Which light meter do I need?

[Jonesy Jones]

I've never owned one. And as I understand, most DP's today don't even use them any more when shooting digital. I've got a monitor with zebras, false color and histogram, and I'm pretty confident I can make most of my exposure decisions using these tools.

My interest in a light meter is more or less to experiment and to gain a basic framework for differences and similarities in lighting environments, situations, subjects, etc. Honestly, I hear DP's talk about such and such being a stop brighter or two stops darker or whatever, and I have no frame of reference whatsoever to relate to. I guess I'm investing in an education. However, I fully suspect that after a fairly short time I will have the frame of reference I'm looking for and won't need it much beyond that, so I'm apprehensive about buying the most expensive one. 

I know that the Sekonic 758C or whatever is the light meter to rule all light meters, but I'm wondering if it's a little more than I need. But having never used one, and being very unfamiliar with the subject matter, I do not know what I need and what I don't. Any help here would be much appreciated. 

[Nikkor]

You can use your old cheap dslr with zoom as an reflective and spotmeter. A sekonic l-208 will give you reflective and incident light metering.

[Policar]

I like the 758C and there are those who rely heavily on spot meters or prefer a dual meter, but a simple Spectra incident meter will be more accurate and simpler than the Sekonic and all you really need. It's what I see most gaffers carrying. That said, if you want to learn all there is to learn, a dual meter like the 758 or 558 will be useful. I find I almost only use the indecent meter when shooting video, though, and the spot meter when shooting 4x5.

The 758C is fine overall but you will want to get it calibrated, there's one place in LA that calibrates them for about $100. I think a lot of AFI guys just use a spot meter, which is weird to me.

I'd argue a light meter is necessary for any serious work. Maybe you've reached the level where you don't need one, but reading ratios from a waveform monitor seems like a dubious proposition, as does pre lighting a set without an incident meter. If you have a good enough gaffer you may not need one, but I think gaffers appreciate a DP who is as informed about the lighting as he is.

 

[richg101]

being able to step into a scene and measure the light levels on all of the surfaces in the scene and quickly increase or reduce certain lights to feed a given camera correctly will speed up your working and allow much more integrated working relationship with the gaffer.

[tupp]

Incident light meters are great for learning and for recording lighting ratios.  Recording lighting ratios is especially valuable in case you ever have to reshoot a scene or duplicate part of a scene at another location.

 

Spot meters are not very helpful in this regard, as the subject's orientation and/or surface characteristics can dramatically change the reflective exposure reading, even though the incident lighting remains the same.

 

Any digital incident meter with a fineness of 1/10 stop increments is more than enough for any lighting ratio needs.  I have about five meters, but the one I use most is the discontinued Minolta Flashmeter IV.  Kenko currently makes a knockoff of the Minolta Flashmeter V for US$249, which seems to have decent reviews.

 

The Sekonic L-308S is US$161 on Amazon, and it has 1/10 stop increments.  There is a more recent model of this meter -- the Sekonic L-308S-U -- priced at US$199.

[Fredrik Lyhne]

I would check out the Lumu light meter, escpecially the new version that also has built in color meter. 

[Jonesy Jones]

6 hours ago, tupp said:

Incident light meters are great for learning and for recording lighting ratios.  Recording lighting ratios is especially valuable in case you ever have to reshoot a scene or duplicate part of a scene at another location.

 

Spot meters are not very helpful in this regard, as the subject's orientation and/or surface characteristics can dramatically change the reflective exposure reading, even though the incident lighting remains the same.

 

Any digital incident meter with a fineness of 1/10 stop increments is more than enough for any lighting ratio needs.  I have about five meters, but the one I use most is the discontinued Minolta Flashmeter IV.  Kenko currently makes a knockoff of the Minolta Flashmeter V for US$249, which seems to have decent reviews.

 

The Sekonic L-308S is US$161 on Amazon, and it has 1/10 stop increments.  There is a more recent model of this meter -- the Sekonic L-308S-U -- priced at US$199.

This is exactly the info I was looking for. Thanks Tupp. Was going to go with the 478, but thanks to you will be getting the Kenko. 

[tupp]

4 hours ago, Jonesy Jones said:

Was going to go with the 478, but thanks to you will be getting the Kenko. 

I am glad to be helpful.  Please note that I have never used the meters that I linked.

 

By the way, when you start using your incident light meter, it is generally best to aim the meter's dome directly at the light source (as opposed to aiming the dome at the camera).  This is true both for taking lighting ratios and for getting exposure readings.  Use your free hand to block light from other sources (including reflectors) that you do not want to meter.  By aiming the meter at the directly at the light source, one avoids blowing out the highlights with that particular source, regardless of whether or not it is positioned to the side of the subject or more frontal to the subject.

 

Aiming the dome at the camera can give a useful additive/average exposure reading in situations in which you have more than one frontal light source with a lot of overlapping coverage on the subject.