Thread: Light Meters!

I was just going through my old camera bag today and rediscovered my old Soligor Sensor Light Meter. Anyone still use a light meter for photography or have they become just a quaint old antique of another era?

I have (somewhere) an old Luna Pro that I used to use when I was a young energetic lad. Now I'm old and lazy. That, plus the superb in camera metering systems, have made hand held meters a dim memory for me. I suppose a pro probably still uses them, however.

I haven't used one since I've gone digital. Between the above mentioned metering abilities in the camera, shooting RAW format with it's dynamic range and ability to tweak exposure after the fact, the ability to bracket easily with no film waste, and the ability to preview pictures on the camera, I haven't seen a reason to keep a meter in my bag.
Then again, I never used one much in the first place. Most of the photography I did was landscapes. TTL metering worked fine for that, and you can't exactly walk the several miles to the horizon to get a reading with the handheld, then walk back to take the picture.

I have been meaning to save up for a light meter for some time since I shoot with an old K1000.

Ive got a sekonic in my bag but it never gets use. I just generally check levels in CS5 when i'm shooting in the studio tethered.

I personally dont see the need for one, but I do have many friends that still use them religiously, even with digital.

I'm an Asahi Pentax spotmeter V user, but I also have a few antique ambient meters. i still find the spot meter useful in the digital age.

There will always be people who do it old school. More here than most places, I imagine. I haven't had time for photography for many years, but still reminisce about the 35 mm SLR I had in the early seventies -- a Zenit-B bought in Russia, completely manual. Lost it, alas, in an apartment burglary. I kind of harbor the fantasy of getting another some day, and then of course I'll want a light meter, and ... well, that could go on and on.

By the way, last month our daughter was home from college for a bit, and I saw her with an old-fashioned SLR, this child of the digital age who normally uses a digital camera. Turns out she had borrowed it from a friend at college, loved using it, and was thinking of getting one for herself. The codger arts aren't dying out quite yet.

~Rich

Originally Posted by NMDE

Ive got a sekonic in my bag but it never gets use. I just generally check levels in CS5 when i'm shooting in the studio tethered.

I personally dont see the need for one, but I do have many friends that still use them religiously, even with digital.

Ever think about selling it?

The built-in meters do an excellent job undr most circumstances. An exception would be under extremely low light where my Gossen Luna Pro would still come in handy. And I do use a flash meter with studio lights of course.

Up until maybe 3 or 4 years ago I used my Gossen Pilot, very accurate and useful with a couple of old SLRs I was using and my crazy old FED2. When I got hold of my first Voigtlander, and figured out that it's 50 year old meter was still dead on..... even the Pilot was gone.