foolproof to understand and i did everything by the book - ensuring iso matched camera and meter...I am using a caanon 40d. when I took it back to the shop he tested it (with a 50D) and it seemed to work perfectly. I really need a flash meter to take the guess work out of using my strobes (i enjoy doing portraiture) but this has put me off light meters now - anyone got any ideas on this topic?
Thanks
Glenn
 
Garry Edwards is the man to talk to.:)
 
You need to make sure you point it at the right thing to make them work properly.

You don't point it at the subject, you use it where the subject is and point it at the light source.

If you don't it will easily underexpose like that.

That's my guess anyway :)
 
The Gossen F is an excellent meter, well made and very reliable and I doubt whether it has a fault. I'm assuming that you had your camera set on manual?

Basically you just set the ISO correctly, set the shutter speed to whatever you're using (say 1/125th, place the meter immediately in front of the subject with the white dome pointing at the camera and take the reading.
Some people will say that the meter should be pointed towards the key light, but when using a dome receptor it doesn't matter under 'normal' lighting conditions.

If your meter was placed too far in front of the subject then that would cause underexposure (because the light would have to travel further to the actual subject and loses power when it does so). Other than that, I can't think of any reason why it would give a wrong reading.
 
gumpractitioner said:
Hi, just joined so this is my first thread.
I bought my first light meter two days ago - gossen digipro f - and took it back to the shop the next day because it underexposed everything by about 1.5 to 2 stops. I don't know much about light meters but they seem pretty foolproof to understand and i did everything by the book - ensuring iso matched camera and meter...I am using a caanon 40d. when I took it back to the shop he tested it (with a 50D) and it seemed to work perfectly. I really need a flash meter to take the guess work out of using my strobes (i enjoy doing portraiture) but this has put me off light meters now - anyone got any ideas on this topic?
Thanks
Glenn
Click to expand...
I use this meter and it seems very accurate. Is it possible you have some ev compensation dialled in the camera?, or you chose the wrong ISO setting on the meter/camrea
 
Hi, again, thanks for all your replies and advice. I did everything that everyone has said including pointing the right way, no EV compensation, iso, etc but it still grossly underexposed. I will have to borrow another meter to see if this still happens - could it be my camera?
Glenn
 
I dont suppose you had a polorizer on your lens by any chance...? sometimes I forget and tada! 1.5-2 stops underexposed.
 
gumpractitioner said:
Hi, again, thanks for all your replies and advice. I did everything that everyone has said including pointing the right way, no EV compensation, iso, etc but it still grossly underexposed. I will have to borrow another meter to see if this still happens - could it be my camera?
Glenn
Click to expand...

Sorry GP, but on the evidence presented - especially when it worked fine with the 50D - suggests user error somewhere along the line.

If you are convinced that none of the suggestions/problems suggested above apply, tell us a bit more about exactly what you were trying to do.
 
your not reading the ambient measurement instead of flash?
 
photograph the meter.. showing the setting it suggests, with the dome pointing at the camera, and include the exif
 
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