Lighting For Television

Measuring Lighting Incident Light Meters
The most commonly used meter for film and video lighting is the incident meter. Incident meters come in two varieties-Foot Candle meters and F-Stop meters. Both are used in the same way-to measure the amount of light striking the subject at the subject's location.
F-Stop meters display the amount of light on a scale calibrated by f-stops, at a given ASA rating. These meters are typically used by film makers, who deal with ASA rated film.
Foot Candle meters are the most commonly used meter for video. These meters display the amount of light striking them on a scale calibrated in foot candles, from 0 to 500 and are not dependent on any other factors.
Go to the article Foot Candle Definition by Brad Dickson for an explanation of foot candles. This article is part of the Society of Television Lighting Directors' web site. Use the Back function in your browser to return to this page.

Measuring Lighting