Which Spot Meter Do You Use

Alan Klein said:
The other nice thing is you can use Blinkies and its histogram, especially in center or matrix modes, something light meters don't have.
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Arn't the blinkies only showing a representation of the computed 8bit jpg image though ?
 
Alan Klein said:
The other nice thing is you can use Blinkies and its histogram, especially in center or matrix modes, something light meters don't have.
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In really big dynamic range situations, I tend to shoot digital with highlight weighted metering. I've found that my camera (a Nikon D-750) has plenty of capabilities in the shadows, at least in the raw files, whereas protecting the highlights tends to be far more important. In this regard, I find shooting digital a lot like shooting chromes.
 
The nicest spot-meter seems to be the Pentax digital. Compact, light and no extra bells and whistles. Fred Picker used to sell a very simple Zone scale that meant you could read Zones directly. Other meters, although excellent, seem to involve a small additional mental step - “Two seconds at f8, minus two-and-a-half stops.” for instance. Not inherently difficult, but another opportunity for error under distracting conditions.
 
David M said:
The nicest spot-meter seems to be the Pentax digital. Compact, light and no extra bells and whistles. Fred Picker used to sell a very simple Zone scale that meant you could read Zones directly. Other meters, although excellent, seem to involve a small additional mental step - “Two seconds at f8, minus two-and-a-half stops.” for instance. Not inherently difficult, but another opportunity for error under distracting conditions.
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Though the Gossen Starlite 2 has this built in. However, the meters with physical dials, such as the two Pentax models, make attaching a paper scale relatively easy. I used the pictures in the Ansel Adams books to create my own. Then you just have to remember to add on the filter factor(s), the bellows extension, etc.
 
Ian-Barber said:
Arn't the blinkies only showing a representation of the computed 8bit jpg image though ?
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That's true. However, I've been testing the process and have found the blinkies fairly match chrome film exposure range as does the histogram. (especially on the critical high end.) It's not perfect. But it gives some clues about the range of the subject's exposure values and when you're exceeding it. My camera also allows you to change the settings for the blinkies and histogram for alerts to shift the clipping alert points. So that could help in the process. YOu could also check various points with the digital spot camera as you would with a stand-alone spot meter.
 
thronobulax said:
In really big dynamic range situations, I tend to shoot digital with highlight weighted metering. I've found that my camera (a Nikon D-750) has plenty of capabilities in the shadows, at least in the raw files, whereas protecting the highlights tends to be far more important. In this regard, I find shooting digital a lot like shooting chromes.
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My digital camera tends to alert with the blinkies and histogram about two stops above average which is pretty much in line with chrome films range. I also let the shadows fall where they will. By the way, I'm using an fairly small Olympus micro 4/3 E-PL1 camera as the meter. It has a zoom lens 24-70mm equivalent. I set it on 70 when doing spot readings which gives me around 2%. If I had a longer lens I could get the spot down to 1%.
 
Pentax Digital that I don’t really get on with.
Sekonic 758 recently bought to replace the Pentax.
 
I have just picked up a Minolta Spotmeter M which I have been having a play with today. I did look at the pentax but this came up at a good price. The Average and Highlight / Shadow priority functions are interesting. So far with my limited testing its seems just the job for what I need and was somewhat cheaper than other alternatives. From what I have read in the manual (yes I did read some of it) Its setup for slide film rather than negative film in regards setting auto setting the highlights and shadows.
 
I like my Sekonic L858D, it took some time to start to feel comfortable using it, I like the function after an average reading where you can check the different EV values in the scene, really good for E6 film and good for B/W 4x5 sheet film.
 
I've got the Minolta Spotmeter F as well as a Pentax digital Spotmeter and a Reveni Mk 1 Spotmeter. The minolta and the pentax match exactly, I've adjusted the reveni to match the others.
 
I've recently got the Spot Meter Pro app for my iphone which looks pretty good, it gives you 1 or 2 degree options plus a log function whereby you have an image of the scene plus the highlighted measurement point and exposure value. I've calibrated it to my Pentax Spotmeter and it now looks ok at different light levels. Still easier to use the Pentax digital spotmeter but seems to give good results should you only have your phone to hand and useful to have the exposure logs.
 
Pentax spot meter, Sekonic spot and incident and plus I have the the Reveni lab spot meter which once you get used to it is very good
 
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I really like the Reveni meter, trouble is it’s so small I’ve misplaced it!
 
Worth it for the extra battery life and faster start up. It's only canadian dollars so only £17. I invariably found the LR44 batteries had ran out when I tried to use it in the past.
 
jhotopf said:
Worth it for the extra battery life and faster start up. It's only canadian dollars so only £17. I invariably found the LR44 batteries had ran out when I tried to use it in the past.
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I had the same problem....and considered the battery pack as an addition....but instead have now bought the mk2 which runs on 2 x AAA batteries....and I love it !
 
I use a sekonic L-558. Works fine but now I’ve tried a Pentax spot meter I feel the sekonic is better for incident and flash scenarios.
 
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