Is the Minolta Flashmeter IV /spot suitable for LF

[Anthony Harrison]

I've often noticed a distinct bias toward the Pentax spotmeter, from US posters on this and other forums. They might be correct - I know little of the Pentax - but I've used the Minolta Spotmeter F for years and it is highly accurate, very sensitive, and thoroughly reliable. One might add that if a meter measures more than one degree it isn't a spotmeter anyway.. But that's pedantic. The recommendations for the Sekonic 508 are outdated - the new 608 (I have one for review currently) is a clear improvement, with e.g. viewfinder readout, albeit a bit dim, and other features that make it an excellent, versatile meter. I might buy it. The Minolta is very good indeed, just showing its age somewhat. Wouldn't be surprised to see an update soon. Get a used Spot F, perhaps, or a new Sekonic 608.

[Andrew Pell]

Sorry if this is jumping on your thread, Peter, but has anybody any experience with the Gossen Spotmaster 2 w.r.t. the zone system and how similar is the new starlite in this respect? Is it possible to specify what placement you want for multiple zones or does it work like the minolta with highlight / mid / shadow settings only? I like the idea of the starlite if the zs function is ok as it's an all-in- one meter but I have a multisix I could use with the spotmaster for incident work (yes, I know it's heavy and hellishly expensive but there aren't many pentax meters around here in the UK). I am moving away from sekonics due to them not handling low light as well but may consider the 778.

Any help would be appreciated and it might throw some more light on your choice, Peter.

Thanks