Color meters? Viable?

[Ron Michaels]

Hey everyone,
First, I want to thank everyone for all the input I've received on here; this site has helped me a great deal!

I was thinking about purchasing a color meter, but not sure if it's really worth it. Do most people here use them? If not, how do you go about balancing? Directly in camera, software on a computer, or what? what is the preference among pros using digital cinema?

Thanks again,
Ron

 

[Stacey Spears]

I use one to color match my lights for doc interviews. The color temp dial on my LEDs don't match what the dials report.

 

[Nick Morrison]

As Stacy said, they can be great to balance lights to each other.

Another great trick for later is always shooting a color chart. Will give your colorist an invaluable tool later to work from when you get to final grade.

 

[Mark K.]

Well unfortunately old colour meters don't really work so well now, as everything has a discontinuous spectrum like Fluoros and LEDs. So you really need a spectrometer now.

They're incredibly useful for a couple of things - both finding out what the practical lights in a location are doing, and for figuring out the necessary gel package required to match multiple light sources.