Sorry if I’m repeating info posted elsewhere guys…
The manual recommended above by Large Format does a good job of explaining the basic techniques. The question remaining is why? What are the advantages of a handheld meter? I’ll try to summarize it here, especially the advantages of incident and spot readings:
An avid Large Format photographer myself, I use my Sekonic L-508 all the time, even eschewing and pre-empting the readings I get off my 35mm and digitals. For non-B/W film shots, a gray card can be used to good effect as well, but why bother if you have a good meter?
The disadvantage of using built-in meters is that they “interpret” what they are seeing to represent a middle gray. If you use a built in meter to take the proverbial pictures of brides in the snow, or black kittens in a coal bin, you may already have experienced the awful results you get as your camera underexposes and overexposes, respectively.
An incident reading circumvents the “middle gray reading” of the reflected light from the subject, and instead reads the light falling on your subject, giving you a perfect exposure every time, irrespective of the subjects luminescence.
To take an incident reading, get in front of your subject, in the same light, and point the half ping-pong thingie at the position your lens will be in when you shoot, and use that reading. One caviat! The closer your light source is to your subject, the closer to your subject you need to position the meter! Light fall-off is more critical the shorter the distance from light source to subject.
So: If you’re shooting mountains in the distance in a cloudless day, you can use the same reading you’re getting miles away, since the difference in distance from you and the mountains to the Sun is negligible. If you’re using floods inches away from a macro subject, millimetic precision might be needed for a correct reading!
As for spot readings, meters like my Seconic allow you to take measurements as narrow as one degree of arc. Few cameras, even those with built-in spot meters can take readings that precise unless you’re using a 1200mm lens and extension tubes. This is especially useful in B/W photography (to adjust dynamic range to be used in shooting and developing to get the best possible print), and in digital photography to check that highlights will not be blown out beyond your sensor’s dynamic range.
Of course, light meters not having to focus, they don’t care how close you get to the subject; so assuming proximity is no issue, you can approximate a spot meter with a conventional one …to a point.
The rule for taking reflected light readings (even with built-in meters) is to try to find an area of your subject that approximates a middle gray tone, and try to meter that. If your subject doesn’t have one, experience will tell you how many stops up or down from middle gray your subject is, and you can adjust the exposure accordingly.
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Re: How do I use this light meter? Didnt come with instructions :)
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