What type of light meter?

[Jon M]

Sorry If I seem daft. As I mentioned in a past post I'm not new to cinematography....with film that is. This HiDef format is a little something new. Just wanted to know what type of light meters would be used for this format? Since I'm not dealing with ISO ratings anymore, something has got to be different.

 

[John Brawley]

Sorry If I seem daft. As I mentioned in a past post I'm not new to cinematography....with film that is. This HiDef format is a little something new. Just wanted to know what type of light meters would be used for this format? Since I'm not dealing with ISO ratings anymore, something has got to be different.

I find a meter that measures in FC works really well...it's ISO independent and measure's light in absolutes.

jb

 

[Subhadip Sen]

If you adapt to the EVF or the LCD monitor, you will have a very good idea to how the image will turn out. One could argue you don't need a separate light meter at all. Also, digital sensors do have ISO equivalents, set in the form of gain, but it is recommended to stay at the native ISO of the sensor.

 

[Christian Tanner]

i wouldn't discard iso just like that, jb.
with the red for instance, although you're recording raw you most certainly "show" red space. and red space for instance works with iso.

my trusty sekonic still works well for me.
although i have to say that i rarely use it since the "false color" exposure mode thingy is such a great tool. when working with the red you definitely should give that a try.

 

[David Mullen ASC]

I find a basic incident meter to be useful for learning the light levels on a location scout or for pre-lighting a set before the cameras are turned on, etc. Just input the ASA rating / shutter speed you feel you want to be working at as a rough guideline or starting point.

 

[David Rasberry]

Incident meter that reads directly in foot candles is most useful to me. Useful for measuring and balancing key and fill /ambient light levels and as an ISO exposure reference. Digital sensors can be exposed like film if you test to establish practical ISO ratings. It at least gives you a target to light to.

 

[Jon M]

Thanks for the info. I think I'm just over thinking the whole Digital realm.

 

[morgan_moore]

Surely the best lightmeter is a DSLR with a histogram and a zoom lens, a nikon D80 for example cheap and light

equalise the ISOs and WB to the main cam

use as a spot or wider meter

click off a still

for incident light use an expodisc over the lens

evaluate the histogram for both levels and distribution of RGB

Also works as a Directors viewfinder and continuity aid

S

 

[David Mullen ASC]

If all you want is to balance a series of key lights throughout a long room so that they are all at a T/2.8 (or let's say, 25 footcandles, for example) -- maybe it's a Steadicam shot -- then it's hard to get much simpler than an incident meter.

 

[John Brawley]

i wouldn't discard iso just like that, jb.
with the red for instance, although you're recording raw you most certainly "show" red space. and red space for instance works with iso.

Well FC works for me because I can quickly calculate what I what I want back into ISO. The problem with using ISO is that RED doesn't behave in a very linear fashion. There's only a stop over 320 before skin tones start to look very clippy to me (iso 160) but RED goes way deeper on the otherside into shadows, with detail down to more than 4 under (iso 6400ish).

In other words, it behaves differently in highlights to shadows. So reading in FC gives a more wholestic idea of where everything is sitting. I know that 40-50 fc @ t4 works great for skin tone at RED's native 320, and I can get a sense of light levels before the cameras are out of the truck, turned on and framed up.

jb