A light meter is used to determine the light intensity. Light meters also know as photographic light meters; are used to determine the appropriate exposure for the photos. They examine the light and then offer the suitable film and shutter speed to position the camera.
Light meters are available in the market in variety of sizes and shapes, such as digital light meter, vivitar light meter and so on. A Konica Minolta light meter is light in weight and compact meter. It has a broad screen which gives both ambient and flash meter readings. It has a memory and monitoring utilities helpful to a photographer.
Few light meters settings are allied to other sort of photography light meters, for instance flash and spot. While some light meters are controlled with the help of battery. There are different types of light meters but the most common one are silicon, CdS and selenium meters.
- A selenium light meter uses sensors to produce sufficient amount of voltage for direct link to a meter.
- Silicon sensors require amplification circuit and operated with batteries.
- CdS light meters uses photo-resistance sensors and also need power source such as batteries.
Photovoltaic sensors produce voltage proportional to light exposure and are used by selenium and silicon meters.
How Does A Light Meter Work?
There are two sort of light readings on meters
Reflective: A reflective meters measure the light that reflects by the object.
Incident: Incident light meters measures the light that falls on the object.
It is easy and simple to know how to use a light meter with the help of some basic information. While using incident measurements, try to aim the light meter on the light that falls on the object and not at the shaded regions. This method is used by photographers in order to capture various lighting shades on the object. This technique helps them to decide the best angle to photograph. While taking sunset photos; aiming at the brightest portion of an object will create an underexposed picture in which hardly any color shows up. Aiming at the shadowy part of an object creates an overexposed picture where every color appears too light. Select a medium light exposure in order to get a good quality sunset photo having the appropriate color balance and sharpness. Clouds, sunlight, shiny sky and snow in all circumstances photographer need a light meter to measure the light intensity for good quality photographs.
Another method to avoid underexposed or overexposed for objects is to use a spot meter: this meter measures the light in a very fixed cone.
While using black and white film which is not sensitive to the light band, a light meter might need unique filters to go with the sensitivity of the film.
There are other kinds of specialized photographic light meters like:
- Flash meters are also utilized in flash photography to validate accurate exposure.
- Color meters are employed where good quality color reproduction is needed.
- Densitometers are utilized in photographic reproduction.
These and many other cheap light meters are available online like Minolta light meter or Vivitar light meter. One can also get these light meters from online auction sites such as eBay or Overstock.
Several photography courses tell the students about how to build a light meter by using some objects and equipments. Specialized cinematographers generally employ handheld ambient light meters. These meters can correctly determine the intensity of light falling on different parts of the objects.
