Sekonic 308DC light meter for AF100 better than wave form monitor???

N

Nicholas Natteau

Veteran
Just posting this question in the AF100 forum after seeing this video posted on vimeo:

So far I've been using the AF100's internal waveform monitor. But has anyone used this particular Sekonic light meter with the AF100? Would this type of light meter give an even more precise reading than the built in wave form monitor? If you had the chance, would you use this light meter for the AF100 or can you safely rely on just the built in AF100 wave form monitor?
 
Except for scouting or set lighting, a hand-held light meter, any light meter, is a redundant waste of time. Frankly, most cinematographers are quite capable of set lighting by eye; after you've worked with the same kind of fixtures for a while, you pretty much know what your levels are going to be.

The meter is an analog of how the sensor is actually responding, not the way it is actually responding. Also, the sensor may not have a linear response, introducing yet another opportunity for error.

A waveform monitor fed by the actual camera sensor is the real deal and it doesn't lie.

I still have great affection for my trusty Spectra, but it's not a necessary or even helpful tool.

Good shooting and best regards,

Leo
 
Ticheli said:
Except for scouting or set lighting, a hand-held light meter, any light meter, is a redundant waste of time. Frankly, most cinematographers are quite capable of set lighting by eye; after you've worked with the same kind of fixtures for a while, you pretty much know what your levels are going to be.

The meter is an analog of how the sensor is actually responding, not the way it is actually responding. Also, the sensor may not have a linear response, introducing yet another opportunity for error.

A waveform monitor fed by the actual camera sensor is the real deal and it doesn't lie.

I still have great affection for my trusty Spectra, but it's not a necessary or even helpful tool.

Good shooting and best regards,

Leo
Click to expand...

+1

Wow, talk about going back to the dark ages of film making. After using the AF100's waveform I would never want to use a light meter.

As for the idea of "shaping and painting with light" who cares if you're lighting a certain area to plus 2 stops or plus 3 stops? The best way to do this is just by what aesthetically looks pleasing to you.
 
+1. I love my Sekonic 608C cinema meter, but I rarely ever use it. Only when shooting film; I can't remember the last time I've seen a light meter used on a video shoot.

The light meter will measure light, but like Leo said -- it doesn't measure the way the sensor is actually responding. The effects of the gamma curve, the master pedestal, the knee... the light meter doesn't know about any of that. But the waveform monitor does.

Now, the new crop of digital cine meters claim that they can be configured to accurately profile the sensor and understand exactly how the camera is exposing. If that's really true, and you take the time, you might someday get it to where it's as accurate as the waveform -- but it will never be more accurate.

The waveform is reporting exactly what the camera is doing, after all processing.

If you want a meter just because you want one anyway, and you want to use it in scouting or lighting your sets or whatever, that's one thing. But if you think it will somehow give you more accurate results than the waveform, that's just not possible. The waveform is telling you exactly what's happening.
 
When I bring out the light and color temp meters it's generally in a scouting scenario.
Say I'm going to be shooting in a boat dealership for example, with varied spot lighting on the boats, large film covered windows in front, and unfiltered windows at the sides. I can do a walkthrough with my meters and get an idea in my head in advance of the shoot. It's very helpful.
But having a waveform/vector handy when you shoot is priceless.

All the Best!

Dave
 
WFM, incident meter, spot meter, eye-ometer, broacast field monitor... all tools for the D.P and here to be used in conjunction with the ach other.

THe AF102 is the first digital vid cam I have owned or used that I can reliably trust the meter reading from my L608 Spectra.

We did Spectra and spotmeter tests with in our AF102 cam tests and it gave me great faith in them both and the relation ship to the wfm.

I have also have a spotmeter that has an IRE scale on it. This has always beeen a valuable piece of kit in the repertoire.
( Not everyone knows how to work an IRE scaled meter despite its fundamental simplicity but it is actually close to a WFM in practice and theory)

I will be using my meters a lot more with the AF102. (and of course...in conjunction with the waveform monitors we have)

Practical example of metering a shoot.

I have a shoot next week.. Very large studio and multiple setups going on at the same time... but ONLY one camera and monitoring setup..
I will use the meter to light all the setups as we work on them...before I even wheel the camera up to shoot them. (one at a time)
I also have a handy little tool that I use ...its an incident dome on the end of a flexible probe (Pentax). I use this on my Spectra for careful placement of spots (eg DIDOs) on packs and products , food etc...

Final arbiter is of course ...WFM and the eyeometer

I wont be giving away my meters anytime soon.
 
Thanks everybody. I've just gone and cancelled my order. Will stick to the wave monitor. Thanks again for taking the time to point all this out.
 
Nicholas Natteau said:
Just posting this question in the AF100 forum after seeing this video posted on vimeo:

So far I've been using the AF100's internal waveform monitor. But has anyone used this particular Sekonic light meter with the AF100? Would this type of light meter give an even more precise reading than the built in wave form monitor? If you had the chance, would you use this light meter for the AF100 or can you safely rely on just the built in AF100 wave form monitor?
Click to expand...

So I guess it's just a new L-308S with the addition of a shutter angle mode and lux and footcandle readouts? I have the older L-308S (they go for $100 used and as far as I can tell are by far the least expensive digital light meter usable for motion picture work), and the only times I use it are when scouting or testing or shooting film (rare for me).

The barrier is that without very careful testing and/or lots of experience using a particular camera with a light meter, its not very easy to know how luminance readings will correlate to camera luma values. So besides being ok for generally seeing if light levels are approximately in the range you are looking for and to some extent for those situations I mentioned I find it useful, it wont be that much help. It certainly would not replace a wfm, but it could be useful as a supplement in some cases if you know what you are looking for.
 
Nicholas Natteau said:
Thanks everybody. I've just gone and cancelled my order. Will stick to the wave monitor. Thanks again for taking the time to point all this out.
Click to expand...

Get a second hand one (some day) ...and learn about light and lighting by using it. A wfm will not teach you much about those.
 
That's true. But that isn't what the OP asked about. He was asking about exposure. A WFM is the right tool for a video cam to set exposure with.

As for learning about lighting, and lighting film, yes a lightmeter is pretty much necessary.
 
You should have both a WFM and a light meter.
A meter is great to fine tune your lighting sometimes it is faster than a WFM.
Don't forget time is money.
 
I have recently been using a light meter for educational purposes as a quick way of showing the difference between each light and the effects of adding dichroic filters or using 250w bubbles in redheads.
On set the camera has the most accurate exposure meter built in but a light meter can also be useful to do a quick check between light sources but I only use mine for simple exposure value comparatives and not to show f stop against shutter speed or asa settings.
 
Light meter is useful for scouting and setting lighting ratios. For setting exposure when shooting digital you better use WFM - this is not film, you need to be careful, expose for highlights...
 
I always use my Spectra digital light meter even when shooting, digital or not. Mostly for lighting while being able to walk away from the camera. Then I open up the waveform when I get back to the camera and do a small tweak if needed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top