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Do you use a light meter?

Peter Mosiman

Peter Mosiman

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I just got into an argument with a professor at Uni about the usage of a light meter by DPs and gaffers on set. He seems to think that they are no longer necessary, I however, always light with my meter. Keep in mind that we are a Digital Cinema school.

How many DP's on this place still use their meter with advents of the histogram and the waveform?

Cheers!
 
As time goes on I see less and less use of a light meter.
Several productions I see guys close to never use a light meter, they do sometimes just to look cool.
But the Histogram and Waveform really tend to cover the job most of the time.
 
i don't typically light with a meter. i rely heavily on my brain, my eyes, the histogram/waveform, and the monitoring.
 
I don't use meters to set exposure with digital cameras, but a meter is the simplest way to determine how much ND you need outdoors, for example, or when lighting a set -- let's say the actor walks down a hallway and into a bedroom in a long Steadicam move and you want them to move through several pools of light, and generally every time they step into a key, they are around f/2.8... well, it's a lot easier to balance all those pools of light with a meter than to drag the movie camera around and point it at things and then run back to the monitor, etc.

So while there are many hours in the day that I never take out my meter, I still find it useful now and then.

Meters are also useful on location scouts when you want to check out the levels of available light.

Sometimes you even have to light two sets simultaneously, where as you start to shoot out one set, the electric crew is jumping to the next set, and they call you over now and then for you to check out their progress... again, it's easier to judge general light levels with a meter, since the camera is still back on the first set.

If you rely TOO much on the camera in order to set the lighting, it can be a problem for the camera crew if they need the camera to build it into Steadicam mode, for example, and in fact, often on a digital shoot I have to get the camera crew to quickly park the camera somewhere where it's pointed at the set so I can start to see if I'm on the right track.
 
I haven't used a meter on a digital job in years. I send my gaffer off on a prelight with one, or I take one on a scout to see what levels are at a certain time of day at a certain location, but I make the call as to exposure when shooting based on a good monitor and the exposure tools in the camera.

Nick
 
Religiously...
Ditto.

I use a light meter on every shoot to make sure that when I light a scene it is evenly lit so when i operate on steadicam all my focus puller has to worry about its that and not iris moves.

This isn't always the case but if you do have time to light a scene or set properly a light meter is a necessity.
 
I use my light meter exactly like David does. Mostly for scouts and shots where it isn't practical to use the camera for setting up... like steadicam stuff.
 
Light is a physical thing!!
I want to know exactly what drop of light is falling on 'my' actors face and form where-ever they move through the shot.
We paint with this medium.
Histograms can never give you this kind of accuracy.
I use a my meters on every shot, ... and then there's always 'feel'!!
Cheers,
Paul.
 
Peter, I guess the real answer to your question is yes, sometimes, and/or no. Some are using their light meters more than others. Really just a preference thing... whatever floats your boat :)
 
I always use a meter whenever I can. I don't have my own so I have to rent one usually. As a gaffer I use it more for lighting ratio's than anything else. It comes in handy when you need to reposition the camera angle and change the lights completely around, but keep the same look.
 
Paul J Warren said:
Light is a physical thing!!
I want to know exactly what drop of light is falling on 'my' actors face and form where-ever they move through the shot.
We paint with this medium.
Histograms can never give you this kind of accuracy.
I use a my meters on every shot, ... and then there's always 'feel'!!
Cheers,
Paul.
Click to expand...

+1. I use an incident meter because I want to know precisely what the light is doing. This is especially useful when shooting docs under available light conditions where the on camera monitoring options are inadequate for critical judgment. Camera tests, + incident meter, + Adams zone technique.
I'm looking forward to using the histograms and other exposure tools that Red provides, my personal cameras have never offered that level of sophistication. But on camera LCD/EVF is not a reliable reference IMO.
 
I like to meter around the set and see how the light is falling off from the focal point. You can do this through the lens, but it's nice to see the relative distance the falloff is, and in how many stops, as it relates to the subject.

This will become a bit more important in 3D imaging, as relative light distance will matter and the camera, as a TTL meter is a tool to combine with this kind of 3D lighting strategy.

Lighitng for 3D will change lighting, again.

Get your meters out folks, it's a very useful tool which still serves a purpose.

David
 
In the days before histograms when all was film and chemistry I always used a light meter, but also judged lighting by the squint test, and also be experience and feel, and with a knowledge of the film being used set my stop from a combination of all these factors.

Today I still use the meter, but have the added tools of histogram etc., but still set my stop based on all of the above factors. A meter and histograms are both very useful tools, but experience and feel are invaluable in achieving your look.
 
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