I would appreciate any thoughts on buying a light meter. I shoot a lot from a tripod, hence use the lcd vs the viewfinder. There can be such a difference in what I see on the lcd and on the computer. Hoping it will provide some help in honing in on shutter speeds and aperture settings. Thanks in advance Jim

What's a light meter and how do u use it??

Generally, and briefly, it's a hand held sensor that you place near the target of your shot and it will give you suggested shutter speed and f stop settings. I have difficulty getting it consistently right (or even near right) the first time.

Oh ok!! Cool! Thx for the info!! And sorry I can't help here!

jim, sounds like it could be helpful. i had never heard of it before. i have the same problem...sometimes what i see on the lcd comes out looking a lot different on the computer. Hopefully someone here will be able to give you some input!!

Ya, the little LCD does not really give a very good exposure view. hmm... there are several types of hand-held light meters that can be real useful in particular situations. For most applications, the metering built into the camera is adequate, however sometimes it has to be "fooled" to handle strange lighting situations. Most cameras allow overriding the automatic settings. Some even have special settings built in; backlight, night, etc. [BTW, if your camera does NOT allow manual settings, a separate hand-held light meter will not be useful to you at all!] As for meters: Some are "spot meters" having a very narrow angle of view. These are useful for measuring several areas in a scene, and calculating the best overall exposure. Somewhat time consuming. Some are "incident" meters, with like a big golf-ball thingie. This measures the light falling on the subject. Some also can help in adjusting color balance. Only useful if you can measure the light falling directly on the subject. Some meters can measure flash.

Thanks TV, good to know I'm not the only one with this shortcoming. However, since I wrote this, I figured out a way to use the camera as a light meter... which has always been available (DUH!!!). I take a pic in the auto setting, review it and check the settings the camera chose for the pic... which is usually a bit brighter than I prefer. Then I can use those as a base point to begin tweaking shutter speed, aperture and iso settings to suit what I'm going for. Maybe someday we rookies will become proficient enough to do this on the fly... but until then, any crutch will do.

good idea, Jim! easy on the wallet too!! :)

Thanks Misha883, my camera does allow for manual settings (Sony f828), which I usually employ. The light meter I am considering handles spot and incident lighting as well as handles flash, though I rarely use the flash.

Is "incident" meter the same as "center-weighted" meter?

Tibet... I don't think so. I believe "center-weighted" is more of an onboard camera's method of how to interpret light for the shot, focusing on the center of the image. If one were to look for analogous terms, I think (remebering I don't know for certain) "incident" would be more closely related to the camera's matrix metering, where the light is considered from a variety of sources

Mmmmmh! Sounds like multi-pattern metering to me then! Not sure though! O_o

A "reflected" meter, like any in the camera, measures the light reflected from the scene. You point it at the scene. An "incident" meter measures the light falling on the scene. You point it towards the light.

sounds cool...but are they light?

Ok, re the lcd and the viewfinder, I gave up on using the lcd fairly soon and have made myself stick to the viewfinder. For me, that is best, with a regualar digital like my carry cam Minolta or with a DSLR, where viewfinder is the only way to go. Overall, knowing the approximate coverage of the viewfinder re the actual imagae, I am able to compose the image tight in the finder and still have a slight touch of room for working in the computer image. And, it actually "feels" more like a camera to me that way.

As for light meter, my experience is limited to years ago and an the "incicent" meter was great only if the subject knew and was still enough to get ready for the shot! My subjects don't do that. I generally use the camera sensors and bracket the exposure up and down a tad unless it is a shoot on the fly. I am NOT the pro here, just telling what works for me. I do use all the manual overrides I find suitable for the situation at hand.

TomD'Art. ; )

Message edited on: 04/02/2005 22:39