meter of choice?

[Tony Karnezis]

It took me a long time to figure this out as being an engineer I was the ultimate geek early on with my spot meter checking and double checking my scene till it drove me nuts with results less than I expected. Since I started using my eyes instead of first reaching for my spot meter and checking it with the incident, the lights came on.

Does this mean you're not a geek anymore?

I have only owned Sekonic spot meters (the L408 and now the L608). As Frank said, the displays can be a bit busy for my taste (especially the 608), but that's mainly because the meters do so much more than I need. I like the simplicity of the Pentax spot meter.

Mike touches on an important point. Meter first using your head. I sometimes carry a small pocket meter (Sekonic L188) as a training exercise. Wherever I am (walking, on a bus), I guess the meter reading and then test myself to see if I'm right. That way, if I need to photograph something quickly and don't have time to meter, I'm much more likely to guess correctly. And in general shooting, I just don't need to use the meter as often as I used to.

[Adrian Pybus]

I was using the Minolta VI in spot mode and happy with it until I decided to get another spot so I didn't have to remember to move it from camera bag 1 to 2.
The Pentax digital spot is so much more accurate in measuring what you actually are pointing at. I can measure a small area with the Pentax, with the Minolta the area has to be larger to get correct results. I don't know if it's because the target circle is wrong or if it's wider than the one degree it's supposed to be.

[Leigh]

The Sekonic L-558 does everything you need. No longer made but available used.

Avoid anything with "digital" in the name. It's just an excuse to jack up the price.
(That refers to products identified as being for "digital" photography, not to having a digital display.)

- Leigh

[Frank Petronio]

An old meter-less 35mm camera is great to use as a trainer, I wouldn't do anything super critical with one but for walks and casual shooting grab an old screw-mount rangefinder and teach yourself to see the exposures. It's not that hard to do outside, there really is a finite range of normal exposures. Of course I am one of those guys who only uses one type of film for everything so that removes one variable (ISO).

Indoors it is a lot harder to judge lighting so take a pass but for most daylight you can guess intelligently - as did nearly everyone through the 1950s. Then when you use your meters you'll have some basis for judging them.

It's rather like kids using calculators to do things to the tenth decimal but not understanding the arithmetic.

[Chris Strobel]

Minolta Spot Meter F. It does flash and is easy for low iq brains like mine to figure out Been a happy user since 1995

[cdholden]

Sekonic L-358 and an analog Pentax spot meter

[Brian Ellis]

I owned a Minolta Spot Meter F and a Pentax digital spot meter. Since I only wanted the meter for zone system usage the various "features" of the Minolta made it unduly complicated for me. I preferred the Pentax for its simplicity. And while it does only one thing it does that very well. Since you have a digital camera I'm not sure why you'd want a flash meter.

[Frank Petronio]

Flash meters are really nice for studio work when you want to adjust your lights for evenness or to have a certain amount of difference. For instance you might want a white background two stops above grey and even across the entire field. It's hard to judge that with a DSLR but with a meter you can just pop every couple of feet and see where you're at / adjust as needed.

Anytime you want to know the numbers and ratios of the lights a flash meter is invaluable. If you're just shooting to get a working exposure then a DSLR will suffice.

The spot flash meter could be nice because you can stand at the camera position, otherwise most people are in the shot metering from the point they want to measure.

[Bill_1856]

Meter of choice? Euro-Weston.

[Frank Petronio]

I had one of those! Beautifully made and a lot of great history. Very slow to use though, definitely needed my reading glasses with that one.