Who uses a handheld exposure meter for landscape

I'm currently trying to decide if it's worth paying about £400 for a Sekonic 758 to use when taking landscapes. I'm absolutely sold on meters for studio and flash photography, but need to try it in anger on landscape. I wouldn't need something as high end for non landscape as I wouldn't need the spot function.

I've borrowed a 758 for a week to try it out. Who uses them and finds them a valuable tool?

I'll be using it with a D300 and D800.

Geoffc said:

I'm currently trying to decide if it's worth paying about £400 for a Sekonic 758 to use when taking landscapes. I'm absolutely sold on meters for studio and flash photography, but need to try it in anger on landscape. I wouldn't need something as high end for non landscape as I wouldn't need the spot function.

I've borrowed a 758 for a week to try it out. Who uses them and finds them a valuable tool?

I'll be using it with a D300 and D800.

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If you were shooting film I'd say yes, but with digital not only you have a great meter in the camera, but you also have the possibility of looking at your histogram right there on the spot, and, you also have the possibility of bracketing.

With all these possibilities, it seems to me that spending that kind of money is not a good way to spend your money.

But it's not mine…

I'm curious to see what the responses will be. It seems to me that having an instant histogram readout kind of obviates a light meter. But then again, what do I know?

I use the Seconic all the time and find it very useful. Mostly for studio flash type shots... The averaging function is more descriminating than the camera's systems...as well as more flexible...

I grew up on film, so that might have created a bias that someone that didn't would have...

You don't have to spend hundreds of bucks to get a good meter.

I own the Sekonic L-758DR and use it on a daily basis in my work. Like many that use meters for many years, you do get to know your camera's sensor, its dynamic range and limitations, and when it comes to wide dynamic range where you want to capture in camera what you're seeing without losing detail in the shadows or highlights, it's a fantastic thing to use.

Having said that, I generally only use my hand held meter when using strobes but more importantly, when I want to dial in a specific balance of flash to ambient or when using multiple and mixed light sources.

I'm sure I'll get some flack for this statement, but when you're working with clients, chimping is just a waste of time and makes you look very unprofessional. The layperson has no clue about technical details and doesn't mind test shots and such, but clients that are paying a bill and have a working knowledge of photographers and the gear they use, they scratch their heads when they see you taking test shots, adjusting, test shot, adjust, etc...

When balancing mixed lighting it's impossible to know what you're going to get without test shots. With a meter, I meter once and begin shooting. No test shots, no chimping.

If you were working on a catalog, for instance, and your client loved the look and feel of a particular balance of flash to ambient and wanted that look to be repeated throughout a series or the entire catalog, you'd look ridiculous if you were chimping and trying to ensure the balance is right based on what you see on the back of your camera. It's a joke, in my opinion.

In many instances, jobs like that require the shots to be perfect and at times the memory card or the files are handed off to the client without any post processing on your end. The last thing you want is for the client to call and bitch about the inconsistencies in your shots.

The moral of the story is that there is a time and place for a meter and at times it's not a necessity. Other times it's an invaluable tool to have.

As a side note related to the L-758DR... this meter is fantastic but has a full feature set that most people don't need or require. Custom profiling is a great feature to have when dynamic range and precise placement of midtones, whites and blacks really matter. If those things don't matter to your work then you can use just about any light meter on the market.

For studio use I would use one. You need it to balance the lighting. For landscapes though you have all you need in the camera. Bracket, histogram, your eyeball

The only flak I will give you concerning chimping is that most of us do not work for clients.

I know the light well enough that I can usually get it right in two maybe three.

Most of the time I use my Gossen Luna Pro SBC or lately I have been using my back up FE to meter for the F2 that way I can just carry around two cameras and not the cameras and the meter.

When shooting film back in the day, I used a light meter. Handy tool for precise light adjustments. Since going to digital, I never use one. Probably just laziness on my part though.
Matter of fact, I sold it about a week after I got the D200.

Sometimes I use the D5000 to meter for the F2...

Thanks for the feedback. As I said, I'm really asking the question with a view to landscape as I absolutely get it regarding studio and mixed lighting.

With regards to using the camera histogram, I shoot raw, however what I see in my screen and the histogram is created from the jog embedded within it. If I'm to depend on it for the histogram, what picture controls settings should be used. For example, if I set it to always go a little brighter, as far as I know that's what the histogram will show and the image on the screen.

I think I will have to try both methods in a couple of weeks when we go away and see how the results compare.

As my wife is also interested in a meter I suppose it is only £200 each rather than £400 for me!! This is a rare occasions when she is interested in gadgets almost as much as me, but we did spend Saturday in the studio with a model.

I haven't used a light meter for 20 years...and probably didn't know how to use it properly back then too. The closest I've gotten to using one was when I downloaded a lightmeter app on my phone.

Geoffc said:

Thanks for the feedback. As I said, I'm really asking the question with a view to landscape as I absolutely get it regarding studio and mixed lighting.

With regards to using the camera histogram, I shoot raw, however what I see in my screen and the histogram is created from the jog embedded within it. If I'm to depend on it for the histogram, what picture controls settings should be used. For example, if I set it to always go a little brighter, as far as I know that's what the histogram will show and the image on the screen.

I think I will have to try both methods in a couple of weeks when we go away and see how the results compare.

As my wife is also interested in a meter I suppose it is only £200 each rather than £400 for me!! This is a rare occasions when she is interested in gadgets almost as much as me, but we did spend Saturday in the studio with a model.

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The histogram and the image thumbnail seen on the back of the camera represent the jpg with any any all picture controls. If you want to most closely approximate the actual raw file you can just use the neutral picture control and edit it to reduce contrast slightly more.

Be very careful about pushing highlights and using the histogram and do some tests to make sure that what you're seeing is a close representation of the raw file before using it on a shoot or for anything important.

Metering specifically for landscape work you ought to look into a spot meter and Ansel Adam's zone system.

The L-758DR has a built in 1 degree spot meter for exactly that type of work.

My first Nikon was a D80,, that would not meter manual glass. and so,, I used the external light meter for the shooting, worked great. but,, with my newest cameras, fell out of use of the external light meter (laughs,, don't even remember where it is). and find that avoiding blown exposures, any fixes I can do now in CS,, so,, really don't see the need to include one in the kit.

The big distinction is going to be the type of work you do, how critical exposure is and whether you have a client or not.

Obviously, if you're just shooting for yourself then there's no need for the meter and it doesn't matter if you fire off a few tests or make adjustments in post.

If you're working with clients or take exposure and in camera captures more seriously then the meter becomes more useful and much more important.

I use a Sekonic L-358 flash/ambient meter and a Pentax Spotmeter V 1° over 75% of the time over the camera's meter. For me at least the camera's meter is only a backup. I guess it is that "old dog, new tricks" thing. I am generally distrustful of camera meters because what they think is the best exposure and what I think quite often are not the same thing. I find the 1° spotmeter to be the most useful for metering a scene when used in conjunction with Ansel Adams' Zone System. Although the Zone System was developed for film, it can still be used for digital photography within the limitations of the medium (ie.,no ability to "push" or "pull" film to achieve the desired effect). Since the digital camera's "ISO" is not in perfect synch with film ASA, you have to do a little correlation to find out how it stacks up. My D700's "ISO" varies by about 1/2 f/ over the ASA of the meter.

I have a Sekonic L-508 and use the spot function occasionally for landscapes. For instance, there are times when the camera is on the tripod and low to the ground and I don't want to get on the ground to meter through the camera or to check a histogram. I can meter with the Sekonic, set the exposure, and fire with the release cable. I no longer consider it an essential piece of equipment and probably wouldn't buy a new one but I since I have it I do carry it with me. I'm sure there are deals used ones if you feel you need one.