[stevebrot]

You point the meter towards the camera.

This is important. Do not point the meter towards the light source.


Steve

[arnold]

Reflected light meters look from the camera toward the subject and measure the light bounced off the subject. Reflected light meters average whatever they see to 18% gray and can therefore be fooled by subjects that are darker or lighter than this value. Your camera's built-in meter is reflective and depending on the metering mode you select, has some additional 'smarts' to somewhat adjust for subjects that are not 18% gray.

Incident light meters usually have a white dome over the sensor and look from the subject toward the camera. They measure the amount of light failing on the subject and being bounced toward the camera. They are not fooled by subjects that are different than 18% gray - however, they are essentially a form of spot meter. If your subject is big and has multiple levels of lighting, YOU have to measure each of those lighting levels that matter most to you and do your own averaging. While incident light meters tend to be the most accurate, they have a very practical limitation that you may not be able to place the meter next to your subject to obtain a reading. If you are shooting a distant mountain range, you would have to do a lot of walking to put the meter next to each of the important areas on that range to determine a proper exposure. And by the time you finished, the light at your early points will have likely changed so you would have to start all over.

Thank you all for your explanations. Each different explanation helps. I now see what my mistake was. Much appreciated, all of you.

[Schmidlapper]

Obviously it is impossible to do an incident reading for a whole landscape then

Actually you can do an incident reading for a whole landscape without driving way out there and all points in between, as long as you can get the meter dome into the same light condition as the landscape is in. So if the landscape is in morning sun then hold the meter in the same morning sun and aim the dome toward the camera lens with subject directly behind the dome, just don't create a shadow on the dome with your body or something else. Now the incident meter will use the dome to average the amount of light falling on it and meter against a neutral gray. That is the same average light as the landscape is receiving from the lenses perspective, whether close or far, now it may not be the best setting for say exposing for a certain feature in the middle of the landscape, disregarding the rest of the scene, but that is when a spot meter is better. Where an incident meter really hits its stride though is with flash photography. I have started using an incident meter a lot and it isn't always the better choice for every situation, but it often is more accurate than the reflected readings from the camera. I have noticed much better results and less PP when used correctly to set camera exposure. Your mileage may very though.

[arnold]

Actually you can do an incident reading for a whole landscape without driving way out there and all points in between, as long as you can get the meter dome into the same light condition as the landscape is in. So if the landscape is in morning sun then hold the meter in the same morning sun and aim the dome toward the camera lens with subject directly behind the dome, just don't create a shadow on the dome with your body or something else. Now the incident meter will use the dome to average the amount of light falling on it and meter against a neutral gray. That is the same average light as the landscape is receiving from the lenses perspective, whether close or far, now it may not be the best setting for say exposing for a certain feature in the middle of the landscape, disregarding the rest of the scene, but that is when a spot meter is better. Where an incident meter really hits its stride though is with flash photography. I have started using an incident meter a lot and it isn't always the better choice for every situation, but it often is more accurate than the reflected readings from the camera. I have noticed much better results and less PP when used correctly to set camera exposure. Your mileage may very though.

Thanks for additional information, it makes sense.

[bass3587]

This brings up a question I was having the other day. So if your in the shade or very dark area and your subject is in the sun or lit by studio lights I should use the EV button to get the correct exposure? Not trying to jump over the OP's thread

[Canada_Rockies]

This brings up a question I was having the other day. So if your in the shade or very dark area and your subject is in the sun or lit by studio lights I should use the EV button to get the correct exposure? Not trying to jump over the OP's thread

No, don't attempt to second guess the meter. Either move forward to the subject and meter from there (studio/outdoor portrait, etc.) or meter with the reflective meter. In tricky metering situations I tend to spot meter to get it close enough to post process my RAW files.

[ChrisPlatt]

By the time I got my first incident meter I had already learned to use a reflected light meter properly,
i.e. how to compensate for most factors that can cause an inaccurate high or low reading.
Consequently my incident meter readings never varied significantly from my "educated" reflected light readings.

In most situations a reflected light meter used correctly will work just as well and is a helluva lot more convenient.
That said if I worked in a studio setting or was exposing expensive large format film I might opt for an incident meter.

Chris

[stevebrot]

That said if I worked in a studio setting or was exposing expensive large format film I might opt for an incident meter.

...or an expensive spot meter!


Steve