Ez get around: 2 pillows up Andy’s lap, and his hands will be up near his chin like the JFk portrait. Wonderful tutorial, excellent communication skills. Fill light 2 stops down, rim same or 1 stop down from Key light. Background: eye ball it. Can’t wait to try.

When I use the light meter with my ad100pro flash - i set the f stop to what the meter says and my photos turn out super dark. I'm able to set the settings by sight just fine and the lights work but was hoping to be extra fancy with having a light meter. What might i be doing wrong? For example: I have the meter set to 125 shutter speed and 100 ISO and the meter gives back f/2.8 (metering the highlighted areas of my model - ie. the side of their face the light is on and facing the light source) - which results in a very dark image.

IMHO, the key lights are too high resulting in the eyes being too dark. Also, Karsh used a semi-telephoto lens to reduce distortion.

I'm trying to be eveil and critize this but I cant, cant find a single flaw. Well done ! I thought I knew something about exposure but after watching this video I realized I didn't.

i think over- and underexposure needs to be defined more precisely when using incident measuring. If you measure the light by holding the dome next to the face pointing at the light source and it reads at key, meaning: the light source gives meters at the f-stop number you use on the lens.... well then: the bright side of the face will be probably one to two stops over key on the picture. so here is my confusion: if you underexpose the face... what do you mean? underexposing it in terms of incident reading? let´s say you turn down the light, so that your incident meter reads one or two stops under key (lens aperture). that would make the bright side of the face likely fall straight onto key if you read it with a reflective meter. is that underexposed? or exposed at key? was it overexposed when the meter read at key? if you underexpose with your incident meter it does not necessarily have to show as underexposed on your film..... the exact measuring would be with a reflective metering, which is actually what is represented with false color....

How do I connect this to my computer. I'm using windows 10, downloaded the proper utility for the c-800-u, I'm using the proper cable, unit is turned off, plugged in, then turned on. I turned off the firewall before installing the utility. What gives?

super helpful! Thanks:)

Why is it illegal in some countries to measure lux or foot candles?

💪👍🤝

A far simpler meter would be nice for those who dont need all the bells and whistles.

Excellent tutorial just a little bit too often the phrase a little bit 😂 👏 but honestly that was really a fantastic master class and detailed explanation of each light and how to approach to get a certain look and also how to re-create other master of photographers that was really brilliant

Excelent masterclass..!!!

Chris, this was by far one of the best explanations and demonstration I’ve heard or seen on metering. Thank you once again.

New to studio photography and this nugget of a video helped me so much in my understanding. Hats off Chris!

why a lot of green on WB result ?

Hello, your video is excellent, but I would like to know how to connect the Godox X3 transmitter with the photometer L-858D-U and flashes because that explanation is not here in this video. Nito from Weston Florida.

I have the 308X-U; owned it for a couple of years and never used but now want to start. I have the lumidisc but really unclear on when/how to use this accessory; not able to find much info when searching online. Also, looking for info on how to use the meter when you are outdoors and also using artificial light. Directions, links, etc. are appreciated - thanks!

What defines “optimal” exposure is recording and outputting the same range detail and tone we perceive by eye. The problem with digital sensors is they have a fixed range can’t record detail everywhere in high contrast lighting. The same was true for film. I started using 1° spot meter in 1971 using a Honeywell-Pentax. The value of owning a 1° spot meter is being able to precisely measure the EV (Exposure Value) range from darkest perceived shadow detail to brightest non-specular highlight (What Ansel Adams defined as a “Zone 1” shadow value and “Zone 9” highlight.) On a clear sunny day Zone 1 - Zone 9 will have a range of around 10 EV or a ten f/stop difference in brightness but on a overcast day the same scene will reflect less light and have lower contrast around 6-8 EV. With a bit of experience measuring scene EV range and then evaluating the results in the files you’ll be able to determine the useful EV range of the camera and how the numerical EV range relates to what is seen on the camera and photo editor histogram display. What I started using as exposure test objects when starting to shoot digital with camera histogram are: Gray Card, white terry hand towel and black terry hand towel, draping the towels over the corners of the card held on the stand. Why towels? Texture revealed by shadows and specular highlights on the many tiny loops of fabric. Regardless of what meter used or how it is used the true test of whether exposure is full range “optimal” is recording detail in both with one exposure. The separation between Zone 9 solid white, like the hood of white car and other flat white objects, and the Zone 10 specular reflections from the sun or flash are critical for revealing 3D shape because there are no shadow clues on flat white objects. The white towel and the highlight warning of the camera make it easy to detect and confirm visually whether or not the exposure is preserving that Zone 9 / 10 separation. An error or just 1/3 stop can make Zone 9 objects clip. The next question after setting highlight exposure optimally is: can the DR of the camera’s sensor handle the contrast of the lighting? If one starts by exposing the highlights optimally that will be revealed by looking at the image of the black towel the camera sensor records and the histogram spike it creates. If there is no detail in the black towel and the spike is running off on the left the contrast of the lighting exceeds the range of the camera. In a studio setting it is trivial to match scene range to any camera’s DR: 1) set aperture for desired DOF and place towel / card target at subject distance. 2) place FILL light directly behind and above camera and raise its power until detail is seen in the black towel. 3) if using a back rim light turn it on and raise its power until the parts of the white towel it hits are 1/3 stop under clipping (245-250) and texture is still seen in the playback. 4) Turn on the Key light and raise its power until front of white towel it hits (overlapping the even fill) is 2/3 stop under clipping if using rim light (so it will be 1/3 stop darker) or if just using Key and no back rim light 1/3 stop under clipping with detail retained. What is will the numerical lighting ratio be? That will depend on the DR of the sensor and can be determined with incident readings one light at a time with dome of meter pointed at the camera. Then placed meter in front of camera which is recording full range optimally and point the meter dome at the camera so the same ratio of key and fill hit the dome then compare the f/stop indicated by the meter to the one set in step one. Odds are the meter reading will be different that the f/stop set in step one. Why? Because the gain controlled by the ISO setting of the camera differs from that of the ISO calibration point of the meter. What to do if that is the case? Since the lights are set to ‘optimally’ expose the image using the towels it is more correct than the results you’ll get if you change the f/stop on the lens to match the meter. This is a known problem and why meters have a compensation function. If for example the camera lens is set at f/8 but the meter is reading f/9 you’d want to dial in about a .3 EV correction to the meter until it reads f/8. But why bother if using the towels to set the lights has already created optimal exposure? 🤷🏼‍♂️ If wanting to “softer” looking shadows on a face? Start with more Fill in step 2 and burn in any you want darker SELECTIVELY in the clothing when editing the image. If wanting darker “harder” looking shadows to not reduce the Fill in step 2 because that will result in nothing but noised in dark content. Instead Fill for normal detail then pull down the shadows GLOBALLY with Curves or Level adjustment and / or SELECTIVE burning in.

💗💓💙💖

@sekonic I have a Litemaster Pro 478DR-EL whose touch screen stopped working out of a sudden. It has very low usage. Tried to contact support but you guys are hard to contact. None of the contact forms works on your website. And emails I found online I get no answer. Are there any key combinations I need to press to reset it? Without touch screen this thing is useless.

The info here isn't wrong but, boy oh boy is it complex.

I like the subtile reference that you can hand this one out to your assistant and obviously choose the bigger models, which occurred twice in the video. No thank you, this one is enough and since it’s just an ordinary lux meter with some fancy conversion tables, it’s expensive enough.

Awesome & Thanks :)

Everything is so outdated and needs to be updated

Came here to learn about exposure meters, instead learned a lot about ambient light in combination with flash. That's not a complaint.

Best video ever

So informative. We need more content like this.

How does that help me while shooting sports?

Great video, thank you. On the other hand, I would like to know what software you’re tethering with in this video, is it Lightroom?…

It is hard for me to trust my neater, here’s why I point the meter at the light and got a reading, then I more than doubled the power and put the meter and the same place and got the same reading this happened several times so I bought a 2nd m and the same thing occurs. What am I doing wrong

stop the poxy music/noise

This is awesome. Thank you so much. Best beginners video ive seen on here. But also- have you seen Its always sunny? Mac and Dennis much...

Looks easy until I get in my studio, fro some reason I can’t get my meter to go to f11 , so I thought my meter was defective, so I order a (2) one, having the same problem, it’s not the light power, I have lots of lights from the v1 all the way to the ad1200! Do you have any suggestions what I’m doing wrong

Your spectrometer says "Made in Japan". My spectrometer says "Made in the Philippines" - does this mean my spectrometer is fake or a lower quality product?

Newest measurement tool…? Hasn’t this been around since 2018? Love the Sekonic products but wish the touch screens and UI was a bit more mordern…

Thanks for the great tutorial. Horrible image editing however.

Thank you, Great video. Can you tell me how to get the light meter back to it original settings? ex: Ambient and measuring mode icons? Thank you

Yeah, you can guess and shoot and guess and shoot (unlike the Chrome Age when film co$t!!!) and you can always ‘fix’ it in post… but the extra effort to get the exposure RIGHT with latest tech is just the PROFESSIONAL way to do things!

Hi Chris, I do understand its a sponsored video but... in the era of a digital photography and tethering the best light meter are your eyes , something does or does not look like it should , no meter will ever tell me or measure how the photograph feels or how I like to stylize it with light. Just a well calibrated monitor is enough. Those who work with film , yes I see the use of it but otherwise is a relict that cannot dictate or limit creative decisions.

That is an amazing tutorial. Gives me a totally different perspective on understanding exposure and colour. Thanks 😊

Sekonic makes 2010 look like 1980....for a pro lighting company 😂😂😂

The days before he met lex

You should not lie ..typical marketing idiot...x rite did not make a special colorchecker for sekonic...it s a regular colorchecker passport photo.

I have a question: I have just bought this model and would like to keep power control on my camera Godox transmitter instead of the Sekonic. How do I achieve that? I think power changes on the transmitter are not always applied on the flash unit.

My meter is showing under exposed

Can this work with a med format camera? The hot shoe I mean

I like putting different color silk stockings across the front of the lens.

Excellent ! Thanks for posting this !

Im tempted, it really needs basic compatibility with Profoto though.