What is a Good handheld spot meter

Shaggysk8

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Hello, I am new to photography and I have a vintage Weston light meter it works fine, but gives an all over average exposure.

I want to start using the Zone system so
1: Do I need a spot meter? and
2: if so what would be a good one to get, I do not want to spend loads and also I have heard about the K Factor and I really don't want that to be added. Anything that is changed I want to do it.

Paul
 

Ian Grant

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A good second hand Pentax Spotmeter V. The Capital/Soligor spotmeter is also excellent, they were imported by Warners in Wolverhampton (they closed 2 or 3 years ago) and were very reasonably priced. Both come up for sale frequently on Ebay and also on this Forum. In the UK you can get a good Spotmeter for between £80-£150.

I use both, I do prefer a Spotmeter for critical work, but I can also use a normal meter to achieve similar results. It's more a case of if you think you'd do better with one - it's extremely useful to measure the highlights & shadows accurately and tailor your film speed & development to suit a subject/lighting situation.

Ian
 

BobNewYork

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I've used a Minolta Spotmeter F for many years now. It's been dependable and accurate. As for the "K" factor which AA highlighted, what St. Ansel was indicating was that many manufacturers, (and I think this referred more to in-camera meters) calibrated their meters to give a 1/2 to full stop of overexposure to increase the odds of a "point 'n' shooter" attaining well exposed photos. If you're embarking on the Zone System it doesn't matter to you. You will calibrate your meter, your film, your development technique and your printing. If that means your EI for Tri-X is 100, 200, 400 or 800 so be it. Setting your meter to achieve the results you need is exactly what the ZS is all about.

The Zone System is a great way to achieve superior technique, (to quote Fred Picker). I'd recommend that you don't just follow the instruction manual you choose, but try and think each step through logically. "Why would I do this?" "What's the purpose of this step?" etc. I say this because when I started, lo these many years ago, I just followed the directions without them necessarily making intuitive sense to me and i think I deferred my personal "Eureka" moment by a decade.

If you don't get the purpose of something ask here. There's a wealth of knowledge and experience available and, let's face it we all love to spout 'tography!!
 

BobNewYork

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I'll put in another vote for the Minolta Spotmeter M or F, F preferably because it takes AA batteries, whereas the M uses an expensive silver oxide battery.
Click to expand...

I'd forgotten that advantage. And the AA seems to last forever. A little like the battery in my Bronica SQA
 

Chan Tran

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TheFlyingCamera said:
I'll put in another vote for the Minolta Spotmeter M or F, F preferably because it takes AA batteries, whereas the M uses an expensive silver oxide battery.
Click to expand...

I had 2 spotmeter M and both took 1 AA battery. I know there was a version of the M that took other type of battery.
I know most of the folks who is into the zone system like the Pentaxes, both the V and the digital version. They are quite expensive on the used market. The Minolta spotmeter M/F are quite resonable in price although the F is more expensive. The Minoltas don't have a mechanical calculating dial so you can not attach a zone scale to it. I found both of my meters are very accurate so I don't think it's the accuracy of the Pentaxes that demands more money. I think it's the scale. Speaking about the scale, the Soligors have about the same scale as the Pentaxes. Not too many of them around but when they are available they went for a lot less than the Pentax.
Otherwise, you can get the more more modern multi function meters, like the Konica-Minolta flashmeter VI, Sekonic 558, or the Gossen starlite which can measure incident and spot as well as flash. I heard that the Starlite has a digital zone scale but I don't know.
 

Poisson Du Jour

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May you have many thousands of satisfying photographs ahead of you, Paul!

All meters give an average reading and this is where you make decisions based on what the meter suggests.

There are many meters available ranging from a couple of hundred to almost a $1000. The Zone System works on the principal of assessing luminance over a given area (the scene you are about to photograph) and is chiefly more useful for we interchanging LF photographers, but it also has its uses in 35mm (along a compacted Zone scale, especially with tranny stock).

Be aware that the Zone System works on visualising values (or tones). We humans see things in colour remember, but the ZS works on a scale of white to black. It's not a "quick overnight job" to learn Uncle Adams' baby, but more like several years of patient trial and error, likely wasted film, going back, repeating, reading etc (Three Rs: Rote, Repetition, Refinement).

Your budget and how persistent you are (now and into the future) will also determine what meter you get, rather than a preference for a spot or something else. True, the Pentax Spotmeter V is fine, so too, is the Sekonic L758D, which is around my neck as I type (!). Incident and reflective readings all have their specific use (emplying the ZS, I use spot predominantly with large format, intermittently with incident in 35mm).

APUG is of course a great place to bounce around ideas and theories.
 

Robert Kerwin

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Chan Tran said:
The Minoltas don't have a mechanical calculating dial so you can not attach a zone scale to it. I found both of my meters are very accurate so I don't think it's the accuracy of the Pentaxes that demands more money. I think it's the scale.
Click to expand...

You can download and print the ZoneDial from Dead Link Removed. I set my Minolta Spotmeter F to read in EV and use the ZoneDial to place the zone and give me a set of equivalent exposures. The ZoneDial is a handy little tool, though it's probably not as convenient as having a dial built into the meter.
 
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BobNewYork

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I never got on with the Zone dials. I just know the direct reading will give me a Zone V and then adjust exposure to place that part of the subject where I need it - or, often where I think I need it at the time!
 

Chan Tran

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I never use the Zone scale or Zone dials but I thought the reason for the popularity of the Pentaxes among Zone system user is about its scale.
 

Poisson Du Jour

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Chan Tran said:
I never use the Zone scale or Zone dials but I thought the reason for the popularity of the Pentaxes among Zone system user is about its scale.
Click to expand...

True for the Pentax Spotmeter and the Gossen Luna-Pro, two well-used meters I occasionally see among landscape photographers working the Zone. More commonly I see the digital meters, so it's personal preference I guess.
 

Galah

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Paul,
I have been using a simplification/adaptation of the "Zone System" using colour print film for a couple of years now: it works! I apply it to exposure only, and let the commercial processor do the rest, using their "standard" procedure only.

1) You do not "absolutely" need a spot meter, but it is very helpful. (If you don't have a spot meter, use your existing meter and meter close to the chosen spot -or a proxy of it)

2) I have 3 spot meters and use the Minolta F and a Soligor spotmeter the most.

The beauty of it is that you can pick any "zone" in the scene that suits your fancy, spot meter it (giving you a "Zone 5" reading of it, adjust the exposure (up or down) according to where you want that zone to fall in your exposure (using your manual settings) and shoot. All it takes is a single "reading": the rest of the zones will take care of themselves. (I find picking a zone 3, 4, or 7 works well for me)

Of course, if using the Zone System in its full glory, you would also be making compensations in the development of the film as well as in printing. All that is far too much dedication for me. However, I find using just the bit that relates to determining suitable exposure (only) is plenty for me.
 

ghost

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I hope you don't mind- but this reminds me of an issue I'm having...

I love my old analog Pentax meter, but it takes a funny battery that is no longer available- does anyone know of a reliable solution to this issue?
 

Lee L

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Chan Tran said:
I had 2 spotmeter M and both took 1 AA battery. I know there was a version of the M that took other type of battery.
Click to expand...
My Minolta Spotmeter M takes a 544 battery, also known as a PX-28 or 4SR44. That's equivalent to 4 stacked SR44, 357 or similar batteries with a total of 4x1.5=6 volts. You can't just stack them in the Minolta Spotmeter M because the battery compartment + terminal contact won't touch the flat end of a stock SR44. You can arrange some sort of way to make that contact work, and then a stack of 4 very common batteries will get you by. The PX-28 / 544 is still pretty easy to find.

Lee
 

randyB

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I've owned/used the Luna-pro, Luna-pro sbc, Pentax 1/21, Pentax digital and now use the Minolta Spotmeter F. All the meters were fine to use and did a great job. I went with the "F" because it is also a flash meter. It also has a feature that is handy for "Zone" work, you can take a shadow reading then a highlight reading and the meter will average it for you all the while showing you each reading on the LCD screen which means it will show you the spread of f/stops. Mine has been very reliable but then I've never dropped it.
 

36cm2

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Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8330/4.3.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

I want to be buried with my Pentax, it's that good. I use a zone scale sticker and life is even easier. I trust the recommendations I get from others on this site wholeheartedly though, and based on the descriptions above you've got several good options.

Leo
 

Ektagraphic

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I use a Sekonic L-208. It a small little thing that was only $100, but it certainly does the job!! Great little meter. I hightly reccomend it.
 

phaedrus

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Another vote for a Sekonic from me. Mine's the L-558, but the newer 758 is good as well. They do flash, even cumulatively and as a percentage added to daylight. They have a scale on their LCD screen where they place successive measurements. This makes working with the Zone System quite intuitive.
 

Curt

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I still have a Soligor spot that I got from Fred Picker, it was converted to be more linear, so they said. It's a nice meter and takes a 9 volt battery available about anywhere. It has red LED's so it's easy to read in any light. I also have a Luna Pro F with the add on spot thing. Although older it works great and I have it for a back up. If I'm not mistaken it takes a 9 volt battery too.
 

BobNewYork

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I had the Soligor at one time. It served me well and I liked it. I put Picker's Zone scale on it, (didn't have it modified). It didn't react well to a four story drop onto concrete though!

Bob H
 

Q.G.

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Apart for its size, and hunger for batteries, i think the Gossen SpotMaster is hard to beat.
It does all you could ever hope for, and that very well.

And when you are doing that Zone-thingy, there is no meter that offers what it does.
In the Zone-mode, it actually shows how the measured values shift on the zone-scale when you change the processing parameter.
After rearranging these measured points on the scale, i.e. after compressing or expanding the range, you note the N-value (so you can grab the appropriate film holder), and switch to aperture- or shutterspeed priority mode, or EV mode, and their displays already incorporate the changes the zone-settings require.
 
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36cm2

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I don't think Pocketspots are in production any longer. Could be wrong though.
 
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