Tip: Why Use a Light Meter
It wasn’t that long ago that a light meter was an indispensible part of any photographers equipment collection. That was back when people used film and if a camera had a built-in light meter at all it was pretty mediocre. Today digital cameras have more capable meters that do a pretty great job of guessing the correct exposure. Between that and taking a few test shots or bracketing, a separate light meter may seem redundant. There are however still some reasons owning a light meter can benefit your photography that we’ll cover below.
They Save Time
I’ve seen people say things like, "it takes as much time to take a test shot as it does to meter." Which is true, but how often do you only take one test shot in a tricky lighting situation? I tend to average between 3-5 test shots. With a light meter you can take one reading and then recompute settings like aperture, shutter speed and ISO until you’ve got the settings you want without taking another reading.
They Are More Accurate
In general anything that’s dedicated to perform one specific task does that task better than something made to do many tasks. In my experience that is certainly the case using my light meter (Sekonic L-358) which gives me more accurate readings than even spot metering with my Nikon D300s. Aside from that anecdotal evidence, handheld meters can do measurements that most if not all DSLR’s can not do:
- Incidental Metering: Where you you measure the actual light falling on a subject vs. measuring the reflected light like a DSLR does.
- Flash Metering: If you’re using studio strobes the only to measure the light coming from them is with a handheld meter. If you do not have one you must take multiple test shots to determine your correct exposure.
- Advanced Measurements: A common situation I use my light meter for is for balancing the light from a studio strobe to prevent shadows. Say I’ve got the light perfect on one side of a persons face but am getting harsh shadows on the other. I can take two measurements from each side of the face and know exactly how much more light I need to fix the shadows on the darker side.
- They Are Separate From Your Camera
Because a light meter is a separate piece of equipment they’re easy to carry around or give to someone else. A good example of when this could be helpful is if you’re assisting or have someone assisting you at a wedding. One person can stand behind the camera and one can call back light readings.
This is a complicated subject so if you’re confused don’t worry. There are a couple of great web videos produced by Adorama that cover these benefits in more depth:
- Digital Photography 1 on 1: Episode 27: Metering Part 3: Using a light meter
- Digital Photography 1 on 1: Episode 28: Metering Part 4: Advance Light Meter
Of course there’s no substitute for hands on experience, especially when it comes to photography. If you’d like to learn more about lighting sign up for our Lighting Basics class!
Written by Trevor Warren
Photo by Wikipedia





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