Light meter

[waltesefalcon]

Howdy fellas, I've got a photography question for ya. I am thinking about picking up a cheap light meter. I don't have any experience with these, so I am wondering: is there a big difference between brands, are there any I should just avoid? Are they kinda like test lights, where they are all about the same and the $10 one from NAPA is about as good as the $100 Snap-On?

 

[Basil]

Following. I have never used an external light meter myself as all of my cameras have built in meters.

 

[GregW]

How are you thinking you are going to use it? There are two types. Incident and spot. Incident meters read how much light is hitting what you are shooting. So it you were taking a head-shot, you'd want to have the meter right by the person's face pointed at the main source of light to take a reading. Spot meters measure the amount of light that is reflected from the object of interest. These can be used close up or at distance.
Both types can read flash if you want to pay more.
I have both, but with digital cameras and instant viewing of what I shot, the meters haven't been out of the case for years.

 

[waltesefalcon]

Great question Greg. I believe that a spot meter is what I'm looking for, since virtually all of my photography is outdoors in natural light.

 

[Basil]

Great question Greg. I believe that a spot meter is what I'm looking for, since virtually all of my photography is outdoors in natural light.

What Camera do you have? Most newer cameras have built in light meters.

 

[waltesefalcon]

I have a Nikon D7500, it has a light meter built in. This is just so I can learn more about photography. I sometimes feel like I got into the hobby twenty or thirty years too late, because my camera can do everything itself. All I really have to do is point and shoot, I don't need to know the first thing about photography to get decent photos with this camera.