Pentax Digital Spotmeter reason for cost?

[Dennis-B]

I found a Pentax digital, converted by Zone VI, a couple of years ago at a local shop. I already had a Sekonic L508 and a Soligor Digital Spot. I compared all three, and couldn't find any real differences between any of the three. Last year, at an antique store, I found a Zone VI-converted Soligor Digital Spot for $65, too good a deal to pass. I did another comparison between the four, and they're too close to tell any differences.

A had Minolta and Soligor analogue spot meters, and they always served me well. When I unloaded my film equipment a few years back, they went with it.

As a few others mentioned, the Pentax digitals have achieved cult status.

I often go out with my Hasselblad, and carry the Pentax. Most folks have no idea what the meter is, other than maybe a digital camera.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

If it floats your boat, great, but that does not make any other similar product bad.

Nope. Never said it did.

 

[CMoore]

However the rules of supply and demand rule.

Yeah, i am not sure why this is so hard to understand.
It is the same reason Leo Fender era Fender amps cost more than CBS era.
Why air-cooled Porsches are "worth" more than liquid cooled.
Why the Nikon F2AS costs more than the F2.
They did not have that much competition to begin with and all these years later, they still do not. A modern day Sekonic spot costs a lot and does way more stuff.....like a Digital SLR, it can seem overly complex.
They basically do one thing and they do it well, and most people have all the other (light meter) angles covered and just need a spot.

I have a Soligor (digital) spot that i need to send to somebody for Service/Calibration. I have never used it, and it would be nice to give it a try.

 

[rubbernglue]

I didn't know it was particularly expensive, just a bit hard to find.. At the time I was traded a large format camera (2014) I had my eye for a L-558 or the Gossen Starlite (a "Minolta spotmeter F" followed along the LF camera but I found it too bulky and plasticy and had like 1000 buttons). The starlite too expensive and not really good enough for the price, and too the Seconic with spotmeter functionality turned out too bulky I suddenly found a very nice Pentax Digi Spotmeter for about $100 so I bought it and a mint Seconic L-358 for another $50, so I can use them separately for each occation. I use the Pentax pretty much only for LF, but I like it very much, not too bulky and does not drain its batteries (and uses the right ones!)
It's a well enginered piece, well built in high quality, I can understand why it costs a little more. just after I bought the Pentax meter though I was offered yet another one for even less money

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I bought a used Pentax V spotmeter with the zone card on the outside ring. The set up is so intuitive that it is a joy to use. The pistol grip is handy in use, but it makes for a bulky accessory to pack. I did not know Ansel Adams used a like meter when I purchased it. I expect he had all sorts of meters available him, and yet he chose this one (or one like it). Seems to a sterling recommendation.

I have several meters(probably too many) but, none are easier to use or more intuativefor Zoe-System work than the Pentax -1 degree spotmeter

 

[ic-racer]

Things only cost more if one is foolish enough to pay more.

 

[Eric Rose]

Things only cost more if one is foolish enough to pay more.

Should read "Things only cost more if many are willing to pay more."

 

[MattKing]

I think we have a skewed outlook on this.
At the time that the Pentax Digital Spotmeter was current, used, high quality products tended to be much closer in price to new products than they usually are now. Our sense of "normal" has been affected by the disruption in the photographic market. We expect the prices of used items to have fallen precipitously, so we are surprised when some items maintain their prices.

 

[Nokton48]

I'd agree with that. I'd wager when people were dumping their film equipment fifteen years ago, this meter could be more easily found cheaply.
Times change, some people are tired of digital. So prices are back up on some film related items.

 

[mshchem]

I've had them practically given to me. I have sold them all. I use old Minolta incident meters, The old days, Kodak would print suggested settings on the 120 backing paper. Worked great.

 

[Arklatexian]

You can always buy something that MIGHT work. You can also buy something that works when you do extra calculations. Of course you could also end up with something that really doesn't work as well as it was supposed to.

Or, you can pay a little bit extra and buy something that DOES work. Somehow that makes sense to me and it obviously makes sense to a lot of others as well.

Reputation just might have a little bit to do with the fact that the Pentax meter is a little more costly. AA may have been part of the reason that this reputation was started but I have heard no one since argue that the reputation is not deserved.

Well put Pioneer. I bought mine from Fred Picker at a time that I did not know that AA used one. Fred sold me the meter. Using it has kept me from wanting to sell it. However if you don't want to buy anything that AA or Fred used, then don't buy one. It is as simple as that. But then don't mistake supply and demand for "greed".......Regards!

 

[Deleted member 88956]

How many other light meters offered the 1 degree spot meter and as durable looking of a package as the Pentax model?

How many of those get talked about on a regular basis such that someone reading photography forums, who doesn't own one, is likely to recognize the name?

...

Good point, and reason why just as good a meter can be had for so much less. Of course when you get GASed up, then you end up with marvels like Minolta Auto Spot 1 , then the 2 (I like the 1 much better as it is bigger, meaner, and I can't stop thinking why so much going on just to show a light level). I also like the Pentax Spot V, but normally use the Minolta Spot F.

Pentax digital has a following as it is a featured meter in many books and articles, so I suppose you either get things "right" and get one or get another and you're never sure if you ... got it ... well, I don't got one and ... I got it.

 

[Deleted member 88956]

Ansel Adams used one, so every large format landscape photographer thinks he needs one. They're not rare by any means, but the prices are kept artificially high by dealers because people are dumb enough to pay the prices they demand.

Exactly.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I've been trying to figure this out for a long time. I like my Sekonic L-718 a lot, have the 5 degree attachment, and no real reason to change, but being afflicted with GAS I find myself looking to stray from the monogamous relationship I have with my meter.

In walks the older yet still sexy Pentax Digital Spot Meter. Simple in form and does one thing but does it well, apparently. Which makes me wonder why something that is. lets face it, built on old technology is so expensive? I'm not complaining, just really curious.

This thing only displays EV and has dials, the user manipulates, to find proper exposure.

for Zone System workers it's simply the most efficient.

 

[Deleted member 88956]

for Zone System workers it's simply the most efficient.

It's been advertised as such for sure. Most any meter can be mastered though to same efficiency, but it partly depends how complicated one wants to get with Zone System. I don't believe the price of Pentax Digital has anything to do with ZS efficiency, it's a cult device more than anything.

 

[CMoore]

I guess some of the later day film cameras had a spot meter built in.? (of some type)
Forgive my trespass...I had to check the forum we are in.....100% analog. So we cannot discuss digital light meters.?
If not, then how many spot meters were ever made.?
I think Minolta made one.?
I have a "digital" (display) Soligor that i need to send to somebody for Calibration.
And there is the Pentax.
Any thers of note.?
Compared to ALL the different types of reflective and incident light meters before the digital age, what percentage of those were Spot. I would think a pretty small percentage.?
I would think that is what makes them expensive.?
Plus, a modern day Spot Meter is quite costly...isn't it.?
Thanks

 

[Deleted member 88956]

I guess some of the later day film cameras had a spot meter built in.? (of some type)
Forgive my trespass...I had to check the forum we are in.....100% analog. So we cannot discuss digital light meters.?
If not, then how many spot meters were ever made.?
I think Minolta made one.?
I have a "digital" (display) Soligor that i need to send to somebody for Calibration.
And there is the Pentax.
Any thers of note.?
Compared to ALL the different types of reflective and incident light meters before the digital age, what percentage of those were Spot. I would think a pretty small percentage.?
I would think that is what makes them expensive.?
Plus, a modern day Spot Meter is quite costly...isn't it.?
Thanks

Minolta made at least 3 (kind of 4 if you count Spot F and M as separate), Sekonic made at least one + multiangle versions, Gossen made several with 1 degree capability by either direct or through an accessory, Pentax made several over the years, Soligor and all derivatives base on same design with analog then digital display, and add to those all versions with small angle attachments and i think 5 degree still qualifies as spot. Then you had the Weston Ranger 9 with rather wide 18 degree view but still quite useful for Zone System (and a historically important one for Weston too as it was nothing like they had built before or since).

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Minolta made at least 3 (kind of 4 if you count Spot F and M as separate), Sekonic made at least one + multiangle versions, Gossen made several with 1 degree capability by either direct or through an accessory, Pentax made several over the years, Soligor and all derivatives base on same design with analog then digital display, and add to those all versions with small angle attachments and i think 5 degree still qualifies as spot. Then you had the Weston Ranger 9 with rather wide 18 degree view but still quite useful for Zone System (and a historically important one for Weston too as it was nothing like they had built before or since).

My Minolta Autometer IIIf has a 10 degree attachment for metering reflected light. Minolta considers that a "spot" reading. I don;t use the Zone system; I shoot 120 roll film. So it's OK for my uses although switching from reflected to ambient or the reverse is a pain because you have to swap elements. I use the 10 degree reading like you would use center-weighted readings in a film SLR or DSLR.

 

[4season]

$300-350 sounds like an alright price to pay for one if you need it. It's super-useful for evaluating the contrast range of a scene with it's readout in Exposure Values rather than f-stops and shutter speeds.

 

[Deleted member 88956]

My Minolta Autometer IIIf has a 10 degree attachment for metering reflected light. Minolta considers that a "spot" reading. I don;t use the Zone system; I shoot 120 roll film. So it's OK for my uses although switching from reflected to ambient or the reverse is a pain because you have to swap elements. I use the 10 degree reading like you would use center-weighted readings in a film SLR or DSLR.

Perfect, Zone System is often a waste of time as not that many scenes actually require ZS to make the best of it, especially for someone who is good at evaluating tonal range of a scene before even picking up the meter. For times when exposure and development needs to be fine tuned for best possible outcome, or more importantly for as easy a printing time as possible, ZS is in and for that spot meter comes in really handy.

The point of this discussion was about high pricing of Pentax Digital Spot, but there are alternatives at far lower price point that afford same control over the process. Yours is a generally good way to cover most scenes more than adequately without getting too far into nit picking one value over another, or to put it another way: employing way too much form over function.Still, ZS can be used in any situation if one so chooses.

 

[Deleted member 88956]

$300-350 sounds like an alright price to pay for one if you need it. It's super-useful for evaluating the contrast range of a scene with it's readout in Exposure Values rather than f-stops and shutter speeds.

Isn't it a matter of adjusting how you interpret your meter? No need for EVs to apply ZS principles as they are meant to be, for same level of control.

 

[faberryman]

No one disputes the accuracy of the Pentax 1 degree. The original question was why are they so expensive and sought after. The only answer is a type of fanboy mentality. In addition to that you are pretty assured someone you are out with can school you on it if your new to the zone system.

Except that they really aren't that expensive when compared to current meters with the same capability.

 

[Nokton48]

Ya'll go ahead ahead and use what you are going to use. I've got plenty of choices, myself. Enjoy using what you have already. Fred Picker had a giant rubber stamp he used to answer an overload of countless questions. The rubber stamp said "TRY IT"

 

[MattKing]

So we cannot discuss digital light meters.?

No problem whatsoever.
Digital image capture, digital file manipulation and digital printing are the subjects that have their own sub-fora.
And things like "digital tripods" and "digital camera straps" are just silly.

 

[Vaughn]

I have both Pentax spot meters and have used various other meters such as Luna Pros. What attracts me to the Pentax Digital Spot Meter is less moving parts -- in particular no needle to mess up.