Built in spot meters on SLR's

[rodt16s]

The OM4 (Ti) and 3 (Ti) had the capability to take multi-spot and average .. anything else with that ability

 

[nparsons13]

Pentax didn't include spot metering until the nineties: Pentax Z-1/PZ-1, Z-1p/PZ-1p, Z-5, Z-5p, Z-10/PZ-10, Z-20/PZ-20, Z-20p, Z-50p, MZ-5, Mz-3, MZ-5n/ZX-5n, MZ-6/MZ-L/ZX-L, MZ-S, and *ist.

 

[Sejanus.Aelianus]

I don't think so. Pentax may have planned a spotmeter for it, but it it not happen.

They more than planned it. The prototypes shown at Photokina in 1960 were spot metering, hence the name. Between then and the first deliveries, the metering pattern was quietly changed to full screen averaging. I've seen a number of theories as to why this change was made but I doubt that anyone, outside of the Asahi Optical Company Limited, will ever know the truth.

Whether because the top plates had already been stamped or a product called "Averagematic" was too painful to contemplate, the Spotmatic name was retained, inappropriate as it was.

 

[MRohlfing]

A Bronica with the AE-III Prism Finder is switchable from full-area average metering to spot
metering

 

[sevo]

I've seen a number of theories as to why this change was made

IIRC the general assumption is that the crude cell-on-retractable-arm popping into the finder was considered a sales-hampering flaw rather than a feature, at least after the camera could not beat Topcon (with a invisible, integral TTL meter) as the first to market.

 

[BW400CN]

Nikon F-90 don´t know the N-Name in the US.
Spotmeter - center weighted or matrix - one of the best cams Nikon ever build but fully plastic feeling!

 

[MRohlfing]

My Miranda Auto Sensorex EE back in the 1970's was switchable between A and S (Average and Spot). The viewfinder prism could be taken off and exchanged for 2 other finders

 

[Thomas78]

The Ricoh TLS 401 offered both average and spot metering.


Ricoh TLS 401 von thomas.78 auf Flickr

 

[raid]

The OM4 (Ti) and 3 (Ti) had the capability to take multi-spot and average .. anything else with that ability

So did the Canon T90.

 

[raid]

You had a T90! The T90 preceded the F4 by a mere two years. Before that, there only was the F-1 New, which can be converted to spot metering by inserting a spot screen - but that was rather clumsy, and was rarely done. Most people that picked a F-1 New at the time don't seem to have done so for the spot screens (the absence of a AE lock button making spot and AE mutually exclusive - and AE was the feature of the period), making them the rarest screens by far on the used market. What is more, even now a fair proportion among those on offer still are NOS, i.e. never got sold and used.

Well, I differed from the rest then. I got the F1N mainly for the spotmeter capabilities. It was what I wanted for careful exposure of low ISO slide film. I have several F1N screens with different metering and grid.

 

[Photog9000]

I truly miss my Oly OM-4T bodies. I still believe that metering system (take up to 9 spot readings and average them into one. Great for Zone System shooting!) is one of the best ever made!!

 

[kshapero]

I truly miss my Oly OM-4T bodies. I still believe that metering system (take up to 9 spot readings and average them into one. Great for Zone System shooting!) is one of the best ever made!!

Great cameras but they have aged ugly as the bodies were some kind of ugly alloy not brass. Too Bad.

 

[Chris101]

Nikon N80, F100, etc.
The N80 sells for peanuts today and is far more capable than the beloved FM / FE series. I said more capable, not necessarily more durable...

No, certainly not more durable. I'm on my third one. But they typically cost $20-40 for a good working camera, so you can easily replace them when the knobs break off.

 

[dtcls100]

Great cameras but they have aged ugly as the bodies were some kind of ugly alloy not brass. Too Bad.

Ahem. That "ugly alloy" is titanium. 😀 The earlier champagne finish didn't adhere to the titanium too well though. Other cameras with titanium top and bottom plates seem to have had similar paint issues.

 

[dof]

The Leica R6 & R6.2 have so-called "Selective" (spot) and "Integral" (center-weighted full field) metering options. The metering choice is made with the dial at the base of the shutter speed dial. The three positions are meter off, integral and spot modes.

The Selective mode covers a roughly 7mm field in the center of the viewfinder.

 

[raid]

Everybody had inferior system to what was in the T90. Read up on the amazing Canon T90.

 

[SDK]

Pentax 645n and 645nII are medium format SLRs with spot metering (also center weighted and matrix metering). The cameras handle a lot like the Nikon F4 except for the 120 or 220 film inserts.

 

[sevo]

Pentax 645n and 645nII are medium format SLRs with spot metering (also center weighted and matrix metering). The cameras handle a lot like the Nikon F4 except for the 120 or 220 film inserts.

(Optional) spot metering is a general feature on the majority of medium format SLRs. Cameras with no TTL finder at all, without a exchangeable prism and those that were a dead end by the early eighties (so that there is no compatible later TTL spot finder) being the only exceptions.

 

[Greyscale]

Yashica Electro AX uses spot metering.

 

[philosli]

Contax ST, S2, RTS III, AX, RX, Aria
Canon EOS 5, 3, 1n, 1v

And many others.