Darin Boville
January 27th, 2016, 01:38 AM
Excuse what is certainly a newbie question but does anyone in the video world still use light meters?--I need advice...
I'm shooting with a Sony AX-100 which has zebras, which I use, but I still feel I'm flying a little blind. Much of what I shoot is in bright daylight, often on windy conditions. I can barely make out the flip-out screen in these conditions--and it needs to be closed anyway to avoid catching the wind. The EVF is a little better perhaps, but with my eyes adjusted for the bright sun it is still very dark.
I'm an experienced still photographer and am very comfortable with light meters in that use.
Do people use or recommend spot meters for video? Any primers on how to use them in the video context?
I'm mainly interested to know what is going on in the shadows in more detail--I can see the zebras at the highlights. For example, things that look black as soot in the viewfinder (on bright days) is coming out washed out a bit. I could have backed off the exposure a bit in these cases rather than risking highlights blowing out, had I known.
I can fix what I am getting now in post but I want to see if it is worth refining things a bit, to get more control of the exposure.
--Darin
P.S. I'm shooting alone--no need to communicate lighting info to others, etc., if that matters.
I'm shooting with a Sony AX-100 which has zebras, which I use, but I still feel I'm flying a little blind. Much of what I shoot is in bright daylight, often on windy conditions. I can barely make out the flip-out screen in these conditions--and it needs to be closed anyway to avoid catching the wind. The EVF is a little better perhaps, but with my eyes adjusted for the bright sun it is still very dark.
I'm an experienced still photographer and am very comfortable with light meters in that use.
Do people use or recommend spot meters for video? Any primers on how to use them in the video context?
I'm mainly interested to know what is going on in the shadows in more detail--I can see the zebras at the highlights. For example, things that look black as soot in the viewfinder (on bright days) is coming out washed out a bit. I could have backed off the exposure a bit in these cases rather than risking highlights blowing out, had I known.
I can fix what I am getting now in post but I want to see if it is worth refining things a bit, to get more control of the exposure.
--Darin
P.S. I'm shooting alone--no need to communicate lighting info to others, etc., if that matters.