RZ67 metered finders

[Joel_L]

Hi,

I recently got an RZ67 with the PB finder. This is my first experience with the RZ and I'm liking it a lot. I've been shooting with the PB finder and find it meters well for most shots, but occasionally has difficulty. I'm learning its behavior but was wondering, never-minding the AE part of the AE finders, do they meter better than the PB? Is the answer true of the AE and AE II?

Thanks

Joel

 

[brucemuir]

Joel.
Im not sure what a PB finder is?
I have the first RZ AE finder. (works with RZ only unless factory modded, this service is no longer offered)
It has the shutter speed dial on the side.

The AE II has top mounted dials. (Works with RZ & RZ ProII)
Both of these finders will give stepless shutter speeds

You might want to find the manuals online as they explain the quirks.
The AE finder I have can be set to spot or average,

or can be set to switch between those 2 modes depending if you are in a backlit or similar situation.
The meter compares the center (spot) and the avaerage reading and if it differs by a certain % it goes to spot.

My model works very well once you get to know how it behaves in tricky situation but I wont rely on AE in funky lighting unless necessary.

 

[polyglot]

I think he means a PD Prism. I have the AE myself, no idea how accurate the PD is.

(I think I've used the meter only a couple of times. Most of the ISO selectors on my backs are dodgy, which makes AE useless, not to mention that whole-stop speed selections aren't really good enough for chromes so I still need a real external meter anyway. I also find it much harder to focus through the prism than WLF; its only real benefit is no up-nose portrait shots)

 

[EdSawyer]

I have both prisms, AEII and PD. Metering is probably a little more updated on the AEII, plus it has spot and spot/average
options that the PD lacks. That said the PD is a good prism, and definitely more affordable than the AEII. The thing that annoyed me most about was having to keep pressing the button to take the meter reading. With the AEII that's integrated into the half-press of the shutter button, much more convenient.

 

[Joel_L]

Thanks, sounds like I'll keep working with the PD I have and see if a great deal comes up on an AEII.

 

[andrewluke]

My Pro II kit came with the AEII after using the non-metered and AE I on my older Pro body. I highly recommend the AEII for the reasons above. The integration is just like shooting an SLR and the accuracy of the meter (especially the spot) is awesome for an in-camera meter. I use it over my Sekonic most of the time, only going that route when I need several spot readings or when shooting slides and I need to be dead-on.