light meters

anybody know anything about them kk has made me realise i need one but funds are tight is this one any good,

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PRECISION-GOLD...QQcmdZViewItemhttp://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-2007-3-RAN...QQcmdZViewItem

and how do you use them.

detailed description or a thicko please

Light meters are great, iv used them in college but i still have to say,

You have been graced with the best light meters in the world!! Train them up and use them!

otherwise,

(studio guide)

There are a selection of bits to go thru before taking your photo.

First is set your iso, and match it on the meter.
this is the sensitivity to light, if in a studio or somewhere where you wont be pushing it to get bright shots you should have ur ISO as low as possible! usualy around 100

set this on the meter at 100ISO aswell.


second!
Find what the sync speed of your camera is!
this is the fastest (supposedly) that your cameras shutter speed can be when using flash. my 30D syncs at 1/250th but some cameras are higher and lower than that!

set that on the camera aswell, this will ususaly be done with a strait forward arrow on the meter.

then you choose, are you using studio flash or natural light!

there should be a mode button that lets you choose either
Flash sync
Flash timer
Ambient (natural)

You put the meter up to the models face and point the white cone towards the camera and follow the rest.

if on location and shooting hills or something where you cant go to them and get the reading, slide the white cone sideways and then it will tell you how much light is going to get to the camera.

with Flash sync, this is when you have the flash head connected to the meter by a cable, there for when you hit the main button on the meter it will fire the flash and give you the meter reading.

Flash timer is basically the same but your flash is not connected, you hit the main button on the meter then you have to fire the flash yourself within usually a 60 second time limit, then it will give a meter reading for you.

Ambient, this you just push the main button and it will pick up how much light is around and you get the meter reading.

The meter reading will be in aperture stops, so it will be like f5.6 or f8 and so on will show up, so you set your camera to that and bingo you should have a perfectly illuminated shot.

i hope this helps, but more than likely it will all seem like the mad ramblings of a 19year old student who just did a 5000 word project in 2 days whilst also going to a caleigh and taking a spin on the bike!

i know this might be more expensive but its pretty much the same as the college one, and thats what my instructions will work best with.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sekonic-L-308s...QQcmdZViewItem

That takes me back.....College and the grey bits of card !

thank for the info and the time taken.

i will read this a few times for it to sink in. ha ha .