Canon A2 spot meter compared to hand held

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Does anyone have any analytical information to offer on the Canon A2 spot metering capability compared to a hand held meter such as the Sekonic L-508 or L-608? I attended a seminar tonight on light measurement and before I purchase ANY hand held meter, I want to know as much as I can find out about the capabilities of built in vs hand held. Thanks!!

-- Susan Butler (sbutler2@ameritech.net), April 13, 2001

Answers

The A2 has a spot meter the measures the central 3.5% of the viewfinder. With a 50mm lens that equates to an angle of of 7 degrees. You have to put a 350mm lens on it to get it down to 1 degree. I have found it to be accurate though.

-- Jim Strutz (jimstrutz@juno.com), April 14, 2001.

That should read; "...that equates to an angle of view of 7 degrees."

-- Jim Strutz (jimstrutz@juno.com), April 14, 2001.

The simplest way to get an accurate reading in most circumstances is to use a handheld incident meter. When I don't want to bother with carrying a meter, I use the built-in spotmeter in my A2 with good results. You just have to be careful what you take your reading from.

-- Dave Jenkins (djphoto@vol.com), April 15, 2001.

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