Light Meter

[Doom1701e]

What is a good light meter for natural light indoor/outdoor photography? I found posts about the Sekonic L-358 but it is listed as a flash meter. I dont need anything major, just a light meter to set up an outdoor portrait shot w/ a custom white balance. Thanx.

[DaveG]

What is a good light meter for natural light indoor/outdoor photography? I found posts about the Sekonic L-358 but it is listed as a flash meter. I dont need anything major, just a light meter to set up an outdoor portrait shot w/ a custom white balance. Thanx.

A meter like the Sekonic is both an ambient light AND flash meter. It would work fine to do a meter reading. I'm partial to the Minolta Autometer IVf, but that's a personal choice.

What these kind of meters WON'T tell you is anything about the white balance. There are colour temperture meters but they are VERY expensive and you really don't need one if you shoot RAW and can stick a MacBeth color swatch in a shot. That will let you get to the white balance very quickly once you are in a Camera RAW or C1.

As far as that goes you don't even need this kind of meter for ambient light metering. Your camera's meter will suggest an exposure and you shoot. You check the histogram and you have three choices: increase the exposure, decrease the exposure or stay where you are. With an incident meter you do a meter reading and it will suggest an exposure. You check the histogram (and you're a moron if you don't) and you have three choices. Yup, increase, decrease or stay put. Now WHY do you want this meter?

Back in film days and especially with large format, your meter was needed a lot more. You were attempting to predict something and reflected (your camera's meter), incident (something like the Minolta or Sekonic), or spot (very narrow reflected meter) would aid you in your search for the "correct exposure". You also could use these readings to bias your black and white development if you were into Zone system. But now you can review and not just predict and that's MUCH more accurate.

[Longwatcher]

I myself am looking at getting a good light meter. Why I am getting one is I have discovered that to get a desired balance between studio stobes (if I can not keep them in the same place (which I can't yet) I need a light meter that will allow me to set each strobe to the correct setting I want. Basically I need the light meter for more control.

For overall exposure though, I think the light meter is a waste of money given the 10D's light metering.

With a bit of luck I will be able to give a good answer as I am hoping to have time later this month to actually go on a pilgrimage to B&H in NY after a business meeting I have to attend on Long Island. One of my primary targets will be a good light meter.

[PhotosGuy]

I need a light meter that will allow me to set each strobe to the correct setting I want.

You can't get that with a LIGHT meter. You need a STROBE meter, or FLASH meter. Big difference.

[John Pelafigue]

This reminds me, I have a Minolta IV F I need to get rid of. If anyone can use it, contact me for details.

[Ken Fong]

Some of the Sekonics have been discontinued and are now selling at good discount on eBay. I recently purchased the 508. I like the spot capability vs. the 10D's 'partial' meter. And the ability to average multiple readings is similar to the EOS3's multi-metering. However, the matrix metering on the 10D should do fine for most situations, and you can also use autobracketing with the 10D's 'partial' meter if needed. If you really want to save some money, just buy a gray card.

[JoeTampa]

I have a Sekonic with a radio module to trip my Pocketwizards. Works great! Saves me time from having to "guess" in the studio what a decent exposure would be, and allows me to check to see if the lights are illuminating the entire scene evenly, allowing me to adjust while the model relaxes somewhat.

[scottbergerphoto]

I have a Sekonic with a radio module to trip my Pocketwizards. Works great! Saves me time from having to "guess" in the studio what a decent exposure would be, and allows me to check to see if the lights are illuminating the entire scene evenly, allowing me to adjust while the model relaxes somewhat.
I also use the PW Module in my L358 and L558. In addition to being invaluabe for flash metering, light meters are great learning tools. They help you to understand how different things affect your readings, particularly the spot meter.
Scott