Spotmeter Advice Required

[stuart_carroll]

Hi all,

 

I'm looking at buying myself a meter. Currently I have a friends Sekonic L308 incident

meter on (permanent) loan.

 

I'm looking at buying a spotmeter, or combo meter (spot/incident) to replace this.

Leaning towards a combo meter.

 

I've narrowed down my choices to three options:

1. Sekonic L-558

2. Minolta Flash Meter VI

3. Pentax Digital Spotmeter (+keep the current sekonic).

 

I'm going to get into the Zone system (for which I hear the Pentax is ideal) but also am

keen on spotmeter for low-light work. I shoot with M3, M6, and Mamiya TLR. I will

occasionally use flash, but this feature is not essential on a meter at this stage.

 

Any user reviews, advice or caveats would be ideal.

 

Thanks in advance, Stuart

[scipc]

I have FS a like new Sekonic L-508 which should fit your needs....jf

[ronald_moravec1]

I selected the Pentax as it is the only one you need not remove from your eye to see the reading. I found the Seconic a pain in that respect.

 

I can meter minimally lighted buildings at night with it.

 

My other companion is either a Weston with incident attachment or Seconic digital delux which I find works fine for 99% of outdoor work.

[andrew1]

L508 is too big to carry around all the time. When you really want a spot meter, the Pentax is small, and very accurate- and serviceable (a blessing and a curse). No such thing as the perfect meter.

[jerry_lehrer]

Stuart,-- I would say go with the Pentax but be sure that you are familiar with the Zone System. The Pentax is one of the few perfect

pieces of equipment in photography. Another perfect piece is the Leica

table top tripod and large ball head combo.

 

Jerry

[jim_simmons]

Minolta spotmeters (M and F) are also very nice and highly regarded. I use the M - simple, accurate, reasonably good ergonomics. Don't buy into the zone system as a complicated ordeal. Learn the basic level and see if that's enough. For most folks, it is.

[john_jovic]

My vote goes to the Pentax digital spotmeter. It's the only meter I have which I have always found to be absolutely accurate, as long as you use it correctly. Simple, cheap, effective.

 

I use it in relatively low light, ie after sunset and it seems to work well.

 

JJ

[jtk]

You can use ANY meter with "the" Zone System. One particular approach did once require EITHER a Pentax-type spot meter, a Luna Pro, or a Weston Master V, but that was long ago and far away, and it wasn't the core of the Zone System. In fact there are and were many approaches.

 

The approach that called for those meters assumed that it was hard to learn to visualize greys, which was of course wrong.

[charles_stobbs3]

Did Ansel Adams have a spot meter?

[bill_schneider1]

Back in the mid-90's I examined various spotmeters for linear accuracy, resistance to flare, and excessive susceptibility to infrared light which can cause inflated light readings under tungsten, setting sun, etc.

 

I have owned a three Soligor spotmeters, all of which had serious flare problems when reading shadows near bright areas. I'd avoid them.

 

A friend had a Zone VI modified Pentax which was very nice. It's small size is an asset and it is easy to use with the Zone system.

 

I now use a Minolta Spotmeter onto which I grafted the analog dials from one of my old Soligor spotmeters. The Minolta had the best flare rejection of all of the meters I tested, good (but not perfect) infrared handling, but I _hated_ the digital readout. That made Zone system use very cumbersome. That's why I took the front assembly from a Soligor and machined it to fit over the lens tube of the Minolta meter.

 

I'd be happy with either a Pentax or a Minolta spotmeter performance-wise, but the Pentax will be easiest to adapt for use with the Zone system.

 

I wrote about the light meter experiments mentioned above and got them published in a three article series in Darkroom Techniques Magazine. Go to the library and look for the March/April 1995 issue - (Light Meter Practicum, part I), May/June 1995 issue - (Light Meter Practicum, part II), and the July/August 1995 issue - Light Meter Practicum, part III. You can see a picture of my modified Minolta in one of the articles.

 

Bill Schneider

[chandos_michael_brown]

Adams used a British-made SEI .05 Spotmeter. It's an extinction type meter. I had one for several years.

<p> </p>

Here's an image:

<a href="http://i1.ebayimg.com/02/i/04/fe/9c/4b_1_b.JPG">http://i1.ebayimg.com/02/i/04/fe/9c/4b_1_b.JPG</a>

<p> </p>

<p> </p>

Cheers!

<p> </p>

CHandos

[ben z]

If you can find a nice used Sekonic L-408, it's not much larger than the 308, has spot, incident and flash metering. All the other spot meters I've seen are as big as a Leica itself.

 

As to one meter being more suited to the Zone System than another, each Zone is one stop from the next, so it doesn't seem like the meter should make any difference, maybe there's some where you can dial a calculator wheel to place Zone V at the read point and then read off the other Zones, but I'd think it would be more of an aid than an essential.

[pensacolaphoto]

The Pentax digital spotmeter is small and accurate. I have been using it for many years. It is a great little instrument that has paid for its cost over and over again. The analog Pentax spotmeter is bulkier, but costs less.

[stuart_carroll]

Thanks for everyones help so far - I think I'll try and find a pentax digital spotmeter.. That is,

unless anyone can convince me otherwise!

Stuart

[mark cortella]

Stuart;for your Leica,go take a look at this=http://www.cameraquest.com/voivcmet2.htm Voigtlander VC meter 2...perfect meter for an M3 and M6;Gossen in Germany makes really nice meters.

[mark cortella]

Sorry,forgot to include the Gossen link = http://www.gossen-photo.de/english/index.html

[frank_nesbitt]

I've used a Zone VI modified Pentax spot meter for years. Made it relatively easy to

practice the Zone System when I was doing 4 X 5 work. And I needed all the help I could

get in the view camera arena.

 

But for all round usefulness, I prefer an incident meter. No need to guess about what in

the scene is middle grey, one stop over it or one stop under. An incident meter is its own

grey card.

 

It's especially important when shooting chromes. Like digital, they can't handle much over

exposure. You must, "Protect your highlights!" as my long-ago teacher used to put it. An

incident meter does that. Of course, if you're shooting very high contrasts, a meter can't

make your slide film have more latitude. Years of using a Seconic version of the old

Norwood Director selinium cell meter conditioned me. Liked to forget about batteries,

too.

 

Guess it comes down to what you're used to and comfortable with. Seconic is hard to beat

for good incident meters that can also take a reflected reading when you need to.

 

For reflected light spot meter readings and work in the Zone System, the Pentax is

accurate, durable, easy to carry and reliable. A battery seems to last forever. If you can

find a Zone VI modified Pentax spot meter, it makes things a good deal easier. Try

Calumet Photo in the States. They bought Zone VI from its founder, Fred Picker.

 

Good luck on your adventure in Zoneland.

[ross_togashi]

If you decide on the Pentax Digital Spot Meter, Calumet sells the zone scale <a href="http://www.calumetphoto.com/ctl?&ac.ui.pn=cat.CatItemDetail&ac.item.itemNo=ZN6536&ac.cat.CatTreeSearch.detail=y&type=SPDSEARCH" >"sticker"</a> for $3.00 (plus shipping). Makes it easier for me to use the zone system. Fair bit of discussion on the Pentax Spot Meter elsewhere on Photonet. Good luck!

[pensacolaphoto]

shipping is at least $7.95 ....

[ross_togashi]

"shipping is at least $7.95 ...."

 

Nope. If this is the only item you are ordering and you ask them politely they might lower

the postage.... :)

[sprouty]

<I>"Did Ansel Adams have a spot meter?"</I>

<P>

Maybe he should have...he made some negatives that were pretty tough to print.

[ilkka]

After graduating from the SEI, Ansel Adams used the Pentax spot meter, first the analog, later the digital. There must be something behind its popularity.