Who uses a light meter?

[PhotosByT]

I keep reading about light meters.. and I'm thinking it will help me (get rid of those extra trial and error clicks) :)

Does everybody own one?

[Photon Phil]

For a controlled situation you can't beat it. For a manual film body you can't beat it. For most other things you have a few moments to do test shots and chimp.

I went without one for years and now will never go without one. It actually teaches you to think more about the triangle of exposure factors. I like using the the EV feature in which I can test my personal guess as to what the light is and what the meter says.

[bobbyz]

I use one.

[PhotosByT]

So, not a lot of people use it?

[jerdan]

I use one and love it

[mcluckie]

I've got an old Gossen UltraPro that I use with my Profotos. I sometimes carried a Soligor spot meter with me outside, but never used it. If you just be careful about where you meter (do an AE lock somewhere deep), then recompose, you'll be fine. Days of being 1/3 off and screwed are over. If you were on a tripod and doing film, yeah, sure. Maybe if I did more landscapes I'd get more use out of it today.

[scotteisenphotography]

use one

[mensur]

I have one but I've gradually stopped using it since moving to digital. Anymore I prefer to just look at my lcd.

[mcluckie]

I have one but I've gradually stopped using it since moving to digital. Anymore I prefer to just look at my lcd.

You can get an exposure from looking at your LCD? Assuming you mean after the shot (and then what about before?), what about ambient influence?

[QueenChatty]

I don't have one yet but...I am going to order the Sekonic L358 next week.
I have been lucky that a pro photographer has been training me on studio work and I can only tell you that it is awesome to have one as it makes things so much easier and faster to get the light right the first time instead of guessing or using the camera features.

[D Thompson]

I use the Sekonic L308s.

[egordon99]

I use one whenever I use my flashes off-camera.

[Rubi Jane]

I use one for studio work & off-camera flash to nail the exposures and ratios I want. I also use it in settings where there is multiple light sources such as a strong backlight, over head lights and then my flash. An example is when I'm shooting in an industrial location and the overhead bay door is open with light pouring in and I need to expose the interior, I'll often do two exposures and layer. The light meter allows me to not use guesstimates and trial & error. Another time I'll use it is for longer exposures with natural light.

I don't use it for general shooting and rely on the in-camera meter which is very accurate.

[johngalt_ny]

I shoot almost exclusively outdoors, no flash and the Sekonic L-358 is always with me.

[HeleneD]

I only use it when I'm doing OCF since the meter in your camera isn't going to help (although I usually come pretty close to guessing w/o the meter). You can chimp to get it where you want but the meter just makes everything faster.

[gonzogolf]

I have one but I've gradually stopped using it since moving to digital. Anymore I prefer to just look at my lcd.
Do you just look at the screen, or do you use the histogram? Just looking at the screen is ripe for disaster as the screen brightness and ambient light have so many variables. If you cant meter, learn the histogram.

[k_wakasugi]

Sekonic L-358 user here. Love it.

[Gatorboy]

Sekonic L-358 user here. Love it.

Same here

[bdavisx]

I use one sometimes at a wedding for shooting the formals. It makes it easier to make sure the lighting is even across the area where the groups will be standing. Sometimes it's hard to tell that in the LCD, and even if you can tell, I don't want to make a group of 6-10 people (or more, especially if there's young kids involved) wait while I adjust the flashes.

Other than that, I don't generally use one. When I start doing more studio work, I plan on using it more to do setups. BUT, if you watch the Zack Arias videos (if I remember correctly), he doesn't use one all that much even in the studio (but I might be remembering wrong).

[mcluckie]

Anybody got a good spot meter, no flash function? I've got a good studio flash meter, but I want a spot for documentary. Gotta be cheaper w/o flash...