built in light metre?

[viki]

hi people
im a filmstudent and im pretty new to shooting on film, ive been reading about the ArriSRII camera, and ive come across this camera as having a "built in light metre" this kind of perplexed me as i always hear ppl talking about lightmetres on set, and index cards, etc....could anyone just confirm or briefly explain how this can be? or am i reading something wrong? do i need to buy a lightmetre? does it matter if i shoot with colour or in b&W? thanks for any help

confused,

viki

 

[Lazlo]

In camera light meters in my experience are not nearly as accurate as off camera ones. Since film is so expensive, it is usually a good investment to get a reliable light meter and not run the risk of wasting time and money.

 

[laurent.a]

These built-in light meters are like still photo ones. They analyse the average light through the lens. It can give a good basic in many cases, but won't good enough for many other cases...

As it gives a mean value, you might be underexposed if shooting outside, someone behind who is the sky (highlights) for instance.

Also, there is a problem with continuity. The Keylight you'd figure out with an incident light meter + your own evaluations vs a mean value taht changes when the frame changes...

It's a bit like the auto-iris on a video camera, you see.

It's a good "assistant" for news reel, not for fiction film, I would say.

 

[BigBeaner]

Yes, it's basically an reflective reading whereas a light meter you're talking about is an incident. Personally, you're going to need both. I'm really amazed you find this hard to believe, a good deal of the old 8mm and super 8 cameras have a built in TTL light meter or one of some sort. But yes, you will need both, use the incident when you can but if you don't trust it or need a backup you have this other. Plus other situations might be able to take an incident reading, this comes in handy.