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Re: Hey Newbies...Histogram 101
Old 06-01-2006, 04:38 AM   #5 (permalink)
R_Fredrick_Smith
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dman65
I personally can't see replacing a light meter with a histogram either even with the black/white/grey target. That can tell you if the overall scene is exposed correctly, but it is two dimensional. How do you measure the power of the hair light relative to the main or the kickers? I've tried eyeballing that on the LCD before and I have always been sorry for it.
You still need the light meter even when using the black/grey/white calibration target that I use all the time. The primary reason I use the target is because it is more accurate that the meter. I have seen too many times when the exposure suggested by the target was different than that of the meter. When I shoot exposures for both the meter choice, and the target choice and compare them later, there is no question that the target ones are more accurate. But for figuring lighting ratios the meter does just fine, even if it doesn't agree with the target in many cases, it still tells you how much more powerful one light is than another, or a reflector, etc.

And you're right, there is no way you eyeball a lighting ratio on the LCD since its not only too small, but it really isn't the image you'll end up with, especially if you're shooting RAW.



Dee and the target.

Cheers,
rfs
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