A flash meter is the most important tool for studio photography, period. It makes life so much easier when you know that you are going to nail the exposure the first time. I'm old and don't have time to messing around checking for exposure using the screen on my camera. Time is precious as I don't have that mush left.
Light meters are essential when shooting with film, or digital for the matter. Like you Tommy, my meter doesn't leave the house without me. Thanks for the great vid.
Absolutely never leave your meter without your home. 😀 For sure Tommy, I am delighted to hear you say use a flash meter. It saves you time and you will take less images and so less time culling. No better way to make things easier. ;-)
Ive just bought the very same light meter & cant wait to start using it... Ive done a little bit of studio work but often have seen photographers with a meter ..just get the setting right in no time & the opposite when they dont have a meter... ...great video Tommy ..thank you
Great video. I love my light meter and use it for pretty much all my shoots. I also practise without it on my own time so I'm not freaking out in the event of something happening to it and can't have it handy. I assisted a photographer buddy of mine today with a corporate headshot shoot at his home studio.We used my light meter. Exposure was handled before you could say the words "light meters are awesome". When we had to re-meter because of a prop change and light modifier adjustment, in the blink of an eye it was handled with the light meter. There was no fiddling, no guessing in front of the subject. I don't think it's a really necessary tool for most portrait applications but I enjoy a shoot a hell of a lot more when I have it with me and I get the base exposures I want almost immediately (I usually prefer 1/3 of a stop up from what the meter gives me, but not always). It gets me to posing and generally interacting with my subjects that much more quickly. I usually set my key light exposure before the subject arrives whenever possible as well.
Great video and excellent reasons to use a flash meter! If you ever play around with some of the other Sekonic meters (like 758) you will find the measurement that shows the flash contribution versus the ambient contribution to the final exposure. For example, a flash contribution of 60%, or 70%, etc. If you find that you like a certain "look" by how much the flash is contributing to the final exposure (like for example 60% flash and 40% ambient) then it is of course easy to dial that power in and measure it. Of course that can be figured out by taking separate readings for ambient and flash and then doing the math, but it is super easy when the percentage is just shown on the LCD straight away on a single click of the meter's button. It is very fast to get to that "look" that you like.
Wilson that sounds amazing I would love to give that a go! Thats some real fine tuning right there. I think that model has been discontinued now. Do you know what the current model is now?
Tommy Reynolds I think the current is the 858. I have the 758-DR, and it is definitely the "guilty pleasure" of my gear collection. Definitely a pleasure. (I also use the 1-degree spot that it meters through the viewfinder.) I assume the 858 does everything the 758 can, plus it adds ability to measure high-speed sync bursts. I only have third-party, manual flashes so I still don't need the high-speed sync stuff. But that is definitely an upgrade capability. I also have your current 308, and LOVE it just like you do. So easy and convenient to carry around. Its awesome. For anyone whose personal style includes a big dose of pre-visualization working with flash meters is a dream.
@@TommyReynolds89 680 EURO instead of 430 EURO, that`s what I call a huge difference, but both are quite expensive, so, I`m glad that my old Gossen Lunasix F bought in the early 1980s still works fine for me :))
Hey Tommy, really useful tut, bought myself the L-308X - I don't seeem to be able to select a shutter speed of 200, it seems to go from 125 > 200 with not stops inbetween, any thoughts?
I use a flash meter in the studio. However I rarely use strobes with film, so I tend to use my spot meter when I do or my 70 year old Weston which is still spot on.
Might sound a stupid question Tommy but does it matter what type of camera you have to get the correct exposure for this flash meter? For example, is it different if you have MFT over a full frame DSLR? Thanks.
Great video. I have only one question. When you are metering with flash how did you trigger your flash? Does this meter have an option for that? Thanks.
James Blanken Photography good question James. You could plug a sync cable into the meter to fire when you press the button but Im actually holding the trigger from my camera in my other hand and firing the lights with the test button on the trigger to get a meter reading
Thank you, Tommy! But plse help me to understand: "How many clicks is it from f-4 to f-8?" Do you mean clicks of light power? Up or down? More light or less?
Yes clicks of light power (1/3 stop increments of power to be precise) from f4 to f8 is 6 clicks. That would mean you're throwing up more light to give you a reading of f8 vs f4
hi tommy, just found your channel and I am enjoying your tutorials and presentation style. finished watching this video about using the sekonic l-308s light meter(I use the same one).when using gavin hoey light meter chart to alter the exposure by counting the clicks on your camera,this is based on your camera set to 1/3 stop increments as opposed to 1/2 stop increments.might be a little confusing if someone had their camera set on the latter?
Great video, I keep hearing off fellow photographers not to use a light meter and I'll admit to not always using mine due to laziness but it does make the edit longer. Just a techy question, if you are wanting a rim light do you go one or two stops over with your back light? and if so how do you then balance the exposure overall? be great to see you give a tutorial on this. Thanks
Sherwin H Hey Sherwin! To dial in an overexposed look and your camera was f8 then anything over f8 would technically be overexposed. How much by is up to you. F9 would be 1/3 overexposed, f10, would be 2/3 overexposed, f11 would be 1 stop over exposed etc
Sherwin H A flash meter is useful only if your flash is in manual mode and you’re dialling your own settings. If you’re in TTL, the flash is going to decide which power is best. Like auto flash. No need for a meter in this case
Sherwin H if you’re interested I offer 1 hour online coaching over Zoom if you wanted to learn more about anything photography related 😃 Here’s a link with all the details. You can also pay what you want while the world is a bit crazy right now www.tommyreynolds.training/online-coaching
Not in TTL just remember that TTL doesn't always give you perfect flash exposure. In those instances where TTL doesn't provide the exposure you're looking for make adjustments to the flash using FEC (Flash Exposure Compensation), adjust it for more or less flash dependent on what is needed.
filmfreek35 as Jack said it doesn’t always Ive you perfect exposure and yes you can use flash exposure compensation 100%. Me personally I like to shoot manual and know that every shot is exactly the same flash output so I can sync multiple images when editing and make my workflow a lot quicker :)
Good question dude. To shoot with a shallow depth of field you need to go into high speed sync. Be aware though that some flash meters DO NOT support high speed sync modes, including the model I am using here. So make sure you buy one that works with high speed sync :)
I don't think it's needed especially if the back draw of not having it for digital photography is a few test shots. After a while things become routine with controlled settings and light power and spacing. seems like a price for lack of awareness of the situation.
Film, I'll give ya. But not digital. It's not like I'm limited with the number of pics I can take to get it right, and it rarely takes more than 2. With the meter you have to flash at least once anyhow to get the reading and then it's still only a guideline. I have seen people take at least 4 or 5 flashes to get it where they wanted. I just can't see the payback for what they cost.
jl sc that’s fair enough dude if it doesn’t work for you then that’s fine. If it isn’t broken don’t fix it eh. Personally it really works for me especially if I’m doing live demos in front of an audience too when I’m tethered :)
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