Minolta Auto Meter IVf

Until I bought my little Gossen, my Minolta Auto Meter IVf was my main workhorse. I still use it with myMamiya RB-67(if you're going to lug around something that heavy, you might as well lug around a real meter) as well as for my studio photography.The Minolta has pretty much all the features that you might want: incident light metering, reflective metering, 5° spot metering option, flash metering (corded and non-corded), calculating metering averages and light value range, EV readout, etc. The Auto Meter is fantastic meter. It's tough as nails, I've used it in the rain without issue. It takes a standard AA battery which seems to last just about forever. It even has an adaptor to read out your metering from ground glass (i.e, with large format cameras such as theSeneca Competitor) although I have never had to use this. My main issues with the Auto Meter are that it's not pocketable, the spot metering attachment is a pain to take on and off (and to store), 5° is too widefor accurate spotmetering (1-2° is best), and with the IVf hanging around your neck, everyone recognizes you for the ultra photo geek that you are. And if you're doing polaroids in the field, you need to have a stopwatch and a thermometer, which puts you back into the Digisix territory.Flash Meter VI - the highest end flash currently made by Minolta is the Flash Meter VI (on the left here) and it's absolutely gorgeous. Although it's a bit bigger than the Auto Meters, the Flash Meter features a built-in 1° spotmeter, a huge LCD, and every bell and whistle you could conceivably want. I want one....

Technical Details - Minolta Auto Meter IVf