Before we discuss how each meter works, we should first explain several things about the mechanics of meters, and how they can be used to work with film or video. Some meters measure light in footcandles, which is then translated into f-stops. A footcandle is a measurement of light that theoretically equals the amount of light received from one candle at a distance of one foot. Lux is the European equivalent of footcandles. For the purpose of the article, we will use f-stops as the standard measurement of light.
Lets begin with the shutter speed.
The reason for this is that there are 30 frames of video per each second of tape, but there are two fields of video per each frame. Unlike video, the reason for this is that each of the 30 times that a frame of film is exposed, the camera shutter opens to expose the film and then closes while the film is advanced to the next frame. Half the time the shutter is open and half the time it is closed. Once you have set the proper shutter speed on the meter, you must then set the meter for light sensitivity. The light sensitivity rating, or ISO rating, is a numerical value that rates how sensitive the film stock is to light.