Digital Rebel as Spot-Meter

[Malok]

I'm in the process of moving to a 4x5 camera but don't have a spot meter yet. I'd like to use my D300 for this purpose but I think I've head that it doesn't have a true spot meter, but instead meters a 7% area rather than a 1% area. Can anyone confirm this and has anyone tried to use this camera as a meter for a manual film camera?

[tim]

I can confirm that it's an area meter, not a spot meter. The only Canon with spot meters are the 1 series. You might like to get a proper meter thingy, i've never used one myself but it sounds like what you need.

[Malok]

Thanks. I'd like to see if I can save $350 for now and find a way to make this work.

[Tom W]

Get a long telephoto lens - you're taking 7% or so of the field of view that the camera sees, so if you put a 200 mm lens on and meter, you'll be metering 7% of the scene shown in the 300D's viewfinder (the metering circle, roughly).

You can probably snag a cheap used 70-210 zoom or something similar at KEH.com for very little money if you want to try that approach.

[scottbergerphoto]

Get a long telephoto lens - you're taking 7% or so of the field of view that the camera sees, so if you put a 200 mm lens on and meter, you'll be metering 7% of the scene shown in the 300D's viewfinder (the metering circle, roughly).

You can probably snag a cheap used 70-210 zoom or something similar at KEH.com for very little money if you want to try that approach.
Exactly. Take a zoom that allows you to filll the viewfinder with the subject and you have a poor mans spot meter.
Scott