Most of you must be struggling to get the right exposure for your picture while on a clicking spree. With a digital camera it is easy to get the right exposure through trial and error. You can keep clicking at different exposure settings and view them in the LCD screen. On the other hand, with manual SLRs, like the Canon EOS-1 V SLR, it can cost you quite a sum if you try to get the right exposure through trial and error methods; because of the cost involved in developing the photos. Hence, it is advisable to use a light meter instead of trial and error to get the right exposure settings.

Among light meters, Incident light meters are the most accurate and commonly used devices. These measure the light falling on the subject. If you notice the picture on your left then you can see a white dome on the top. This dome is 3D, and gives the correct exposure readings for 3D as well as 2D objects. All that you need to do is hold the light meter in front of the subject, with the white dome facing the camera and press the button. The meter will then measure the amount of light falling on the subject and give you the readings in f stop and shutter speed. In the given picture, the meter reading will tell you that to get the correct exposure you should keep the f stop at 5.6 and shutter speed 60.