How To Use Light Meters
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ค. 2019
- Host Seth Miranda
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Found an old LIVE IGTV Demo I did showing how to use a light meter and explaining a few other things. Forgive the vertical format just thought it was a good one to share.
Sekonic 308X-U Light Meter
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Sekonic LiteMaster Pro L-478D-U Light Meter
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-Sekonic L-858D-U Speedmaster Light Meter
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since ive been getting so many comments regarding the vertical format. This is a rehash of an old (2017) Instagram Live Stream that I did for Adorama so while its not ideal its still a good video none the less I feel sorry if its not your thing but thought it was worth posting
2 minutes in and already the best explanation for light meters here in 2022
You might want to check out Sekonics channel Ab Sesay over there is amazing and does some awesome videos on meters for them
100%
Seth, Daniel and Adorama are THE best photography channels on youtube. I was going to get the 308, but will now invest in the next level. Thank you so much for giving your wealth of knowledge, wisdom and experience.
Timely topic for me. I acquired the L302S at an estate sale two weeks ago. Best $10 I have spent on photography gear! I have been using a mixed bag of speed lights and the light meter makes set up so much faster and easier. I love these information tutorial. Please keep them coming.
just keep up on its accuracy as meters age so can their sensors
I saw this on Instagram. Thank you for posting on TH-cam. I bought the Sekonic 308 after watching this on Instagram. It does save a lot of time and eliminates guess work. I just have to make sure I carry extra batteries :)
This is a fantastic video on light meters.
Sometimes you can't actually explain to someone why they would want a light meter, they just have to one day get into a paid lighting situation (mixing between ambient and strobes or just several strobes) where it becomes pretty obvious why light meters are such brilliant tools for mixing light sources. Fast. Accurate. Consistent. Repeatable.
I have a 308 and a 758. Love them both.
I missed this on IG. A good one. Thanks, Seth!
Loved this video. Keep up the fantastic work brother.
Thank you!
Hey Seth! Super job on the lightmeters... I already own a 308 but you made me feel like I need a bigger (more expensive) model. Very clear on the explanations. Top of the line. Thank you for your time and great work. Take care.
THanks! you only need higher models if you arent able to measure something you need like duration or ambient vs flash in one exposure reading
Hi Seth. Thanks for a great walk-through of light meters. I use a 308x-u, but as usual I always learn more about my equipment and get helpful tips from you.... you really explain things thoroughly!
thank you so much hope you get the most out of your gear !
Thank you so much! You made me understand what is the light meter!
Thanks, Seth! I think I remember seeing this when you did it, but it's great to have it here. (I wish ALL the Adorama videos were available on TH-cam, because I have an app to download those, which I like to keep for reference.) Very clear demo. Thanks again.
not exactly something you wanna let channels know ;) point is to get all from a single source....the posting.. the more watch time a video gets the better its circulated thus helping the creators
Just a brilliant video on meters. You made me realise I don’t use my 308 enough 🙄
Thank you for sharing! It was fun to watch! 👍
Thank you for checking it out!
Great video. Perfect pacing and content.
Thank you so much!
Thank You very helpful on light meter.
Hey Seth! Thanks for your help! I think this will be the next tool I buy. I don’t shoot studio so it will be interesting to see what I can do outdoors and how it changes my work!
You’re so welcome thanks for watching I think you can’t help but grow your game tighter when you have a precision tool to help you really know what that light your working with is.
beyond helpful! thank you
Thank you! Glad it was helpful
Hi Seth, I just found your channel, I love the way you teach and share your knowledge and experience! I have been seriously looking at the Sekonic L-478U and you have convinced me to get it! I mostly do outdoor portraits with strobe and ambient light so this looks like a real time saver! I also do some landscape photography, how would I use the Sekonic L-478 for landscape photos? I subscribed to your channel in the 1st minute of your presentation! Thank you in advance, Seth!
I’ve been watching Seth, Daniel, Dave and the Adorama TV series ONSET now for a year! Truly excellent edu. Because I hadn’t ever used a light meter, not properly anyway, I bought the Sekonic 308, the basic bones. I always feel like learning the basics first helps when you’re ready for the advanced, but that’s just my opinion. Also I know there’s more to understand when Daniel and Seth start spitting out fractions and fifths of this and halves of that...I would love to see a visual lesson where the camera, light meter, trigger, and one strobe are all “camered “ as they talk thru changing different settings. It would be super! BUT, that’s why we apprentice...being there will always beat the best made online class. Thank you, Gentlemen and Adorama for all you GIVE 🎈
That was awesome! Thank you so so sooo much!
Seth great and informative video. I'm looking at upgrading from my Sekonic L-358 and debating between the Sekonic L-858 or the Lumu Power 2 Pro, any insight on this would be greatly appreciated. BTW looking at the Lumu for the additional color metering features.
I havnt touched the Lumu tbh so I can’t really say but I can say I’ve used sekonic my whole career and anyone I’ve been on set with including some hardcore lighting techs also had sekonic so I just stick with has yet to let me down
I shoot headshots typically in small living rooms of peoples houses and meter really helps me measure and get control of light spill and bounce from walls/ceilings/reflectors/etc
I own two Gossen analog meters and they are great to work with.
Thanks a lot Seth. do you know a good book about light metering? I have the sekonic 308 is there and old fashioned way to meter for ambient light vs flashlight ratios?
I have the slightly older Sekonic L-478D. Couldn't live without it. I should do the firmware update but I haven't yet. I had the fancier one with spot metering but it was way more than I needed. The gossen meters are also good but I love the Sekonics.
yea Sekonic has been quite the gold standard out there forever
Just got a used 858D for $399 ( loving it) and still have the L358 that I've had since 2003 as my trusty back up.
Where did you find it that cheap.
Seth, I dont know if you know this, but if you slide your finger on the different areas, like ISO, etc., you can move quickly, instead of tapping multiple times.
Great explanations and now I'm going to Adorama, my favorite camera store, and shop, online since I'm in Maine. Here is my succinct question. Since the light meter lasts your whole career wouldn't it be best to lay out the 6 bills initially and be done with it? Follow up, is the learning curve better if you use the bare bones model and that's why you wouldn't buy the best up front? I know I can call them and they will explain it but I value your
and Daniel Nortons input I don't know the other people.
Everyone has their own school of thought the basic models are great becusse you don’t have to have a heart attack if it get knocked around in the field. If you don’t use things like the spot meter why pay for them? Personally I own 3 meters and only ones a high end for when I need it the rest are jsut to make sure I have one in various kits or sets that I leave equipment at etc. the mid range models are great for this. If you don’t need that spot meter or some other really in-depth hardcore calculations
@@LastXwitness very helpful Thank you!
There’s always another great video. Very informative. Is there any of the Sekenic models that are enabled to fire Profoto strobes?
Thank you. From what I’m told by sekonic profoto didn’t want to collab to make a radio module for the meters unfortunately
Great video Seth. I love to have your help. I am looking to buy a new light meter. Right now I have the Sekonic L-308S-U. I am looking to upgrade to either one of these two light meters. Sekonic LiteMaster Pro L-478D-U Light Meter, or the Sekonic L-858D-U Speedmaster Light Meter. I am really leaning to the Sekonic L-858D-U. I like to ask your opinion on which one do you thing would be the best one to upgrade to? Thank you in advance.
well what exactly are you looking to get out of the meter? if you think youll use the spot meter the 858 is fantastic but if not you an save $ and get plenty from the 478
@@LastXwitness I don't think I will be using the spot metering feature that the 858 has, but I am interested in metering for high speed sync. I know the 858 has that feature. I am not sure if the 478 has that.
Thanks for all your work Seth - do you know of a really good tutorial on the L858 anywhere?
Have you tried sekonics channel? th-cam.com/users/SekonicGlobal
May I , keep an eye on absesay_ photo on Instagram . He recently mentioned was planning to do a video on L858 tutorial
@@LastXwitness they just don't do good tutorials. Mind boggling give the amazing products.
yea drop my buddy Ab a line he basically IS Sekonic lol theres also an interview with him here on my channel if you want to check that out but hes not hard to reach in fact he has his own chat room in my discord server if youd like to join that its a great resource full of photo nerds that trouble shoot even share work etc discord.gg/FsYVQEZ
@@LastXwitness Thanks Seth - I've been in touch with Ab who is great but I'm looking for a more in depth course on all areas, nuts and bolts, inc cinematography. Ab's is great but it assumes quite a bit of familiarity. I'm somewhat conversant but want a real detailed tutorial. Cheers, Ivan
hey!!! 👋🏽 Seth, how do you know when you're clipping shadows or highlights with the light meter? would you make a video on how to meter HSS and Flash Duration? thanks...your rock 😃✌🏽
Well the meter is just going to measure the light hitting it. It doesn’t know what you’re setting your camera to. So let’s say I’m using one light and I meter for the highlight side. If it reads say f11 on that side and the meter reads f4 on the other or something crazy 5 stops or more away from that highlight AND I set my camera to expose for the f11 highlight then it’s safe to assume the shadows so many stops away will be so far away in ratio that they will be dense shadow with minimal to no information in them. And vice versa for measure shadow when the highlight is so far apart in ratio the farther apart they are in stops the more likely the highlight will be blown. Make sense ?
Seth Miranda AKA Last Witness Thanks so much, Seth, it made sense... I would like a video on how to measure HSS and Flash Duration someday soon hopefully...you rock, my brother 😁✌🏽
thats on the list I promise
thanks !
Seth Miranda AKA Last Witness nice 👍🏽
I have a Sony A7Riii and using a Godox ad400pro, I will be shooting in HSS for sure, so by viewing this video. Would you recommend me getting the Ferrari version of the Sekonic to help me be faster when doing my HSS shots?
Well first off you need to judge whether you absolutely need to shoot in HSS. People have misconceptions when to use it like thinking it’s for action shots when it’s not and many other scenarios But if you feel you need to meter it then yea you need a higher end model light meter that can judge what your strobe is doing when being used in that setting since it’s a pulsing strobe at that point. A basic meter has no idea what to do with that thus making it useless really if it can’t meter the light you’re actually needing to measure
Thank you! I got the high end one it’s an investment so It’s not a regret. Thank you
Great presentation Seth, but all the videos I've watched refer to light meters and film photography. Does that mean they have little use with digital cameras?
It has absolutely the same use in digital as they did/do with film. People just tend to think checking and image and adjusting is the same as metering but it’s a measurement tool and you have to apply it as such I use one today for tricky set ups or things I need dead on accuracy or even set ups I want to reconstruct later on. Or even to match other sets I’ve shot ... or to gauge my ambient against my strobe exposure but long story short film or digital they are a very useful tool
Hey Seth. Thanks a bunch for this video. I got the Sekonic 308x-u but it gives the same aperture reading regardless of the flash power. I am using Nikon speedlights triggered by a godox trigger. Any idea on why the aperture value isn't changing? Thank you.
Are you trying to trigger them in TTL? If so it’s sending a pre flash that tricks the meter before the actual flash. That’s one possibility... batteries being low in the meter. The trigger not properly synching could be it also and check if you’re in the right mode on the meter if it’s reading for ambient by mistake it won’t see the flash. If it’s in corded flash mode but you’re manually firing it then it’s not looking for the fired flash there’s a lot of reasons hard to say with out more details
@@LastXwitness Whoa. Thanks a bunch Seth. The pre-flash was indeed tricking the meter when the flash was set to TTL. It's unfortunate because I can only control the Nikon speedlight flash power with the Godox trigger if the flash is set to TTL. I could be getting something wrong but that's the only way I've got it to work.
Hi Seth,
I would love to see you do a tutorial using Sony Alpha cameras, A9 maybe using FTP with a laptop and/or Ipad, any chance?
Wel I don’t own any Sony alpha cameras or have any in reach at the moment aso I don’t think I’m your guy for that for now . Maybe rent one if you’d like to try that process out or I’m sure there’s videos out on it somewhere on here
are these devices transfer variable to the camera?
A good light meter might cost more than your camera and lenses together, but you got to acknowledge and accept the importance of getting a good exposure. The whole reason for photographing is to record the light that's falling on your film. What good is an under exposed photograph, or overexposed, even if you own the best camera. The like meter goes hand-in-hand with the camera and lenses. They are all made to capture light. I just ordered the L-508 used, but i know it's an investment for any professional or serious hobbyist. It is the one piece of equipment that you should not need to replace if you invest in a good one, maybe never again.
Best line in this video: "...I don't know why people fight light meters so much..."
There is a confusion at 2:35 , when you push the semi-sperical thing out of the way, it's not set for ambiant light anymore but for reflected light from the subject. If I remember well, there is an angle of 40°
it can be used as either.. its till the same sensor reading light. the dome catches light hitting from all sides and where other meters retract the dome down to reduce the angles its seeing light from this just happens to slide off but yes it can be used as a reflective meter in that configuration as well. Also its not about ambient or not. It "incident " and "reflective" light metering. the modes would be Ambient vs strobe. its really just the manner of how you use it
@@LastXwitness Sorry Seth, my english isn't very good. Lumisphere off is for reflected. Lumisphere on is for incident. Just quoting manual. Page 6.
All good ! And It can be yes but it also can be used similar to the effect of dome up or dome retracted
Light meters are great, no doubt about it - I use Sekonics all the time and love them. BUT I don't understand why they are so freakishly expensive. Even the most basic one you showed is currently more than $200 US! But physically and mechanically they don't do that much. I know a little quite a bit about more complex electric circuits and especially the the Sekonic 308X-U is really nothing much more than a pocket calculator. It has a light sensitive "sensor piece" but aside from that it is a very very simple circuit board, surrounded by cheap plastic, made super cheap on the Philippines. I used to work in the field and after my first Sekonic 308X got broken I opened it up to repair it myself and well... you could basically build this in Asia with a manufacturing/Material cost of under $5.
It works totally fine for what it is advertised as, but the price is really a scam in my opinion. If there were any professionally usable options, I wouldn't even bother buying this. I wouldn't even pay $30 for this if I had a choice.
Agree. It's the same strategy as apple is using. Acquire a monopoly, the sell them shit for ridiculous money.
Idk, the only solution is to buy used I guess.
Where I'm from, I got one of those 308s second hand for 40$, but it was brand new in a box and never used. Honestly, I still overpayed XD
And some other guy was selling a 558 a week later for 120ish, but it was too late for me.
Dammit, Seth! You gotta quit selling me stuff! LOL. I was just about to pull out my 308 and just caress it. It's my first light meter and I absolutely love it. I _had_ to have it to get my exposure right for the CPP photos. I've found I like to use it on shoots to dial in so much quicker. And, when I'm shooting film, it's twice as convenient. And then you showed the next meter.... ooooooh. And then you started talking about metering the flash duration and HSS on the big one....
I think light meters may be the most under-rated piece of gear in cameradom.
they really are people think its jsut about the overall exposure but I think of them more as a scalpel to dissect my pieces then create a whole. theres so much time saved if you know how to use them and consistency as well not to mention just being able to precisely recreate. Ab Sesay has some great videos on them over on the Sekonic Vids channel
I just bought the 308x-u. What happens if my max sync speed is 200? The meter doesn't adjust to 1/200.
What are you trying to do?
@@LastXwitness I'm shooting with a D850. I set my sync speed at 1/200. I use Godox lights. I want to get a proper meter reading.
For some reason, if I set my sync speed at 1/250, my XT1 trigger will put my AD200 into HSS and, believe it or not, the pulse fire makes shooting at 250 look underexposed as compared to shooting at 200, so I set it at 1/200.
My guess is, on the light meter, there shouldn't be a difference between setting it at 250 and 200 (if it had the capability to set it at 200)
if im reading this correctly . this doesnt sound like a meter issue at all but rather a trigger issue. Also check your nikons synch settings it could possibly have set the synch to click in automatically at a certain shutter speed
I know many new photographers who make 6 figures and they dont even know what a light meter is... I used to sleep with my light meter back in the days LOL
Great teacher! No katas n' shit. Thanks!
Appreciate that thank you!
Horizontal, my friend.
🤷♂️
This was an older IGTV live I did and people found it helpful so I reposted it here. Seems it’s still helpful despite being vertical. I understand if it’s not a favored format but I didn’t feel like this video does any good dying on some hard drive when the info would be exactly the same today as it was then plus I don’t have as much time to do these demos anymore unfortunately
Vertical video on my TV is really hard to watch. Had to skip this one.
For me a light meter = time saver = $$$
totally
218/37
🙏
Light meters are game chargers
A staple in anyone’s kit for sure.
You said that removing the dome is to measure flat subject, this is completely wrong. With dome you are neasuring incident lights, without dome to measure reflected light...
ok calm down ..breathe... I am just going to paste a response I already gave to this.. .from a 5 year old live stream on one aspect of an entry level basic light meter.. "it can be used as either.. it still the same sensor reading the light. the dome catches light hitting from all sides and where other meters retract the dome down to reduce the angles its seeing light from this just happens to slide off but YES it can be used as a reflective meter in that configuration as well. "
I just got the seckonic l-308b doesn't seem like it does as much as your cheapest light meter