Spot Meter 5° okay?

[jim_foley4]

Hi,

I'm looking for an inexpensive spotmeter for general landscape

work. It seems that the 1ï¾° meters may be out of my range. I have a

Sekonic L-718. Would the 5ï¾° attachment for this meter be suitable

for most situations? I realize there are a lot of variables

involved but based on your experience what are your thoughts?

Thanks.

Jim

[jim_foley4]

It seems that the degree symbol came out as a "?" on my post although the preview looked okay. Sorry.

[Ed_Ingold]

Five degrees seems a little big. The Sekonic L-558 only has a one degree spot, which seems to be the norm for most spot meters. I have an L-508 with a variable angle, but only use the one degree setting.

 

The 508 is a nice meter. See if you can find an used one.

[brian_schall]

I have a Polaris with the 10 degree attachment. I make do with it just fine. 5 degrees would be better. I have never ran into a situation where I really needed a 1 degree. Half the time I just Sunny f16 the exposure. Remember, one of Ansel Adams most famous photos, Moonrise, was taken without an exposure meter. He couldn't find his in the car.

[awahlster]

Brian I take it you don't shoot with a telephoto much then. Cause when using a lens with a 10 degress field of view a 10 degree spot meter ain't much of a spot.

 

I have a Sekonic 508L and find the 1 degree setting very useful with my long glass.

[rdkirk]

Sekonic used to sell a variable 1-5 degree meter. They dropped the variable capability because very few people used it at 5 degrees. Get the smaller angle if you can, but if you simply can't, you can live with 5 degrees, for sure.

[david_senesac]

I shoot 4x5 landscapes and own one of these 5 degree digital spot meters.

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=NavBar&A=getItemDetail&Q=&sku=247140&is=REG&si=spec#goto_itemInfo

 

Is 5 degrees enough? Depends what you are using it for of course. Long ago when I shot 35mm, I owned an Olympus OM-4T one of the first SLRs to incorporate spot metering in the 1980s. And it had about a 5 degree spot that was just fine. Actually for LF landscapes I make far more use out of the ambient sensor than the spot sensor and nail most of my shots. I work totally in EV. For studio and commercial work a one degree meter certainly has use but I don't see the logic for that outdoors. ...David

[brian_schall]

Mark

 

You're right, don't shoot long lenses much. I use the hand-held meter with my 4x5. A 240mm lens is the longest I have, normally shooting the 65mm or 90mm lens. If I use a telephoto with a 10 degree angle of view, then it's going to be on a 35mm SLR, which has a meter in it and I don't need the hand-held one.

[jim_foley4]

Thanks very much for the input. It was kind of what I expected... you can take great pictures with anything but as with most equipment better is better and it costs more. I was able to get a good deal on a L-508, still much more than I wanted to spend so the L-718 needs to get sold. Thanks again.

[david_henderson]

I think you have made the right decision. I could not meter landscapes the way I want with a 5 degree meter.

[roy1]

Jim,<br>

A little late to contribute, so I just wanted to say that you made the right choice,<br>

I found that ever since I started using the L508 my metering has improved. I have much fewer misses and better control of my exposures.<br>

I really like this meter, and though a bit too expesive for my budget as well I'd get it again if I had to.<p>

--Roy