Spot meters - any decent, but inexpensive options?

FishyFish

FishyFish

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Nige
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I tend to meter most of my shots by either relying on the camera's meter or, for the cameras that don't have one, using my Sekonic L-208 Twinmate. The L-208 is good, and I mostly use it to take incident readings - which are accurate (as long as I can stand in similar light to the subject). The spot functionality is somewhat inaccurate unless I can get right up to the subject though, as there's no good way to know precisely which part of the scene it's measuring for more distant subjects. It's not too big a deal for negative film as there's plenty of latitude and I can always err on the side of caution and overexpose for the shadows, but I'd like to be more precise if I shoot reversal film.

I've been thinking about getting a more accurate spot meter for a while, but the ones I've seen tend to go for quite a lot of money, even second-hand. Not being all that knowlegeable about spot meters though it's possible that I'm missing some lower cost alternatives. Does anyone have any suggestions on good, accurate meters that don't cost an arm and a leg please, or do such things not exist?

Thanks. :)
 
What do you mean by expensive?

I have a Minolta Spotmeter M for use with my RB67 & Tomiyama which is absolutely "spot" on :)

It was about £100 when I bought it and a quick browse on eBay suggests there's an F which has flash capability but is otherwise identical to the M. Both are available in Japan for the sub £200 so I'd suggest a "saved search" with email alerts and a bit of patience for a UK sourced one if that's appealing.

If you're talking cheaper than £100, or new, I'm out of ideas.
 
Get a cheap digital camera with spot meter function. I happen to have an Olympus EM5 (not that cheap but I have it and it's small and light) so I sometimes use that for spot metering and it's a probably more versatile than a "proper" spot meter - histogram and all the rest.
 
I had a spot meter for a while.
I had been convinced by certain folk that it was almost obligatory to have one if shooting LF, particularly landscapes.
You know what, it cost a mint, it was bulky, quite heavy and at times rather complicated ( with its menus) to operate and in all honesty I could obtain the same end result reading by using much smaller ´standard’ meters and assessing the scene from experience.
From what I’ve seen you do pretty much just fine with metering.
I wouldn’t waste your money tbh but that’s just me.
Yes you could sell it on if it turns out no good for you but if like me, you’d end up out of pocket.

Maybe try borrow one to see if it will really offer you any benefits?
 
Asha said:
Maybe try borrow one to see if it will really offer you any benefits?
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That's a really good idea. If you want to borrow mine Nige, drop me a PM.
 
And old film camera men...

I have a Sekonic one degree spot meter which uses an AA battery. I basically stopped using it because in terms of results, I did just as well with my meter the palm of my hand method. It would be more useful if I went full blown zone system, measuring the subject brightness range and then tailoring the development, having first of course determined my personal exposure index for the film. Which is overkill as I'm happy with my results.

My own method (I use FP4 Plus almost exclusively) is to set my meter to 80 ASA (it's a Lunasix I bought new in 1965, so it's marked ASA/DIN :)), put my hand in the sun for a general scene, take a reflected light reading from my palm and open up a stop.

For what it's worth, my Sekonic has a viewfinder which shows the area around the spot that is actually metered. I wondered if there was any effect from flare on the reading, so I carried out an experiment using a black seed tray positioned in front of a white UPVC window frame. I metered the tray from a distance, but being careful to have only the tray in the spot circle and then repeated having moved right up to the tray. I can't remember the exact difference, but could look it up. It was around 2 stops (no decimal point has gone missing in the making of this figure). Obviously, my meter's optics may be less clean than yours (if you get one), but it's worth bearing in mind that even a spot meter might require you to step up to the subject - possibly to the extent that a reflected light meter could serve instead.

And on that thought, the Lunasix 3 has a tele adaptor to cut the measuring angle.
 
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sirch said:
Get a cheap digital camera with spot meter function. I happen to have an Olympus EM5 (not that cheap but I have it and it's small and light) so I sometimes use that for spot metering and it's a probably more versatile than a "proper" spot meter - histogram and all the rest.
Click to expand...

..and it can take photos too (y)
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. Judging by some of the responses, it might be something I'm better holding off spending money on until I have a definite need. Given that it's probably slide film where I'd be most likely to want to use one (and I don't shoot all that much reversal TBH), it may be worth just taking my digital camera on those trips - it's a faff and means more bulk to carry than a dedicated meter, but it wouldn't cost me anything (and this is a method I've used in the past to calculate times for nighttime long exposures).

@Harlequin565 - thanks for your offer. If I start to seriously consider splashing out I might take you up on it to see if it's something I'd really get value from.
 
I bought a Minolta spotmeter some years ago because I became convinced that every serious photographer should have one. I've taken it out of the drawer several times since then. After fumbling with it for a bit I've had to look up the manual, at which point it only becomes slightly unclear. Then it sits on my desk, until a tidiness virus sweeps over me, and back to the drawer it goes!
 
ChrisR said:
I bought a Minolta spotmeter some years ago because I became convinced that every serious photographer should have one. I've taken it out of the drawer several times since then. After fumbling with it for a bit I've had to look up the manual, at which point it only becomes slightly unclear. Then it sits on my desk, until a tidiness virus sweeps over me, and back to the drawer it goes!
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I've got one that I keep in my LF bag, and occasionally I use it if the lighting looks tricky, such as shooting peppers for the Weston challenge. I've tried it against the Sekonic 308 I use for my folders and other MF cameras in incident mode, and found I was happy enough with the Sekonic measurements. The last time I used it for serious outdoor work with Velvia was a couple of years ago, and was done at a couple of locations where I had plenty time to measure and consider the readings. The incompetence may have been entirely mine, or perhaps I should have given a bit more exposure, but the results were underexposed and an expensive lesson learned at about £5 a sheet for processing.:oops: :$

This year's project was to shoot my remaining sheets of Velvia and I'd still be using the spotmeter for that, in conjunction with the Sekonics. I bought a Tetenal E6 kit for keeping the price down while doing this, but it's not looking promising for getting out and about this year and I've already missed the spring. :rolleyes:
 
ChrisR said:
I bought a Minolta spotmeter some years ago because I became convinced that every serious photographer should have one. I've taken it out of the drawer several times since then. After fumbling with it for a bit I've had to look up the manual, at which point it only becomes slightly unclear. Then it sits on my desk, until a tidiness virus sweeps over me, and back to the drawer it goes!
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Much the same as you. My Spotmeter F hasn't been taken out of a draw full of older kit for a good 15 years.
 
Interesting reading, I was going to ask about meters. I'm using an app but it's a pain to keep taking out, unlocking.
 
If you have an iPhone there's the Lumu light meter app which has a zoom spot meter function. I tested it against my Pentax Digital Spotmeter (I didn't, and wouldn't, pay the market value for those) and it matches up pretty closely. You can dial in some exposure compensation if you want it to automatically place your most important shadow details in the correct zone if you want to go all Zone system too (works for highlights as well).
 
The retro style LightMeter app for Android phones has a zoom in type spot function too, but I've not tested it against a spot meter, so can't comment on accuracy. However, I use this app regularly on its standard setting and have found that part of it very good indeed. It's about the most useful £4 I've ever spent!
 
Mr Badger said:
The retro style LightMeter app for Android phones has a zoom in type spot function too, but I've not tested it against a spot meter, so can't comment on accuracy. However, I use this app regularly on its standard setting and have found that part of it very good indeed. It's about the most useful £4 I've ever spent!
Click to expand...
+1 for this app - it "just works".
 
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