Lightmeters are they useful to the dSLR owner?

After much deliberation I finally decided to order a Sekonic L-758D lightmeter.

Was it a good move, well I'm not sure yet but here's my thoughts.

Many years ago I use to carry around an analogue meter and then when I moved over to Olympus equipment in the early 80s, I grew accustomed to using the multi spot metering of the OM4.

I continued to work this way until I switched to digital's evaluative metering and thought i'd never look back. Well until now that is.

To be honest I really miss multispot metering and incident metering. I may have also got caught up with the hype but the Sekonic enables one to profile the DR of the dSLR and provide a more human evaluation for exposure assessment.

Furthermore, I tend to use manual more and more on both the 5D and 1D. I was out at the weekend with a group photographing birds of prey and ironically, we all metered off the grass and constantly whispered to each other our settings.

I also see a lot of landscape / wildife photgraphers swear by then. So what's the general opnion on using them for ambient light work?

Do dSLR users take lightmeteing for granted?

So was it a good move to purchase or a frivolous exercise in ebay recycling?

Depends

John,

I have the 758 - it's pretty complex to me from my older Sekonic analog. I am still learning some of it's features. I've used it in some of my outdoor wedding shots; and Interior light set ups too.
But the historgram on my 5d after a few test shots work almost as well; If I were buying a meter today, I'd have just bought the 358 - there are just too many bells and whistles of the 758 for me. I do like that it came ready to work with the Pocket Wizards.

Thanks Kath, I was tempted with the 358, but I got the 758 for £200 (~$400), so there wasn't a great difference in price. Perhaps Sekonic are offloading stock, as less people use them nowadays.

The big thing for me is the ability to think about the light / exposure / scene seperately from the camera. I now this sounds strange, but I aim to work on my landscape techniques and start using GND, so having the ability to meter off camera whilst leaving the camera (framed) on the tripod appeals.

It all sounds a bit retro, but if it works and I feel the need to go MF (someday) or perhaps back to film, I'll have the tool for the job.

John

got a Sekonic, a pre-758 DR and have it all the time in the bag; like its spotmeter; even if I don't use it every 5 minutes, it's a very valuable tool for checking the dynamic of a scene.

I have an old Sekonic L-518 that I bought new around 1989 or so. I retired it when I went digital as I find my best friend is the histogram. Lately I've started using it at times and keep it in the bag. Of course I still use it as a flash meter indoors.

What is the verdict?

So shall we summarize where we stand ATM?

Kathy and Michael use it very often.
John and Bart use it regularly.
Steve uses it occasionally (outside the studio).

What is interesting is that none of you have taken the standpoint that it is absolutely necessary besides the metering of the flash setup. Or am I missing a clue? <smile>

Cheers.

Cem,

another important point:

a lighmeter is much more precise, than any in-camera mesurements and histogram; I never trust' em; as the histogram of the 1 Ds-2 °cheats°, it doesnt' shows blown highlights. So if correct exposure, when using ETTR as a example, is crucial, a lightmeter is a big help.

No - rarely

Cem Usakligil said:

So shall we summarize where we stand ATM?

Kathy and Michael use it very often.

What is interesting is that none of you have taken the standpoint that it is absolutely necessary besides the metering of the flash setup. Or am I missing a clue? <smile>

Cheers.

Click to expand...

Cem,

No, I use it only for setting the strobes and flashes when I am 100% manual - otherwise I shoot AE and use the histogram.....

IMX the 758 and its previous incarnations are great for setting up studio flash shots in incident mode and especially so if you use the radio transmitter and receivers on the flash units. Not tripping on cords is a good thing and so is not having to fiddle with reading glasses and the back of the camera.

I'm not sure anyone *needs* one, though.

I have a Minolta Flashmeter IV. I have used it since the days of shooting with Hasselblads.

In my opinion, relying soley on the camera meter is not an option for pro work. Sure it gets the exposure right, or close some of the time but not enough of the time for me. There are times when I am working fast when I will stick the camera on aperture priority. Most of the time I am metering the scene with my light meter, the reading is more accurate & the results consistent.