Using a Light Meter with the DVX

Excuse me for being a newbie, but what excactly would you need a light meter for? If you set your lighting and exposure to look good to your eye then why bother with knowing the numbers? Is it for consistancy? If so couldn't you still do it by eye. I'm not arguing to not use any type of instrument, I just am ignorant on the subject and I'm trying to learn.
 
If you know the technical limitations of the camera, and the look you're trying to achieve, it will allow you to work a lot faster in situations where you have lighting control.

Example: say I'm shooting with my DVX and I want to simultaneously be able to see what's going on in the interior of a room AND out the window. I can eyeball that with the viewfinder and make continual adjustments, sure... or I can take a light reading on the exterior, compare that to my interior, and know what I have to do: "Okay, so if I want this interior within 3 stops of the outside, I need to get 8 times as much light into this room as I have right now." Then you can do ONE setup and make small adjustments, rather than a lot of trial and error involving setting up the camera, moving it around, and so on. That's just one example.
 
I see, so it's, in a sense, a time saver.

One more question:

Barry_Green said:
You miss your exposure by a stop on film, you're still basically okay. You miss it by a stop on video and you're dead in the water.
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Is this refering to being over or underexposed to the point where you lose detail in shadows or highlights, because as long as your in those limits you can just CC and it should be ok right?
 
I'm a one man band and I essentially do what NBC shooter does. I set me key (or let the sun set it for me) and set up my camera for that. Once my key is set, I use my meter to adjust ratios. If I have a production monitor with me, I still use the meter, but I'm more lighting by eye with the monitor.

One thing I'v learned in photography is I can't judge such a limited latitude. It's like shooting positive slide film (5 stops) I need the meter to make sure everything falls in that range, because the eye adjusts too well. If I don't have a field monitor then the meter becomes really important to me (but I could of course be very, very wrong) to establish a ratio.
 
thisiswells said:
Have to agree with NBC on this one. Only problem for most DV shooters is that digital meters which display Footcandles are really expensive! The Sekonic L-608 does for sure, but many of the cheaper digital meters don't. There are some affordable analog models, I think, that display Footcandles. I prefer the easy-to-understand numerical display on the digital meters, though.
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Sekonic makes a cheap analog footcandle meter, model L-246, for about $150. It also comes with a 10x slide for measuring higher light levels, and a nice little leather pouch with a belt strap. Spectra digital meters are what the pros use, but run almost $400. I actually prefer analog displays (like I prefer analog speedometers/tachs to digital ones). My favorite meter is my old analog Spectra Low-Light Candela (I broke one, and lost my spare Candela, and Spectra doesn't make them anymore).
 
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Interrupting again, but I think my question got lost in this thread. What is a gaffers glass, a sort of preview device?
Thanks
Benjamin
 
Anything, reflectors, fill lights, background lights, hair lights, measuring fall off. I just like to know what's going on. The information also goes into my lighting diagram so I can repeat if necessary.
 
MattC said:
Anything, reflectors, fill lights, background lights, hair lights, measuring fall off. I just like to know what's going on. The information also goes into my lighting diagram so I can repeat if necessary.
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Ok cool. Thanks for the info/patience.
 
DP StrangeLove said:
Interrupting again, but I think my question got lost in this thread. What is a gaffers glass, a sort of preview device?
Thanks
Benjamin
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It's basically a bit of glass used to reveal the dark and light area of a scene.
 
On the topic of waveform monitors, does anyone know an affordable solution? I looked at B&H and they run $1300 at the low end. Also, I know software scopes are not as accurate, but could they be used in lieu of true hardware?
 
DP StrangeLove said:
Interrupting again, but I think my question got lost in this thread. What is a gaffers glass, a sort of preview device?
Thanks
Benjamin
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They used to be used to judge contrast of panchromatic/monochromatic films. They're used now simply so that the gaffer can look directly into the beam of the light, and adjust focus (aiming) verbally with his electrician, as the electrician adjusts the pan and tilt of the lamp. Looking right into the beam, it's easy to tell when the beam is "spot-on" where you want it. But it's damaging to your eyes. The gaffer's glass I now have is more than just an ND filter (like the Tiffen viewing glass I used to use)--it's a metallized, 9-stop ND optical flat, in a nice brushed aluminum frame.
 
DV Rack can do it, but only if you're shooting DV or HDV.

Panasonic's new line of LCD monitors includes a waveform monitor too, which is pretty cool.
 
recommedations for a meter

recommedations for a meter

thisiswells said:
Have to agree with NBC on this one. Only problem for most DV shooters is that digital meters which display Footcandles are really expensive! The Sekonic L-608 does for sure, but many of the cheaper digital meters don't. There are some affordable analog models, I think, that display Footcandles. I prefer the easy-to-understand numerical display on the digital meters, though.
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Can someone please give me a brand of meters that you would recommend, have you used? This light meter discussion is very interesting to me and i've been looking into buying a meter for some time. I'd appreciate any suggestions.
 
SetsItRight said:
Can someone please give me a brand of meters that you would recommend, have you used? This light meter discussion is very interesting to me and i've been looking into buying a meter for some time. I'd appreciate any suggestions.
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Nevermind, unless someone has other suggestions. But I went backwards in the posts and saw a recommendation already.
 
oneinfiniteloop said:
Isn't DV Rack only for PC? Are the waveform monitors in FCP any good?
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DV Rack is PC only and FCP's scopes are kinda primitive.

It's definitely worth getting a cheap PC notebook and plopping DV Rack on it.
 
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