Hi Do, I've owned the Spotmeter V and the Zone VI Digital Meter, both at the same time. There are a lot of good points about both, and for someone who is just getting started with, or refreshing themselves with the techniques of, using a spot meter, I'd recommend the analog Spotmeter V.
While considerably larger, it's, as you discovered, quite a bit less expensive. Plus it has that great low light feature where the lower half of the scale can be illuminated when metering in dark environments. That feature's come in handy a few times. There are those who sat the V is stronger and better able to withstand shocks and bumps than the digital. However, I won't and can't attest to that as both of my meters had been kicked around a lot while in my care and neither has missed a beat. But what I like best about the Spot meter V is that it's analog, and you can get a nice VISUAL readout of the light in a given scene just be sweeping the meter over the area you want to measure. You then get a graphic representation of the light in the scene. The digital meter will give you the same information, but you've got to "interpret" the numbers. While not a big deal, I think you can see the benefit of the analog needle continually moving up and down the scale while metering. After a while that's completely unnecessary, but, as I said, it's a nice feature to have when getting started. Finally, the viewing area of the Spotmeter V is larger and seems a little more contrasty than that of the digital, and that can sometimes be helpful. It's at times easier to find the center spot, although after a bit of time with the digital it's not too difficult. Both meters can take filters and lens hoods, so you can meter through the same filters you're using on the camera. At some point I decided that having the two meters was excessive, and although I kept the Zone VI modified meter, it was by no means a quick and easy decision for me. My main reason for keeping the digital was because of its smaller size and the ability to carry it comfortably in the Domke G-803 satchel. Still, although I sometimes miss that big ol' Spotmeter V, I'd not give up the digital for it. Shel > [Original Message] > From: Don Sanderson > I've been reading up on the Zone System (again) and decided > a 1 degree spotmeter would help a lot in "training my eye" to > the different luminance levels. > Found a very good price on a Pentax Spotmeter V so I > grabbed it. ($169.00 recently calibrated) > Much less money than the digi version and much tighter > than my Sekonic spot attachment. > Did I do good? Have those of you who own(ed) the V found it > accurate and reliable? > I intend to use it a lot so I'm willing to eat my impulse purchase > and spring for a digi if they're that much better.
