Originally Posted by Brianog 
I was thinking of this very thing before I posted the question at the beginning of this thread. Sometimes it can be a bit fiddly and indiscreet metering through the viewfinder. When people see you twiddling dials with a camera up to your eye they know what is coming next. I was thinking one of the advantages of a hand held light meter is you have a lot of work done before you lift the camera up to your eye. I have to say that is one of the big attractions of why I want one.
and likely one of the big reasons why Av became popular.
