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Using a 203FE in combination with a PME45

H

Hasselcam

Hello,

Last week I acquired a very nice and new 203FE kit. Because the 203FE does not incorporate a build in spot metering system, I was thinking of mounting a PME45 prism to cover for this. Does anyone have any experience using the PME45 with a 203FE; is it worth the investment and does it realy give you better results in hard light conditions? Or would it be a better idea to go for a handheld metering system (although not TTL) to cover for this type of narrow angle metering. Thanks!

Best regards....and happy Thanksgiving to all of you Americans out there! Vincent
 
Vincent, As I believe the 203FE has limited area metering, I would go for a handheld spotmeter. I find this type of meter much easier to use 'away' from the camera . One does of course have to allow for filters if used
Colin
 
Thanks Colin, Do you have any particular spot metering system to recommend me (what do you use for instance) Thanks! Many regards, Vincent
 
Vincent:

The PME 45 is a good choice if you want a 45 prism and do not want to carry an additional spot meter. The price of a good spot meter and a PM 45 is about the same as a PME 45. So, I believe it comes down to a matter of practice and usage. If you have other systems it may be advantages to buy the PM 45 and a spot meter. I have a 508 Seconic that has been very useful and I believe is it very accurate. Of course now there are more meters offering spot metering on the market now, some with radio flash options.

Good Luck

Gilbert
 
Vincent, I used to use an SEI Spotmeter(probably older than most of us on this site). However, I'm more inclined to use a Pentax spotmeter now.
Minolta make a variety of meters including spot models. As my camera (C645) has a built in spot meter, I invariably use this. My point is that if it didn't have this facility, I would go for a seperate meter everytime.It is somewhat easier to mount the camera on a tripod, compose and with handheld meter take 6 or so "spot readings". rather than wave the camera around taking "X" number of readings and then compose after mounting the camera on the tripod.(praying the light conditions don't change in the meantime!) The advantage of the old SEI was that it read 1/2 degree spot rather than the 1 degree of most current meters.That's twice the area!!
Colin
 
On the subject of spot meters: how about the Gossen Spotmaster?
It is big, and eats batteries at an alarming rate, but it offers the full Zone-system functionality the meter in the 205 TCC offers (and this Zone-system function is "automated"/computerized, not asking you to make sense of some zone-display yourself). Add one to your 203, and you have a 205 as well. ;-)
 
Thanks you all! I bought a very nice Sekonic L-608 - has all the functions I need, including the Zone System. Have a great weekend.

Regards, Vincent
 
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