[Leica] TID> Spot Meters

[Bud Cook <budcook@ibm.net>]

I use both the Leicaflex SL and SL/2 which have very accurate spot meters.
Since I began using those cameras my percentage of accurately exposed
Kodachrome slides improved dramatically.  The reason the spot meter works so
well with color reversal film is that it's best to expose for the highlights
in a scene.  The spot meter is perfect for this.

For film with a broader exposure latitude, you can easily meter something in
the scene that represents the average of the scene or you can meter the
brightest and darkest portions of the scene that you are interested in and
simply average them.

IMHO, the spot meter is the only way to go other than in circumstances where
an incident meter might be appropriate.  I seldom if ever, run into those
situations.

BTW, the SL/2 makes a terrific spot meter for M cameras since both the
shutter speed and aperture are indicated in the viewfinder and you don't
have to screw around *holding* the exposure as you do with some
auto-exposure cameras.

Bud


TM wrote:

> Do any of you LUG members use a spot meter often? On page 42 of the new,
> August issue of Popular Photography, there is an article about
> Washington state photographer Bill Slack wherein he states his love for
> the Pentax Digital Spotmeter. However, he essentially shoots only
> landscapes and that brings to mind a thought: Are spot meters only good
> for non-mobile subjects like landscapes, which give one time to analyze
> the data issued by the meter?