Light meter recommendations.

[eronquillo]

Does anyone have recommendations of cheap, yet good, light meters for studio and on location shoots?

[Flintstone]

Ditto!

[justinsullivan]

The Sekonic Studio Deluxe II is a great light meter. It is an older model but you can pick it up for about $100. I got mine from e-bay for only $50 and it works perfect.
check this out - http://www.sekonic.com/Products/L-398M.html
hope it helps

[eronquillo]

Thanks justinsullivan! I'll check it out. :)

[Guest]

I can echo the Sekonic recommendation -- I've been using the same L-398 for about 15 years. Other standards of the industry would be the Minolta Auto Meter, Sekonic L-508/L-608 (which has both incident and spot metering in a single housing) and anything from Spectra -- but these are all quite a bit more expensive, ranging from a little over $200 to $700. The Studio Deluxe will give you a lot of bang for the buck in a rugged and endearingly retro unit.

[dashwood]

The Sekonic L-398M is the defacto standard for low-cost reliable incident light meters. * I've had mine for ten years and it has never failed me. * Many DP friends of mine also swear by their Spectra Pro P-251. * I have also used a friend's digital L-508, which is great for fine detail work and spot reflective readings, but I prefer the analog needle over a digital readout anyday. * At least you know that there isn't some setting turned on (like shutter angle) that you didn't notice on the LCD! *(It happened to a friend of mine - everything was over-exposed a stop.)

By the way, on the L-398M set your ISO to 320 (1 notch below 400) for DVX-100 24P shooting with the ND off. * If you are outside, insert the Hi-SLide and make sure to go by the red "H" marker, not the normal black triangle. * So many people seem to forget this.

If you are using the 1/8 ND (ND .9 *-3 stops) setting on the camera, set your ISO to 40ASA (1 notch below 50). *Use a setting of 5 ASA (1 notch below the 6) for 1/64 ND (ND 1.8 *-6 stops).



Tim

[bgundu]

Thanks for the great info Tim.

Bob Gundu

[booggerg]

I'm wonder as to the usefulness of using a light meters with a video camera. Sure, it'll probably give you a more accurate reading compared to the AUTO circuitry, but if you're in manual mode, what you see during shooting is WYSIWYG!(Unlike a film camera) So why would you need a light meter to tell you what is accurate? As long as it looks good to your eye then go with it! I'm just curious how you guys are using them.

[Flintstone]

Sometimes doing it by eye works good, and sometimes it doesn't. *Having a light meter just takes the subjectivity factor out of the equation. *It then becomes a scientific exercise, allowing you to have reproducible results.

[Mark_Beal]

The light meter is useful if you're setting light and shooting for a specific contrast ratio.

[rcapra]

I come from a still photography background and we always use light meters not only for establishing exposure, but also most importantly for establishing lighting ratios. The exposure latitude in film shot for reproduction is quite narrow. You check your shadow areas and highlights to find out how many f-stops below or above middle gray these areas will fall. Using a light meter for video could also be very usefull for this same purpose.

One question I would like the answer to is - Where do you find the ISO settings to use for the DVX100 in it's various modes?

Thanks - Bob Capra

[jaronheard]

look up 5 or 6 posts to find the ASA ratings in the various modes...