Hot Lightmeter?

[fotogenik]

Just recently got a lightmeter and after some testing the meter seems to be about 3 stops hot. Is this normal for a meter to be hot or cold?

 

[Philip Weir]

Don't understand.
Are you talking about an exposure meter or a colour balance meter ???

 

[jwkwd]

Are you comparing your reading to your camera reading ? Does your camera have spot metering or multi type metering ? I would guess that since the light meter is averaging a larger area that it would give a " false " reading. False, only in the sense that your camera could be metering on a darker portion of the subject. See what i'm getting at ?

 

[fotogenik]

Lightmeter.

By hot I mean, when I shoot at what the meter says to shoot at, I have to lower the exposure by about 2.5-3 stops to get my highlights back when I load the image into camera raw.

 

[Digital Matt]

First off, what type of meter? Incident or reflected? You have to be careful "how" you are metering. Also, meters need to be calibrated to your medium, in this case, your digital sensor. Every sensor, even two identical D50s might react slghtly different, and the meter has a range that can be tweaked to match your output.

 

[Protean]

make sure your using it right, especially if its a spot or incedent meter

 

[mysteryscribe]

point it and your camera against a wall outside if they dont read the same or very very close less than half a stop take it back.

The most common problem, that isn't a broken meter, for that would be the wrong iso setting.....

Even an averaging meter shouldnt be three stops over all the time.