Separate Spotmeter - Time to Bin it?

[Fotoflyer]

From the old days when I used to use film, I found a separate spotmeter very handy. The Soligor I have has a 1% FOV which is pretty tight.

Question is this: Is it worth keeping or is the spotmeter built into my 300D and 40D good enough.

Anyone else out there still using one and if so, what do you think?

Foto

[vpnd]

The spot meter on my ds mk2 is around 2 to 2.4 % so I use the on camera meter without any probs. I also have a 40d and you just perked my interest to how well that one works. I'm gonna check to see the specs today. you found a reason for me to go out and shoot. If my wife gives me grief I get to blame it on you! Have a nice day.

[vpnd]

just posted a question and statsman says 3.8% for the 40d

[Wilt]

I did this analysis some months ago, so I am re-using it for this thread because I am lazy...

In the case of 20D vs. 30D, the difference in 'Partial' vs. 'Spot' is 9% vs. 3%. What that translates to, in terms of a circle diameter for the spot area in the frame, is 6.2mm vs 3.6mm, or 42% smaller. In terms of angular measurement, with a 50mm lens it would be seeing 7.1 vs. 4.1 degrees. Translate that to actual physical distances, at 20' with 50mm lens the 20D would measure 29 inches vs. the 30D measuring 17 inches. To get true one degree reading with 30D would require 'spot' mode and a 200mm lens.

Camera 'spot' is better than full frame evaluative or center-weighted, but it certainly is not as precise as a one degree spotmeter. For most purposes, I find in-camera 'spot' to be fine to use, but there are circumstances where I have to pull out my one-degree spot meter! Most photographers could get along without one.

[Double Negative]

Unless you're playing around with the zone system, I'm not so sure...

[Wilt]

Unless you're playing around with the zone system, I'm not so sure...


Here's how one could use it with digital cameras, without employing anything to do with the Zone System...

You meter & exposure a scene and it has too much dynamic range to fit into a single digital exposure. Your camera LCD shows the blown out lost highlights blinking away, but you have no idea about the lost shadow detail in the scene. So you pull out your one-degree spotmeter and measure the brightness of various parts of the scene...down in the shadows, out in the highlights...and discover that the scene has 9EV of total brightness range. So then you decide how dark in the shadows you need detail (vs. lost in total blackness) and how much detailed brightness in the highlights you need (vs. lost in blown out areas) and decide what portion of the 9EV range to capture within the 7EV that the sensor can deal with.

The typical dSLR shooter would merely pixel peep and 'shoot to the right' for highlight detail that might not matter at all!

[SkipD]

Here's how one could use it with digital cameras, without employing anything to do with the Zone System...

You meter & exposure a scene and it has too much dynamic range to fit into a single digital exposure. Your camera LCD shows the blown out lost highlights blinking away, but you have no idea about the lost shadow detail in the scene. So you pull out your one-degree spotmeter and measure the brightness of various parts of the scene...down in the shadows, out in the highlights...and discover that the scene has 9EV of total brightness range. So then you decide how dark in the shadows you need detail (vs. lost in total blackness) and how much detailed brightness in the highlights you need (vs. lost in blown out areas) and decide what portion of the 9EV range to capture within the 7EV that the sensor can deal with.

The typical dSLR shooter would merely pixel peep and 'shoot to the right' for highlight detail that might not matter at all!Somehow, Wilt, that's precisely what we used to do when "digital" meant holding up one finger to let someone know what you thought of them and all we had inside our cameras was a strip of flexible stuff called film. Izzndat da way you 'members it? ;)

[Wilt]

Somehow, Wilt, that's precisely what we used to do when "digital" meant holding up one finger to let someone know what you thought of them and all we had inside our cameras was a strip of flexible stuff called film. Izzndat da way you 'members it? ;)

One digit in the USA; two digits (forefinger and little finger) in some other countries; one finger (forefinger) pulling down the lower lid of the eye in some other country; fist in crook of other arm somewhere else...the techniques varied but the photo was the end goal! ;)

[KirkHMB]

I'm thinking of buying one, used to borrow one in my film days.

[lmitch6]

I'm actually getting ready to get a new one, the Sekonic L-758DR. I'm an old film shooter too and have never been able to work well with the histogram in digital. I much prefer hand metering, especially for my shooting (landscape/seascape).

[Wilt]

I'm actually getting ready to get a new one, the Sekonic L-758DR. I'm an old film shooter too and have never been able to work well with the histogram in digital. I much prefer hand metering, especially for my shooting (landscape/seascape).

'Shoot to the right' has its place. But a histogram would not tell you when the main subject is overexposed or underexposed in a lot of circumstances. It only tells you the quantity of pixels at different brightness levels, but no specific information about 'the most important portion of the frame' (main subject). A spot meter gives that missing information.