Comments on: Have Digital Cameras Made Light Meters Pointless? Ryan E. Walters Explains Why They're Still Important

By: Barri Hitchin

Barri Hitchin — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:58:17 +0000

Absolutely !

By: turn your iphone into an incident light meter, way cool | Fuzzypictures's Weblog

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 04:00:27 +0000

[...] help identify the correct exposure (not to mention you can see what you’re doing). Of course, light meters are still useful, and there are plenty of DPs that use them even on digital sets, but if you’re a little short on cash, they can be an expensive proposition. That’s where Luxi [...]

By: blog | leopold fuchs

blog | leopold fuchs — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 20:14:49 +0000

[...] light meter/digital camera/ryan e. walters [...]

By: Mick

Mick — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 15:55:47 +0000

hi Ryan,

Thanks for your post.
On every shoot I start to take a reading with my meter but lots of times I put it back. It’s confusing me when I look at scope’s, monitor’s in diferent LUT’s and LOG and ISO values. Do you have any tips on how to test each different camera to find out how to expose.

Canon C300 for example puts middle grey on 30% at the scope, what ISO do you chose than on your meter? With Sony F3 and Alexa my readings are closer to what I expect from the camera. But I’m still not confident with it.

I still use a Minolta meter but consider to buy a Sekonic so I can use the different camera profiles. Will that help finding out how which ISO to chose?

Thanks again for your help

By: Ryan Farner

Ryan Farner — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 05:09:28 +0000

Great article, I’ve been wanting to pick up a meter for a long time now. I think this article has just made it a priority for me. Any meters you would recommend on a budget? Or is it worth it to just stick with the 2 you’ve been mentioning. Thanks alot!

By: Clayton Arnall

Clayton Arnall — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 20:22:54 +0000

Thanks for the post… I love any type of lighting info I can get. I’ve never used a 5 degree spot meter. Is it just a matter of taking a few steps forward to get a similar reading as the 1 degree? From 15′ back, how big is the area you’d be metering?

By: Have Digital Cameras Made Light Meters Pointless? Ryan E. Walters Explains Why They’re Still Important. At NoFilmSchool | Digital Cinema Tools | Scoop.it

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 18:09:07 +0000

[...] Posted by Ryan E. Walters on December 25, 2012 • "Light meters may seem like relics of a different era, but they are still consistently used by filmmakers working with digital cameras. We’ve shared a fantastic guide about using light meters from Ryan E. Walters before, and now we’ve got a great post on why light meters are still relevant and how they can help you light and expose your shot, and get a far more precise image overall."…NoFilmSchool.com [...]

By: Markus Haken

Markus Haken — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 09:58:02 +0000

I just purchased a 478D plus the spot viewfinder attachment. i’m very curious. thanks for pointing this one out, Ryan.

By: Have Digital Cameras Made Light Meters Pointless? Ryan E. Walters Explains Why They’re Still Important | Color Passion

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 23:20:32 +0000

[...] See on nofilmschool.com [...]

By: timur civan

timur civan — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 21:03:52 +0000

Makes me feel like Batman. ;)

By: Ryan E. Walters

Ryan E. Walters — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 06:08:20 +0000

Great point! Helping out the rest of the crew, as well as the actors goes a long way to getting better results on screen. :)

By: Ryan E. Walters

Ryan E. Walters — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 06:06:06 +0000

Awesome! That is nice for sure. :)

These days with digital I am finding it to be a very mixed bag- and it has a lot to do with the budget level of the project. Of course my first preference is to have the budget to work with my crew of choice. And for these projects my Gaffer is top notch and uses a meter. On the lower budget projects I work on, that isn’t always the case, and for the really small projects, it may just be myself and a grip or an assistant- and there I’ll use my meter myself to ensure that I can tell my assistant what tool I need to get the job done. Which really helps speed up the process on a small production. :)

By: Ryan E. Walters

Ryan E. Walters — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 05:58:23 +0000

Nice! That makes perfect sense. :)

Is it cumbersome to have two meters hanging from your belt? I know personally, I’m always trying to find ways to lighten what I carry on my belt, so personally, I would find it annoying to have an extra meter hanging around … However, I’m still looking to find a more comfortable way to wear my meter, as I’m not entirely happy with how it hangs off my belt in the first place … (But the smaller size of the 478D is helping with that …

By: Ryan E. Walters

Ryan E. Walters — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 05:53:01 +0000

Way to go Gary! Keep at it. :) It is all about forward momentum, and doing whatever you can to further you skill set and craft. :) Meters can be expensive, especially when the budget is tight. I’m sure that as you grow you’ll get to the place where you can add that tool to your tool box. :)

By: Daniel Mimura

Daniel Mimura — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 02:24:33 +0000

I wish more non-film era filmmakers used light meters…

…it sucks to be doing steadicam and you’re doing an extra rehearsal just for lighting because it takes too long to get the camera in and out of the rig. I’d take my own meter with me so they could use it…

…but most younger DP’s don’t know how. (I have an old Gossen Luna Pro with a spot attachment and it’s like using a medium format camera where you look downwards and it’s all backwards and people can’t figure it out.) Been saving up for a 758c.

By: Daniel Mimura

Daniel Mimura — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 02:15:20 +0000

On my first big movie and only big budget movie, I found the opposite to be true. Everyone had a light meter. Gaffer and best boy electric metered backgrounds all the time while the DP was metering the stand ins.

This was film where you had more latitude and they were working harder to get it right.

By: Gary Simmons

Gary Simmons — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 01:49:02 +0000

I am one of those who started with a DSLR and the only reason I do not use a light meter is my budget hasn’t caught up to it yet but its on the list. I am striving to become a real professional one day and articles like this plus books by pros are the only educational opportunity I have where I live on the Texas coast my images are getting better as is my editing but the learning curve is steep I have not put out anything worth talking about but I hope this summer I will do the first short I am in the planning stages for but if it wasn’t for no film school and a few other sites I wouldn’t even be close.

By: timur civan

timur civan — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 00:14:39 +0000

Awww shucks….. ;)

Only reason i don’t own the 758 is that i already had a spot meter. So i just went for the incident Unit.

Awesome write up Ryan. Keep em coming. :)

By: Have Digital Cameras Made Light Meters Pointless? Ryan E. Walters Explains Why They’re Still Important | FilmMaking Hub | Scoop.it

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 23:39:53 +0000

[...] Light meters may seem like relics of a different era, but they are still consistently used by filmmakers working with digital cameras. We’ve shared a fantastic guide about using light meters from Ryan E. Waltersbefore, and now we’ve got a great post on why light meters are still relevant and how they can help you light and expose your shot, and get a far more precise image overall. [...]

By: Ryan E. Walters

Ryan E. Walters — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 09:48:27 +0000

Nice. :) Some times that monitor can make us be more conservative, and take less risks by playing it more safe and create less interesting images for sure …