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realspeed
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14-11-2019, 09:01 PM
1

Do you have lighting problems taking photos?

One of the problems I had a typical example, having the camera on a tripod in fairly sunny area and the subject in shade. the picture never showed the subject properly as say taking a photo of a person.
It meant taking the camera off the tripod and getting a camera reading at the subject ,then locking it off on the camera and putting it back onto the tripod and re composing the shot.

A couple of years ago I got fed up doing this so invested in a light meter




one can then increase or decrease setting on it via buttons on the side and the readings will balance each other
so with the above if I wanted a slower shutter speed say of1/80 sec then the f stop changes to f1.6 and don't have to go through the whole process again

What a great bit of kit, does daylight-flash readings etc etc etc.What I do is set the ISO on the camera to what I want and also on the meter. take the meter to the subject and get a reading (as shown in photo above) and set the camera to that reading. saves so much time and well worth getting
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14-11-2019, 09:10 PM
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Re: Do you have lighting problems taking photos?

I can see the need for it realspeed. I used to have a light meter in the early 1970's. That was in the days of going to photography classes, developing photos and all that.
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14-11-2019, 09:27 PM
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Re: Do you have lighting problems taking photos?

Mart on fleabay it is about £150 Amazon are well out quoting £420. Their pricing has got to be wrong

Have to say you do stand out from the rest who just point and shoot. Just getting the meter out I believe, may be wrong,makes one look more professional even if one is crap at taking photos

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14-11-2019, 09:51 PM
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Re: Do you have lighting problems taking photos?

Originally Posted by realspeed ->

A couple of years ago I got fed up doing this so invested in a light meter

g
I must admit there are occasions that I miss my light meter but with these modern cameras, most of the time, you can use the spot meter function to get the best exposure or just set the camera to bracket the exposure then pick the exposure you want and delete the rest. It is just a matter of being familiar with the controls on your camera.




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realspeed
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14-11-2019, 10:14 PM
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Re: Do you have lighting problems taking photos?

Yes agree Bruce about modern cameras in the main, but there are times when a meter makes life a bit easier and bracketing does take up memory card space. Have to admit a lot of times I do go without it and seem to do ok. Nowadays most can be corrected in editing anyway but it is nice to get it correct in camera first.
this unit does record flash which can be a problem but with this unit it records the flash so one can set a camera properly



Taken after using meter to record flash strength. So no messing about over or under exposing. Perfect lighting right away.
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15-11-2019, 08:01 PM
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Re: Do you have lighting problems taking photos?

I must admit there are occasions that I miss my light meter but with these modern cameras, most of the time, you can use the spot meter function to get the best exposure or just set the camera to bracket the exposure then pick the exposure you want and delete the rest. It is just a matter of being familiar with the controls on your camera.
I never had much luck with spot metering: spot on something white and the camera will under-expose, on black and it will over-expose. Matrix every time for me. And/or the use of exposure compensation.

Bracketing is a good idea but, even though there's a split second between shots a tripod is recommended.

Two or three bracketed shots can be merged with the right software. I don't have that but I've successfully merged two bracketed shots manually, with subtle use of the softest edged eraser.

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18-11-2019, 12:39 AM
7

Re: Do you have lighting problems taking photos?

Realspeed said : One of the problems I had a typical example, having the camera on a tripod in fairly sunny area and the subject in shade. the picture never showed the subject properly as say taking a photo of a person.
It meant taking the camera off the tripod and getting a camera reading at the subject ,then locking it off on the camera and putting it back onto the tripod and re composing the shot.

With all due respect RS, perhaps by the time that you have faffed about doing that, the light might have changed and you would have to start all over again! Would you do that for a landscape shot? Of course not. Light meters are good for studio work where the camera can not differentiate the lighting conditions, but hardly practical for everyday use in the field. Modern DSLR camera's have the capability to give you an average reading for your shot (18% Grey on the White balance) Take a test shot, check the histogram, then adjust your settings accordingly. Whether that be ISO, speed, aperture or exposure compensation. That also depends on whether you shoot in AP or manual. As for bracketing taking up memory space, total codswallop. You only need to take three shots. One under exposed, one correct and one over exposed, then photo merge. If you are serious about your photography, then you would use a decent SD card and shoot in RAW. Being digital, you can then delete any unwanted shots. That is the joy of digital photography - take 1000 shots, then delete 950 of them to bring the percentage down.
What a great bit of kit, does daylight-flash readings etc etc etc.What I do is set the ISO on the camera to what I want and also on the meter. take the meter to the subject and get a reading (as shown in photo above) and set the camera to that reading. saves so much time and well worth getting
On one hand you set the ISO to what you want and then take the meter to the subject and set the camera to that reading - what reading? The reading might tell you to alter the ISO! How can you know in different lighting conditions what ISO to set - you are not that clever! As a photographer, you can sometimes judge the settings and sometimes you might get it wrong.However, with digital, you can adjust. Invest in a light meter, not worth it. Invest in a course on sharpness and level shots might be your way to go.
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22-11-2019, 12:17 AM
8

Re: Do you have lighting problems taking photos?

this unit does record flash which can be a problem but with this unit it records the flash so one can set a camera properly

What does this mean - please explain?
I can see that you are online and still haven't answered the question that I asked before. I appreciate that this isn't a photographic site, however, without Googling, please explain why you need a light meter when modern DSLR's are totally capable of helping you
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22-11-2019, 12:59 AM
9

Re: Do you have lighting problems taking photos?

Steve Hi Sorry not to have replied earlier

The simple answer is we all have our own methods of doing things. What suits me may be completely different to what you do.

I presume you don't have this unit so you more than likely have to guess the camera settings in semi darkness. This unit does it for you.

AS you are not that far from me you are most welcome to come and have a play with it to form an opinion together with my Nikon SB 900 flashgun. You also might be interested to see the Pixel wireless radio trigger at the same time





wireless radio trigger and wireless shutter trigger use in video. Can't do this with Nikon only as it works in line of site only

If the camera was where it is now and the flashgun down the bottom of the garden ,Having the meter where the flashgun is will save going up and down the garden .

Or put another extreme way that wireless flash trigger works up to 300 mtrs away, are you going to walk back to and from with a camera to get a flash reading? as in the video I can trigger camera and flash from that distance and get a reading where the flash is without carting a camera about
Why? there might be an animal that won,t come out of hiding while people are and more than likely in a shady place as well. Setting up a flash at a distance could be the answer. You could be in similar amount of shade to get a reading and set the camera up to suit, let alone reframing the shot.
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23-11-2019, 09:11 PM
10

Re: Do you have lighting problems taking photos?

Baz, thank you for your kind offer and perhaps one day, I might get a remote trigger. However, I normally shoot wildlife and a trigger might help for my macro photography.

If the camera was where it is now and the flashgun down the bottom of the garden ,Having the meter where the flashgun is will save going up and down the garden .
Why would you have the camera and flashgun so far apart? I always prefer natural light on the subject where possible, so where would I use your method out in the field? It doesn't make sense.

Or put another extreme way that wireless flash trigger works up to 300 mtrs away, are you going to walk back to and from with a camera to get a flash reading? as in the video I can trigger camera and flash from that distance and get a reading where the flash is without carting a camera about
Why? there might be an animal that won,t come out of hiding while people are and more than likely in a shady place as well. Setting up a flash at a distance could be the answer. You could be in similar amount of shade to get a reading and set the camera up to suit, let alone reframing the shot.

Again, this doesn't make sense. I understand that you can trigger the flash up to 300 metres away, however, if I had to walk 300 metres to place a flash, then walk back to take the shot, the moment would have passed. An animal in hiding and you want to place your flash unit where you think that it might come out? Then walk away to get your shot? The animal would have been disturbed by you setting up your flash and disappeared. I understand that it was only an example, but you really do not understand wildlife photography.
Why would I need to spend £150 on something that I can easily achieve in under 30 seconds by my experience.
You clearly like your gadgets and like to show it on here, personally, I would prefer to see some of your recent shots - hopefully straight and in focus
 
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