Light Meter or New Prime (Weddings/Portraits)

[bakerbranded]

Ok for all you wedding photographers, that also do portraits in and out of studio. Would you rather purchase a Sekonic L-358 or a Good Fast Prime?

Or if someone could recommend a good but cheaper light meter that would be helpful as well.

Also does anyone consistently use a light meter at weddings and find them to be really helpful?

Thanks,
Scott

[RyanK]

Good, fast prime. 35L?

[S-S]

never use a light meter at anything lol... weddings or otherwise
fast prime FTW...

[egordon99]

Doesn't the camera have a built-in light meter? ;)

[bakerbranded]

Good, fast prime. 35L?
I was thinking more on the lines of a Sigma 30 f/1.4, but the 35L would be nice to :rolleyes::p

[bakerbranded]

never use a light meter at anything lol... weddings or otherwise
fast prime FTW...

Thanks for the opinion. :)

[bakerbranded]

Doesn't the camera have a built-in light meter? ;)

Yes but I don't think it helps to much when doing flash work? I could be wrong, but wouldn't the Light Meter help for flash work?

[RyanK]

I was thinking more on the lines of a Sigma 30 f/1.4, but the 35L would be nice to :rolleyes::p

Some actually prefer the Sigma 30 f/1.4, but you wont get nearly the same IQ as the 35L. A light meter isn't necessary in your case.

[S-S]

i know of a wedding tog who had both the canon 35L and the sigma 30 1.4, and after comparing them he sold the 35L because any slight improvement in IQ in his opinion wasnt worth the hundreds of extra dollars that the canon version costs

[bakerbranded]

i know of a wedding tog who had both the canon 35L and the sigma 30 1.4, and after comparing them he sold the 35L because any slight improvement in IQ in his opinion wasnt worth the hundreds of extra dollars that the canon version costs

Hmm very interesting. Thanks.

[S-S]

Hmm very interesting. Thanks.

that being said, if you planned to use the lens on a full frame body, the sigma 30mm vignettes heavily. but on a 1.3 and 1.6 crop, it is beautiful. the canon 35L is built for FF so you can use it across the board.

[evelasco]

I've never used a light meter...don't have a lot of time during weddings...I would go with the better glass.

[say_cheese]

Light meters at a wedding!, you're gotta be kidding.

[breadandbutter]

Light meters at a wedding!, you're gotta be kidding.

Why?

[mattograph]

Someone ALWAYS has to throw in a different opinion, don't they......

Instead of either / or, why not look at a uwa? a sigma 12-24, or the wonderful Canon 10-22? If you are a wedding shooter, lack of a UWA is a HUGE hole in your current lineup.

To wit:

Look at images #1 and #4 here:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=596271&highlight=10-22

[tim]

I'd get the fast prime first.

Some actually prefer the Sigma 30 f/1.4, but you wont get nearly the same IQ as the 35L. A light meter isn't necessary in your case.

I compared images from the 30 F1.4 and the 35L, they were very very similar, so I got the 30 F1.4 and i'm very happy with it.

Light meters at a wedding!, you're gotta be kidding.

I use a light meter quite a bit at weddings. I find the 40D histogram makes me overexpose images, the Sekonic L-358 (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/221078-REG/Sekonic_401358_L_358_Flash_Master_Meter.html/BI/2312/KBID/3114) is more accurate. I also use it for flash metering, as I do a lot of off camera flash work, but I could get by without it for that.

Someone ALWAYS has to throw in a different opinion, don't they......

Instead of either / or, why not look at a uwa? a sigma 12-24, or the wonderful Canon 10-22? If you are a wedding shooter, lack of a UWA is a HUGE hole in your current lineup.

I rarely use wider than 17mm for people shots, otherwise you get distortion especially near the edges.