What use is a light meter?

An interesting discussion. I looked around to see if I could get a light meter. I am looking to setup a home studio and was wondering if a meter could be useful.
They are expensive! I don't need anything fancy and am usually a value-for-money guy.
Any recommendations for me?

Thanks
Sashi

skm.sa100 wrote: I don't need anything fancy and am usually a value-for-money guy. Any recommendations for me?

The Minolta Auto Meter IV F is a good choice that can handle pretty much anything. If you really get into it you can look for accessories, too: telescopic attachments for spot readings, specialized diffusers, a mini-receptor for macro work ...

I have a light meter, when I'm shooting with a single light, I don't use it... BUT when I start doing multiple light setups and I want to factor in ratios, that's when a meter is handy. I've watched several video workshops by one of my favorite portraiture photographers, Chris Knight and he highly recommends and after applying what he preaches, I became even more appreciative of the device

Edited by trainerKEN - 24 March 2019 at 20:56

Hi Everyone,

I've been looking wt this thread from time to time before commenting but, following a talk at our Camera Club on Friday night by Tony Worobiec FRPS I'm a little more prepared to go on the side of the use of a light meter. He gave a talk on 'Low Light Photography' and it was fascinating - all the images taken were taken during the period post-sunset and pre-dawn and he shared some very useful 'tips' on how to maximize the results from this type of work - especially with the use of a light meter. He explained the use of the light meter for 'cross-over' exposure where one has a very bright part of an image (say, brightly lit buildings) and a darkening/lightning sky; he balances the exposure such that once bother areas have the same relative value that's the point to take the image (tripod mounted of course). He's an extensive publisher so he 'knows his stuff' - he showed more of his American Icons series than the website shows but you get the general idea from this.

So - my feeling is that for certain situations, a light meter might actually be a good idea rather than trusting solely to one's camera to make the 'right' choice.

Best regards, Neil.

Phil Wood wrote: owenn01 wrote: So - my feeling is that for certain situations, a light meter might actually be a good idea rather than trusting solely to one's camera to make the 'right' choice. I am prepared to accept that a light meter may have its uses, but do not accept that the only alternative is to trust my camera to make the right choice. I often adjust my camera to over or under expose (based on the camera's reading) or to bracket. And, from time to time, I use spot metering in the camera to assess light levels in different parts of the proposed frame so I can pretend I know what I'm doing when I dial in manual settings. In effect I use the camera as a light meter. I guess my original question should really have been: what does a light meter do for me that the built in light meter in my cameras cannot do?

I agree with you Phil, in most cases the camera meter is all you need, but (depending on the model lightmeter you have) the spot metering beam can be smaller and more accurate than the spot meter in your camera and the other thing it can do (again depending on which meter you have) is measuring the flash strength from one or more strobes.