I recently bought a Pentax 67II with AE TTL pentaprism finder, 45/4 and 105/2.8. I would like to photograph mainly landscaper using the zone system, and I was told not to rely on the spot metering of the TTL pentaprism. I was suggested to buy a spot lightmeter. Any advice on the necessity of this kind lightmeter and on which one( Pentax, Minolta, etc.) is the best would be precious for me(I would like to see the result of the metering in the wiewfinder while metering). Thank in advance to all answering Giovanni

-- giovanni russo (giovanni.russo@unimi.it), March 23, 2001

Answers

I have used the built in spot meter for all of my Pentax 67II pictures. There is nothing wrong with this method. Why don't you try it for yourself before purchasing an external spot meter.

-- Joachim Inkmann (Joachim.Inkmann@uni-konstanz.de), March 23, 2001.

Giovanni,

I've used the prism's spot meter with a great deal of success. Charles Campbell preaches a basically modified zone method he calls "chromazone," using spot meters in a similar method for landscapes. You can find information on his practices at www.photonaturalist.com

I've actually used his products on and off in the past with good results.

-- Scott Laughlin (scottlaughlin@mindspring.com), March 23, 2001.

Giovanni, I have the same two lens as well as the 165LS and test all three with a spot meter, incident meter and two other camera meters all on slide film. The 67II read ½ to ¾ stop over expose compared to the spot meter with gray card and incident and the same with the other camera. That being said, the correct exposure was within that ¼ stop range. In other words, the spot meter on the 67II is right on the money. If you have not done so, you need to burn some film and test the meter(s) with all the lens and find the correct exposure setting for your camera. It can also differ between different films as well as personal taste as well. All cameras are different and there is not a standard on exposure meters! In fact, a number of 35mm cameras with multiple meters can have a difference of one complete stop and still be inspect. Even the same models can have a difference of almost a stop. Also remember that the 67II is a large area spot meter, I found it necessary to get a spot meter for that reason, but it depends on what and how you shoot.

-- Daniel Bacon (dbacon@mindspring.com), March 23, 2001.

From the answers I understand that I put my question in a not perfectly correct way. First, I forgot to say that I would like to take B&W photos of landscapes. The second point is that my question was referred to the imprecision of the measure of the pentaprism spot meter due to the large area. The external spot meters measure one degree angle. I would wery much appreciate any more advices. Many thanks to all. Giovanni

-- giovanni russo (giovanni.russo@unimi.it), March 23, 2001.

It is about what type of film (Slide or print) With print film I can get away with just the 67II spot meter however, with side film it all but impossible for me to just use the 67II meter. The contrasting items are just to small or far away to get an accurate reading for most of my subjects. Best thing to do is try shooting without a spot meter for a while and see. A number of others just use their camera and a gray card all the time.

-- Daniel Bacon (dbacon@mindspring.com), March 26, 2001.

I'm a cinematographer and I have relied on a Pentax digital spotmeter for over twenty years. I have two of course, but in all the years I've used them, I've never had one fail. They are incredibly durable, I've dropped mine several times and had no damage. I even dropped mine into a muddy river and after drying it out with a hair dryer, it worked perfectly. They're small, lightweight and easy to use. The only disadvantage I can see with them is the numbers are quite small. If you're old, like me, you might need glasses to read them properly.

Peter McLennan Creston, BC

-- Peter McLennan (peter@vfs.com), March 27, 2001.

I have used mainly Bronica and now Pentax 67 for landscapes with colour slide film. If I can offer some advice: Built-in meters are OK, you may argue about the accuracy but there are some practical problems to consider which are more important. In most cases I frame the shot for composition then consider taking a light reading from several parts of the scene, I may need to wait (a long time!) for the right light. With a seperate meter you can do all this without touching or moving the camera which is of course on a tripod, you may also decide to take an incident reading (not possible with a metering prism). With a prism meter you need to shuffle the composition about to meter from the correct part of the scene and maybe repeat this exercise when the light level changes - all of which screws up a careful composition which may have taken some time to achieve with a w/a lens.

In terms of seperate meters I have found that a Sekonic digital meter with ambient cone and 5 degree spot is small and well suited to the job eg. there is no need for 1 degree models which are more expensive. Sekonic also now do a zoom model L508? The only down-side to these models is that I have found them to be a bit delicate in the field (eg. if you drop them they may break).

-- Tony Estcourt (tony.estcourt@talk21.com), March 28, 2001.

I have been using the Pentax Digital Spotmeter with my old unmetered P67 for some time. It has no fancy functions or bells and whistles - it gives you an EV reading which you then set on the external scale and read off the appropriate speed and aperture. It is an accurate, easy to use meter. It is also tough, light and does not eat batteries. Recommended.

-- Don Brownlow (dbnlys@aol.com), September 05, 2001.