Spot Meter Buyer's Guide and/or Iphone Ap

[Scott Davis]

Another happy Minolta Spotmeter F user here. The good thing about it is it takes an AA battery. If you can't find an AA battery where you are, you're truly off the map. The great thing about it is it also does flash metering in addition to natural light.

[Drew Bedo]

Most posts on this thread endorse either Pentax or Minolta spot meters. Units from both brands are orphins now . . .am I right?

Is noone using any of the Sekonic meters?

[SW Rick]

I have a Sekonic L-558- the only downside is that it suffers from the "DSLR menu madness" syndrome. I like that it also has incident reading.

[rdenney]

Most posts on this thread endorse either Pentax or Minolta spot meters. Units from both brands are orphins now . . .am I right?

Is noone using any of the Sekonic meters?

I have an L-718 that I bought because I needed an incident flash meter for use with studio lights. It works quite well. But the spot attachment for it (which I have) only goes down to 5 degrees--not really enough for zone-system measurements. It's excellent for just about everything else, though, except that the attachments are hard to keep with it and not get lost.

The best current deal is probably an L-358 with the 1-degree spot attachment, though at retail it's not cheap.

I paid under $200 for my Minolta Spot F, in excellent condition, at a camera show. Not so long ago, but long enough that camera shows were still interesting.

I paid less than that for my Pentax Spot V, but that was back when the dollars I was using were worth a lot more.

Rick "who would have designed the diffusers and attachments to clip into the body of the L-718 when not in use" Denney

[falth j]

Can't figure it out...

time, price of gas, tripod, head, camera, lenses, hoods, dark room stuff, film, filters, chemicals, printers, papers, inks, densitometers, and all the variables these things produce and are all inter-related, and yet the eternal desire to skimp on a light meter...

I have more junk light meters sold on eBay that were mint, or works great than you can shake a stick at...

the cheapest in the end was brand new, even if I had to cut the wife's spending for a few month's... it was still cheaper to buy new, but then I made sure I was on the road for those two month's when her budget was cut.

sure glad my surgeon and hospital doesn't opt for second hand or second best...

[rdenney]

sure glad my surgeon and hospital doesn't opt for second hand or second best...

Difference between a hobby and a profession. You don't want to know what I have paid for engineering software.

But a Pentax Spot V, for example, is not second best, and it can be repaired to perfection and still cost less than an L-358 with a 1-degree spot attachment. And the Minolta Spot F is a completely modern electronic meter that if it works at all will probably continue to do so as long as you keep batteries in it.

Rick "most of whose large-format equipment was bought second-hand" Denney

[Drew Bedo]

Most large format gear is designed and manufactured to a pretty high standard to begin with. Most components don’t wear out or may be adjusted or repaired (shutters and bellows). So buying used equipment is not a bad idea.


In the case of some of my cameras, I don't look on it as ownership so much as stewardship. Kodak isn’t making “2-Ds” any more for example. While this is not one of the most versatile view cameras ever made, and while it does not have the cachet of a Master View, it IS a finely made mahogany wood cabinet-quality example of workmanship not usual today in a mass-produced item. The example I have was made some time in the first half of the previous century (circa 1935-ish) . I would like to think I am keeping it for someone else to use later on in this century.

I feel much the same way about the Zone VI that I have. I am using it untill it goes to someone else.

With meters it is a little different. At some point they will develop a technology that is somehow better, and wrap it in a package that is more convenient than what we have now (Pentax, Minolta, Sekonic, Broncolor . . .whatever). Photographers then will use that technology. I see that there are "apps" for smart phones that turn it into a light meter. I don't think they are useful right now, but who knows what next year will bring?

[sully75]

If I bought the best in everything I probably would never have started taking pictures.

I think there might be an indirect relationship between gear worship and good pictures.

[falth j]

"You don't want to know what I have paid for engineering software."

Not to hi-jack the op's intent, but, there was a very good discussion on PBS radio about the 'new' 'age of knowledge', and its availability to the general public.

The point being that nearly all really useful 'knowledge' today is locked behind a veil or firewall of 'pay for use, or pay to view' philosophy..

In that vein, the copyrighting of certain aspects of genome research, as well as having to purchase a software program, a computer, and a monitor to 'write' something, whereas in comparison to merely buying paper, pencil, or a typewriter a few years ago, to cite just a few examples from that PBS discussion a few weeks ago.

[Jan Normandale]

Paul, Pentax, Gossen, Soligor, Weston, all these are good. What you should do is a search and read the features of these meters looking for features that best suit your style of shooting. Everything is a compromise but this should help set your priorities into some kind of hierarchy. Then start looking for the price point that you want from a shortlist of possible meters that meet your shooting needs. Some people eventually end up with two or more meters but you should be able to find a good general purpose meter after some reading.

Here's a couple of links to get you started:
http://www.westonmeter.org.uk/
http://www.gossen-photo.de/english/fotografie.php