Pentax Spotmeter modified vs. unmodified

[Tim Hyde]

I notice that Pentax Digital Spotmeters on eBay get quite a premium if they are Zone VI modified. Is this modification worth a couple hundred dollars? What is the difference? Somewhere here I read that the modification costs one stop of light, which would be a problem for me.

[ronald moravec]

I scanned a color chart with one 20 years ago and every color gave a different reading. I thought the idea was the mod would allow any reading to be grey. So if you need for yellow to be lighter than grey as it should be, more exposure needs to be given just as with an unmodified meter.

If you need to modify evey reading, why modify the meter? Just adjust from the unmodified meter reading. The instruction book gives recommended adjustment values based on color of subject. I reduced the page with a copy machine and pasted them on top the meter. Seems to have worked just fine.

Then again maybe I`m missing something. Perhaps someone who owns one will explain.

[Paul Butzi]

Is this modification worth a couple hundred dollars?

See my test results at www.butzi.net/articles/zone%20VI%20worth%20it.htm (http://www.butzi.net/articles/zone%20VI%20worth%20it.htm)

That article presents both my conclusions and the raw data, from which you can draw your own conclusions.

If you have comments or questions, please send them to me via private email.

[Tim Hyde]

Thanks, Paul. This answers my question. I had actually seen this test before but forgotten about it--though I vaguely remembered the loss of function in low light for the modified meter. Great site, by the way.

[windpointphoto]

I think the original idea was, with the modified meter, no matter what you took a reading of, the final result was a zone 5 tone. Be it grass, wood siding, a rock, with or without filters, well you get the idea. The test Picker recommended was to take your meter, expose a number of different subjects, expose at zone 5 and develop the negs and prints the same. If you got the same tone, which you should, your meter was fine. Lots of meters, like my Pentax spot V didn't. With the modified meter they did. End of a major problem. Don't make the reason for the modification more complicated. If you use one meter and do your film tests there is no problem with loss of a stop, if that issue even ever exsisted. I never had that problem.

[Jim Rhoades]

I never did a intensive test like Mr. Butzi. I have tested my unmodified meter against other Zone VI meters. Never found a lick of difference.

It's like those multi-colored fishing lures that sporting good stores use to catch fisherman. Under water all color turns to a blue/green and white.

[Kirk Gittings]

There are other opinions about this. Alan Ross (one of the leading photographers in the west-former assistant to AA) used to have an uncompensated favourable appraisal of the ZVI Pentax meter on the Calumet website. I can't find it there anymore or I would point you to it. He found, as I have, that there was a significant difference. I used to have two Digital Pentax's (one for backup), one modified by Picker and one original. I was so impressed with the modified one based on my testing that I paid to have the other one modified by Calumet.

Alan after some frustrating repairs from Pentax that failed to match his two meters now uses a Pocket Spot Meter.

Having said that, for the vast majority of my 35 year career (30 years), I used unmodified Pentax meters with good results.

I recommend Richard Ritter for repairs and calibration of all Pentax's.

http://www.lg4mat.net/page4.html#6

Calumet still sells the original ZVI Zone System scale for these if you are interested.

http://www.calumetphoto.com/ctl?ac.ui.pn=cat.CatTreeSearch&keywords=Pentax+Zone+VI&x=11&y=11