handheld vs in camera meter

Once you have an ISO/f-stop/shutter speed, it's fairly trivial to change the parameters while keeping the EV the same. No calculator or fancy spreadsheet needed!

Example - Meter spits out ISO200, f/8, 1/250s. If I change the f-stop to f/5.6, I need to either change the ISO to 100 or shutter speed to 1/500s. Exposure 101

Just practice the f-stop sequence (1, 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16......) Shutter speeds is trivial so no need to memorize 1/30s, 1/60s, 1/125s (close enough to 1/120s), 1/250s, 1/500s, 1/1000s, 1/2000s, 1/4000s, 1/8000s (yep, I hit 1/8000s once shooting @ f/1.8 in bright sunlight with my 85mm)

chauncey wrote in post #5470057
It sounds like, in my case, you point these things at various areas in the scene, note the settings, change f/stop to adjust your DOF, then it coughs out new settings.

Kinda gets rid of the stupid factor, or am I missing something.

You are right. If the light stays the same then your set up will be the same. An incident meter will give you the correct overall exposure for the scene. If you are using a spot meter, you can aim it at specific articles in your scene and expose just for that area. Different spot meter attachments have different coverage in terms of the cone size in degrees.

chauncey wrote in post #5470057
It sounds like, in my case, you point these things at various areas in the scene, note the settings, change f/stop to adjust your DOF, then it coughs out new settings.

Kinda gets rid of the stupid factor, or am I missing something.

If my experience is any indicator, 'stupid' is never fully defeated.

When I do use my light meter, for example, I either forget to comensate for filters, or if I set the meter to do the comensation I forget to reset it after I take the filter off. With in-camera TTL metering it's a completely moot point.

Ken, I should have said "helps get rid of the stupid factor".
People of my/our age have been fighting that our entire lives.

Anyway, what I want is to be able to point my meter at a segment of my shot and take the shot, select a different segmant and repeat until I have several to "Merge to HDR"

Using the accepted technique of bracketing seems to be more of a shotgun approach that hasn't been very satisfactory.

A one degree spot meter will work well for that.

poloman wrote in post #5472136
A one degree spot meter will work well for that.

That's true but I would't think he would need an additional meter to do the exact same thing his camera can do with its built in light meter.

jra wrote in post #5472901
That's true but I would't think he would need an additional meter to do the exact same thing his camera can do with its built in light meter.

his camera can't do it nearly as well as a dedicated meter

chauncey wrote in post #5464939
Most of the time I chimp my images until I expose to the right without blinkies.

What might be the advantage in learning to use a handheld meter?

Ok. Dumb question. But what's 'Chimpimg'

majkid wrote in post #5473035
Ok. Dumb question. But what's 'Chimpimg'

Peering at the back LCD with display of photos taken, while vocalizing "ooooh, aaaah, aaaah" Having photo assistant preen you for fleas is entirely optional!

Wilt, can you say "I've got to much time on my hands"?

Chimping is taking the shot and checking your histogram to see how badly ya screwed up.

Wilt wrote in post #5473048
Peering at the back LCD with display of photos taken, while vocalizing "ooooh, aaaah, aaaah" Having photo assistant preen you for fleas is entirely optional!

Thanks LOL

They can be useful, but I haven't carried mine since I went to digital.
Need an exposure crutch?

You don't carry your meter Frank.
Is that because of your experience, that exposure is second nature to you?

Maybe a tiny bit. I could pick up the incident meter, meter the light, & transfer that to the camera. I choose to meter the light on my hand, spin a dial, & I'm done.
Is that a perfect method for every situation? Of course not. But it's easy to learn, eliminates metering mode & EC variables, is fast, works well in most situations & shooting RAW takes up the 1/2 stop slack if I'm in a hurry or the light changes slightly.

So it's a starting point for people who are trying to go manual & are confused.
For more complex situations, Expose (to the) Right will take up most of the slack for tough exposure problems.

So you're saying that close is good enough as long as you're CYA by using RAW? I understand.