Use a Light Meter

Well as Azz asked me too,

here is a simple basic guide to using a light meter.



This is the same one as i learnt on so easy to teach this but it will relate to any one you use.

Firstly you need to find out your sync speed,
Pop up the built in flash on your camera, and see whats the quickest your shutter speed will go, usually about 1/125th or 1/250th.

Set this on the light meter and the camera (using the arrows on the side)

Then you need to choose your aperture for the DOF you want, as this is the aperture you want to get the lighting to meet.

Next step is make sure your iso is the same on the camera as it is on the light meter.

Now with your shutter speed set and the iso set, you will now use the light meter to calculate the correct aperture for the photograph. (push the top button on the side)

There are a few selections on the light meter one is,
a flash symbol with a c next to it, this means that you connect the studio flash to the meter using a cable and the light meter will trigger the flash and you shall see your current aperture on the screen. If this is below or above the aperture you want, then adjust as required.

next symbol is a flash symbol on its own,
this is the same as before but just without any connection between the meter and flash, meaning you need to manually trigger the flash.

next one looks like a sun symbol,
this is when you are using the available lighting (so not flash) and it will calculate the aperture for that lighting.

so all you need to change is the light power to match the aperture you want!

Hope that has all made sense so far,

Now look at the picture and as you will see there is a white cone, This is covering a small lense inside the meter, keep the white cone over the lense if you are taking a reading from the "subject"

if you are taking a reading from where the camera is, then open the white cone (slide it sideways usually) and that will give you a reading from there.

Well i hope this has all made sense, if not my reasoning is that im tired and can't physically show you!

Adam

Thanks for the how to Adam

perfect have not purchased a light meter yet [its on the list lol]

but will print this out so I dont lose it.

thanks

Thank you for the how to guide on light meters!

I bought the L-358, but have not used it once =/ Or, one time or so, when shooting film, just lifestyle shots.. But tried it after I had put up all my gear once, and the light meter showed me the exact same settings as I had already set my self.. So I don't feel I need it at all.. But I guess that's just me. But if you shoot film it's nice to have ;o) But this is not the first thing I would buy if there was other things on my list