Should i get a light meter or just change some settings?

[treynolds]

So i have been shooting for a while with my t2i using canon and tamron lenses for video and Leica lenses for stills. I consistently find with the Leica lenses I need to underexpose my picture by anywhere from 2/3rd of a stop to 2 stops in order to get a good exposure. Now I want to start shooting with my Leica glass for video because it looks phenomenal but I'm worried about being over or under exposed and not knowing based on the light meter shown in video mode.

My question becomes, do i expose the video by eye in video when it will read at a stop dark? or do i need to get an external light meter to give me something more trustworthy to check my exposure? Or is it something simple like the metering style (spot vs eval)?

thanks for the advice guys i really appreciate all your expertise out there.

 

[Lenilenapi]

I think the exposure problem you're describing is strictly an issue with manual exposure stills mode and manual only lenses. Shouldn't be an issue with video.

IMHO video should never be exposed by lightmeter alone. Lightmeters can be a great tool for lighting but video doesn't respond to light and f stop in the linear manner that film does.

Lenny Levy

 

[treynolds]

great. Thanks for the help. Once my Zoom H1 gets here i will have my rig all ready to go for some more professional shoots.