Pentax Spotmeter Zone Dial

[Andrey Donchev]

among other opinions

http://www.butzi.net/articles/zone%2...worth%20it.htm

http://www.butzi.net/articles/zone%20VI%20reprise.htm

Very useful readings! Thank you!

[Kirk Gittings]

I was going to post this on the thread about speeding things up in the field, but since you mention it here. I have two modified ZVI meters. One I bought used modified. It so outperformed my regular one that i had it modified too. With them I can quickly meter for the shadows thru the filter make a Zone III placement and band away. The problem is to preserve shadow detail. Filter factors vary with the color of the light and subject. This approach works bang on every time.

[Robert McClure]

Kirk,
Would you explain in just a little more detail the nature of the modification of your meters? To be honest, I have wondered what further could be done to the meter to enable it to "outperform" the factory model, unless it has to do with the calculation feature.

Thanks,
Robert

[Alan Rabe]

I have both a Pentax and a Soligor Zone VI modified meter and for myself the biggest advantage to a Zone VI modified meter is, it is not affected by colors, it sees light as film sees it. This comes into play when using filters. Filter factors are at best a guess. Thier affect on a sceen is a function of the colors involved. Metering thru the filter tells me exactly what the correct exposure is without worrying about factors. Also when metering thru the filter you can see the affect of the filter on all the areas in the scene. Many times I have tried a filter and found that it merged the sky with the horizon or a feature like a cliff face that abuted the sky. Only metering thru the filter will show that. If I had to pick one piece of equipment that has improved my work it would have to be my meter. My Soligor was the first piece of Zone VI equipment I purchased and I have never regreted it. The only reason I recently bought the Pentax is the Soligor is now 17 years old and I was affraid it might cease to function. It is now resides in my bag as a backup.

Enjoy,
Alan

[Kirk Gittings]

Robert, In short, What Alan said. Coincidentally on the Chaco trip three of us (Eric too) used the MZ6 with the same metering techniques. Between the three of us we probably have 45 combined years with these. It works.

Here is Alan Ross' explanation of the meter http://www.calumetphoto.com/ctl?PAGE...ECTMODMETERART