bjhurley wrote:
I have the Reveni Labs spot meter, and one thing I like about it is that in addition to full zone-system support it also offers a simplified average reading where you point the meter at a shadow area where you want detail and then point it at a highlight area that you don't want blown out, and it'll average the two for you. In really high-contrast scenes this is just wishful thinking, because the two extremes may exceed the limits of your film's dynamic range (especially if you're using slide film). But it often works well for me when I have the time to take two readings.
It's funny, people think of landscape photography as a leisurely process in which you can take your time and get a bunch of readings to calculate a perfect exposure, but in my experience the light is often changing so fast, especially during golden hour, that it's hardly different from street photography. I barely have enough time to get two readings and often just resort to a single incident or reflective reading.
The really old Sekonic spot meters offer memory and averaging functionality. The newest, but old, Sekonic meter offers the same, but multiple values can be displayed on a linear color scale and can be superimposed on a calibrated exposure range. So, once you set the mid-tone, all other measurements can be mapped on the scale. Unfortunately, these meters are large. My favorite spot meter was from ages past. The Pentax Spotmeter V was a small footprint and all analog,. Why can’t modern spotmeters have a smaller footprint? Answer: Sekonic must have $0..or yen R&D budget. To be fair, the market for this sort of product is minuscule.
Jul 31, 2025 at 03:52 PM
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