Light meters

[PJI254]

Does anyone use a light meter for landscape photography in lieu of TTL metering and if so, its benefits?

[photomike666]

Guess it depends on the weather across the landscape & type of hand held meter.

If the light is even across the scene either will work ok, but if there are areas of light and shade, it's best to spot meter various points. This can be done with either TTL spot or a hand held with spot capability.

I've been known to use a long lens to pinpoint specific areas, then put the wider lens on for the actual image.

The real trick is finding mid grey in highlight and shadow to work from. This will give you tonal range and an idea of the best exposure. TTL is great for this.

[ricktas]

Does anyone use a light meter for landscape photography in lieu of TTL metering and if so, its benefits?

Yes, when shooting with medium format film! The meter inside a digital SLR is fairly damn good. I have used my D3 to meter a scene to then use my MF film camera to take the photo. So really there is not much of an advantage in having one, if you only use a DSLR.

[ameerat42]

Advantage: spot metering of various parts of the scene for when (like Rick) I (now rarely, sadly) use an MF film camera. I use a separate light meter, though a DSLR and appropriate lens would avail.
Am.

[oldfart]

At a group shoot over the weekend all the other photographers looked at me as if I had 2 heads when I dragged out the Sekonic and started to meter the light.
To a man the response was, you don't need one, the camera does it for you etc etc.

My response was to ask how many were shooting in Manual mode, when the camera does it all for you.

A Light meter allows you to accurately spot meter around a scene, and makes setting portable lighting 10x easier than relying on the Camera.

[ameerat42]

(What? Hadn't they heard of "Two heads are better...")

[sunny6teen]

yeah...for all the reasons previously mentioned.
also because I already had one. a dslr does a good job but if weight is an issue - those light meters are...well...light.

[Reflex]

Even with today's very sophisticated digital cameras, they are still not as precise as a light meter, as they can only read "reflected light" and cannot read "lncident light" which is very handy in certain lighting situations.