A light meter (or illuminometer) is a device used to measure the amount of light. In photography, an exposure meter is a light meter coupled to either a digital or analog calculator which displays the correct shutter speed and f-number for optimum exposure, given a certain lighting situation and film speed. Similarly, exposure meters are also used in the fields of cinematography and scenic design, in order to determine the optimum light level for a scene. Light meters also are used in the general field of architectural lighting design to verify proper installation and performance of a building lighting system, and in assessing the light levels for growing plants. If a light meter is giving its indications in luxes, it is called a "luxmeter".
Evolution
Actinometers
The earliest exposure meters were called actinometers (not to be confused with the scientific instrument with the same name), described as early as 1840 but developed in the late 1800s after commercial photographic plates became available with consistent sensitivity. These photographic actinometers used light-sensitive paper; the photographer would measure the time required for the paper to darken to a control value, providing an input to a mechanical calculation of shutter speed and aperture for a given plate number. They were popular between approximately 1890 and 1920.
Extinction types
The next exposure meters, developed at about the same time but not displacing actinometers in popularity until the 1920s and 1930s, are known as extinction meters, evaluating the correct exposure settings by variable attenuation. One type of extinction meter contained a numbered or lettered row of neutral density filters of increasing density. The photographer would position the meter in front of their subject and note the filter with the greatest density that still allowed incident light to pass through. In another example, sold as Heyde's Aktino-Photometer starting from the early 1900s, the photographer views the scene through an eyepiece and turns the meter to vary the effective density until the scene can no longer be seen. The letter or number corresponding to the filter strength causing the "extinction" of the scene was used as an index into a chart of appropriate aperture and shutter speed combinations for a given film speed. Extinction meters tended to provide inconsistent results because they depended on subjective interpretation and the light sensitivity of the human eye, which can vary from person to person.
Photoelectric types
Starting in 1932, electronic light meters removed the human element and relied on technologies incorporating (in chronological order) selenium, CdS (1960s), and silicon (semiconductor, 1970s) photodetectors. Most modern light meters use silicon sensors. They indicate the exposure either with a needle galvanometer or on an LCD screen. Selenium light meters use sensors that are photovoltaic: they generate a voltage proportional to light exposure. Selenium sensors generate enough voltage for direct connection to a meter; they need no battery to operate and this made them very convenient in completely mechanical cameras. Selenium sensors however cannot measure low light accurately (ordinary lightbulbs can take them close to their limits) and are altogether unable to measure very low light, such as candlelight, moonlight, starlight etc. CdS light meters use a photoresistor sensor whose electrical resistance decreases proportionately to the intensity of light exposure. These require a battery to operate, but are significantly more sensitive to low light, able to detect lighting levels approximately 1⁄100 of the lower sensitivity limit of selenium cells. However, CdS sensors fell out of favor due to their slower response and extended sensitivity to red and infrared wavelengths. Semiconductor sensors are also photovoltaic, but the voltage generated is much weaker than selenium cells and semiconductor-based light meters need an amplification circuit and therefore require a power source such as batteries to operate. These are usually named after the materials and filtration used to ensure the spectral response is similar to the human eye or photographic film, such as 'Silicon Blue Cell' (SBC) or 'GaAs'.
Many modern consumer still and video cameras include a built-in meter that measures a scene-wide light level and are able to make an approximate measure of appropriate exposure based on that. Photographers working with controlled lighting and cinematographers use handheld light meters to precisely measure the light falling on various parts of their subjects and use suitable lighting to produce the desired exposure levels.
Reflected and incident measurements Exposure meters generally are sorted into reflected-light or incident-light types, depending on the method used to measure the scene. Reflected-light meters measure the light reflected by the scene to be photographed. All in-camera meters are reflected-light meters. Reflected-light meters are calibrated to show the appropriate exposure for "average" scenes. An unusual scene with a preponderance of light colors or specular highlights would have a higher reflectance; a reflected-light meter taking a reading would incorrectly compensate for the difference in reflectance and lead to underexposure. Badly underexposed sunset photos are common exactly because of this effect: the brightness of the setting sun fools the camera's light meter and, unless the in-camera logic or the photographer take care to compensate, the picture will be grossly underexposed and dull.
This pitfall (but not in the setting-sun case) is avoided by incident-light meters which measure the amount of light falling on the subject using a diffuser with a flat or (more commonly) hemispherical field of view placed on top of the light sensor. Because the incident-light reading is independent of the subject's reflectance, it is less likely to lead to incorrect exposures for subjects with unusual average reflectance. Taking an incident-light reading requires placing the meter at the subject's position and pointing it in the general direction of the camera, something not always achievable in practice, e.g., in landscape photography where the subject distance approaches infinity.
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