Need help picking a spotmeter

I can second the recommendation of the L-508 type Sekonics (I've got a L-608, but all of the Sekonics in that series are fairly similar). Great spot meter with direct readings (no fiddling with calculator dials) coupled to a good incident meter.

I use incident much more than spot and a dedicated spot meter doesn't appeal since it means I have to carry two meters at once - spot meters are slower to use since they require a bit of thought about what you want to meter.

The L-408 is great too and cheaper - but it doesn't give a readout in the spot finder, you have to check the main display. Plus the display isn't illuminated as it is on the bigger Sekonics, which is really useful in low light.
 
Roger Hicks said:
I meant that it requires a certain willingness to adapt to Gossen's world picture; it is not exactly intuitive.

Actually, I was referring to the Spotmeter 2, not the attachment.

Cheers,

R.
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Drat! I was hoping I would learn something new.

I know nothing about the Spotmeter 2. I only have the attachment for the Luna Pro SBC models, and I don't really use it very much. It seems rather straight forward; meter, zero, check the reading, and adjust from there based on what I want. Maybe I just don't know enough to do it right.

I noted Chriscrawfordphoto's comment about Gossen and zone. Do you meant the straight Luna Pro SBC, or the Luna Pro F? I thought the latter made zone adjustments much easier.
 
The Luna Pro sbc makes + or - minus readings and comparing the range a piece of cake. Zero is not required unless you are metering the middle tone of the scene.
 
oftheherd said:
I noted Chriscrawfordphoto's comment about Gossen and zone. Do you meant the straight Luna Pro SBC, or the Luna Pro F? I thought the latter made zone adjustments much easier.
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There is no difference, unless you happen to own a very, very early Profisix/Luna Pro SBC - some of the earliest ones did not have zone number markings. The Lunasix F (Luna Pro F) lost the electronic attachment coupling in favour of built-in flash metering, otherwise it looks and behaves just like a Profisix. It was a gap filler they made to fall not too far behind Minolta, who already had sleek digital flash capable multi-purpose meters while the Gossen Mastersix was not ready yet and the Profisix needed a bulky attachment.

Sevo
 
oftheherd said:
Drat! I was hoping I would learn something new.

I know nothing about the Spotmeter 2. I only have the attachment for the Luna Pro SBC models, and I don't really use it very much. It seems rather straight forward; meter, zero, check the reading, and adjust from there based on what I want. Maybe I just don't know enough to do it right.

I noted Chriscrawfordphoto's comment about Gossen and zone. Do you meant the straight Luna Pro SBC, or the Luna Pro F? I thought the latter made zone adjustments much easier.
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I was talking about the Gossen Ultra Spot and Ultra Spot II only. These have digital displays in the viewfinder, and using the built in zone mode requires way too much button pushing for each reading. I use mine for the zone system but I do the calculations in my head.....much faster
 
Raymond,

There is no such thing as a perfect exposure ...
You will want to familiarize yourself with the following things before you buy your meter:

incident vs reflected light meters
Zone system
Light transmission problems
T-stops vs F-stops
film latitude
E.I. vs ASA
linearity (light meter)
B&W Filters and exposure
Linear vs Circular Polarizer filters
reciprocity failure
selenium vs CdS/Silicon cells
High Key and Low Key
bellows factor
reflectors, fill flash

Regards,
RLouzan
 
ChrisN said:
Back to meters - has anyone experience with the MeteredLight Pocket Spot? (http://meteredlight.blogspot.com/2008/05/pocket-spot-light-meter-top-and-bottom.html)
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I have read about it the over at LFF. Should be good, tiny, precise, but hard to get (out of production?) and pricey ($400 - $500 or something)

*****

But there are other options. I have never owned a spot meter (I do have the Sekonic Digisix which is incident with cca 30 degrees reflective possibility) so I used my DSLR as a meter with preview for several years. I have learned that the ISO on a DSLR agrees well with the color positive/negative film ISO.

On the other hand - using the incident light meter requires also some praxis - I returned from New Zealand with quite some underexposed shots - lesson learned. Learn to use your equipment.

Also - with incident meter it is not possible to judge correctly the dynamic range of the landscape - and our brain can cheat very well.

My current choice would be a camera like the new digital Oly Pen or Panasonic GF1. They are just still too pricey, but have good size (much smaller than DSLR) and when equipped with a zoom lens ( like 28 - 105) cover most of the range necessary.
 
Thank you all for your willingness to share your experience and advice! I'll be printing this thread and doing a lot more reading before i buy anything.......

Ty all again.
 
I still have my Pentax Digital I bought from Zone VI, back when I was using it for expensive large format transparency commercial shooting. It has never let me down, and I know from experience it is dead-accurate in all situations. Also use it for B&W LF Zone system shooting. It's the best I've ever used. I use this meter in all kinds of situations, with all kinds of cameras. It always comes through for me.

I also have an old Minolta Auto Spot 1 degree, that I am also very fond of. It's quite funky, goes rrr.rrrr.rrr when you use it, looks like a tank, but it's also been surprisingly accurate for me. Like to use it when I'm out with my Minolta SR reflex stuff.
 
I recently picked Pentax Spotmeter Digital on flea market for 5 EUR!!!! Changed battery and it's working, very accurate indeed.
 
sevo said:
There is no difference, unless you happen to own a very, very early Profisix/Luna Pro SBC - some of the earliest ones did not have zone number markings. The Lunasix F (Luna Pro F) lost the electronic attachment coupling in favour of built-in flash metering, otherwise it looks and behaves just like a Profisix. It was a gap filler they made to fall not too far behind Minolta, who already had sleek digital flash capable multi-purpose meters while the Gossen Mastersix was not ready yet and the Profisix needed a bulky attachment.

Sevo
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That explains it then. My SBC is an early one as it doesn't have the zone scale. Not really a problem for me. My recently acquired Luna Pro F does have it.

Thanks Chriscrawfordphoto for your reply as well.
 
venchka said:
The Luna Pro sbc makes + or - minus readings and comparing the range a piece of cake. Zero is not required unless you are metering the middle tone of the scene.
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That doesn't really quite work for me. I work in so many different types of light, it isn't uncommon for the meter to spike on end or the other. I then have to zero it for a useful reading.
 
With the discussion of the Zone System above, I hope people won't mind if I drop in here a quote from a discussion over on the Large Format forum. It's the best explanation I've seen.

Gem Singer said:
Aim the one degree spot at the darkest area in the scene where you still want to see some detail. Close down two stops.

You have just placed the shadow area in Zone III.

That's usually the proper exposure for the scene.

Now, aim the spot at the brightest area in the scene.

If it's a five stop range between the darkest and brightest reading, use normal development.

Less than five, increase development.

More than five, decrease development.

No need to take a whole series of meter readings and average them. That's defeating the purpose.

Just make certain that you have given enough exposure to get some detail in the shadows. Then, develop for the highlights.

That's the Zone System in a nut shell.
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The whole thread (here) makes good reading.
 
Hmmmmm been reading everything I could find on Rlouzan's list and I feel I have a decent understanding of the lighting issues that would demand a good spot meter.....I've been bracketing for so long now that I really had to relearn much of this material. Yes the world of Split ND filters etc., etc. is exciting (man I need to get a life).

Again thanks to all for your help and as always a fun read to problem solving!
 
I use a digital camera that can display histograms as a light meter..... That's my only use of digital cameras in photography, besides taking pics for presentations.
 
glchua said:
I use a digital camera that can display histograms as a light meter..... That's my only use of digital cameras in photography, besides taking pics for presentations.
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Have you calibrated the iso sensitivity of the sensor against your film and processing practice? I find mine is not a perfect equivalent.
 
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