I need a spot meter, what is recommended

[Andrew ren]

Another vote for Pentax digital spot meter.
I borrowed another one as my backup during the last photo trip one week ago, actually I am thinking of buying another one for myself.

Andrew

[Hany Aziz]

Another vote for the Pentax digital spot meter. Have Richard Ritter take a look at your Soligor meter first though, you may already have your meter but it just needs calibration.

Sincerely,

Hany.

[prvivozac]

I have Gossen Starlite meter/fleshmeter/spotmeter, and it broke last week. It was around my neck, and just falled down, the small tie untied. It falled on rock. Was good meter, but it has 1/10 stop separation without possibility of 1/3 separation, so it was little irritating for me. But spotmeter worked OK. I had problems with contralights (don't know english word), so I had to improvise hood sometimes(toilet paper roll :-))
I think about Sekonic.

[AlexLF]

Thanks for the replies.
If I did not have Polaroid to check exposure and composition, I would have screwed up about 10% of my photographs. The incident meter only gets me to average, which works most of the time but if the image is 2 stops brighter or darker than the light falling on my hand then I would have to shoot more film than the 4 -5 sheets of Velvia I already shoot.

My Soligor spot meter is a piece of junk...it is so far off. I do not use it at all.

I use a Gossen Luna Pro that I purchased 25 years ago. Works well but I need a new system now. I was wondering about the Gossen spot meter. Any happy users out there?

Do you guys use the Fuji instant film?

Thanks,
Charles

Charles, I've been using Gossen Starlight for over 5 years now and I really like it. It has plenty of functionality and it's waterproof. I get used to its zone system metering mode and that's the only mode I use.

[Richard Reddy]

Minority Report: Minolta "F" spot meter is very nice for my purposes. The metering area is one degree, and it takes one AA battery that lasts a very long time. It will meter flash, and reads in f-stops or EV. I've had this meter for many years. Very accurate.

You could hardly go wrong with Pentax digital spot either. It's an excellent meter, of impressive quality. I use Pentax medium format and also think highly of 67II metered finder which has clever/unique algorithm for estimating exposure across the frame. The Pentax spot meter with a needle is kind of clunky, but works very well and calibration can be adjusted by means of sliding-contact resistors for high/medium/low range.

[Turner Reich]

Frank, which digital camera do you use for the meter?

[Kirk Fry]

Another vote the analog pentax spot meter (it was about $800 new in today's dollars), I have had mine 37 years and had it recalibrated once and it still works fine. K

[Joseph O'Neil]

...analog Pentax spot meter VS digital Pentax spot meter.....yep....sounds like another religious debate to me.


joe
owner, two analog Pentax spot meters, and therefore clearly on the path of truth, justice and the righteous way of life

[GeorgesGiralt]

Hi !
I may be late on this one, forgive me if I'm...
I own and have owned a lot of lightmeters. I have kept only three of them :
A Pentax Digital spot meter, a Polaris II flashmeter with it's 10 ° attachment and a Lunasix 3 with it's 7.5 and 15 ° attachment.
I used a Gossen SpotMaster II (Ultraspot in the US) and sold it.
The main advantage of the Pentax is it's ability to read continuously and into the view finder : you seek on the picture the lower reading, mentally note it, and seek for the highest reading and get the difference in EV (AKA stops) instantly. Then, you get the average or the middle or whatever, set it on the dial and you've got your aperture and speed setting. Pretty fast and user friendly ! (if shooting Velvia you can decide what value to set on the dial if the interval is above the 5 stops latitude of the film. Easier to do than to write down)
I does not measure flash but do you need a spotmeter for flash ?
The Ultraspot was not linear so was useless for me. So I sold it. (low value readings where way wrong ! By more than 3 stops sometimes. And the calibration cost by Gossen was above the Pentax price, without warranty because this device was too old according to the Gossen rep.)
When I'm in a hurry or do not want to bother, I use the Polaris or the Lunasix. In incident.
I regret that all the Sekonics I've seen need that you look outside the visor to get the reading. Maybe they've modified this now, but..... when I bought the Pentax they had not.
Last but not least : the Zone VI modification for the Pentax Digital is useless. I often go into the field with a fellow photographer using a modified Pentax Digital spotmeter and the two readings are spaced by less than a 1/3 of a stop.... Not worth the extra money ;-) IMHO.