Spotmeter and shadows.

[Monokrome]

I have bought a pre-owned Minolta Spotmeter F. The old saying for exposing b/w films is to expose for the shadows. The zone system books by Ansel Adams and others says to place the shadows on zone 3 by stopping down the lens by 2 f-stops less than the meter indicates, of which the first reading would be for zone 5.
The Minolta meter has a shadow key function that defaults by selecting 2.7 EV stops less than the original reading, so now I am plain confused. 😕
I like HP5+, FP4+ and Tri-X in standard D76 or ID11 1:1 if that makes any difference to speed and is Ilford's ISO developer.
Has anyone any experience with this type of meter?

 

[Roger Hicks]

The Zone System and the I.R.E. scale (which the Minolta Spotmeter F uses) are empirical approximations. Personally, I'd back I.R.E. over Zone-ism any day, but it won't take long to discover what works best FOR YOU. If you understand what you're doing, it's all quite easy. If you do it by rote, relying on what Experts say, you're heading for trouble anyway. You may find that the following explains some of the basics (or you may not): http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/ps expo neg.html

Cheers,

R.

 

[Monokrome]

The Zone System and the I.R.E. scale (which the Minolta Spotmeter F uses) are empirical approximations. Personally, I'd back I.R.E. over Zone-ism any day, but it won't take long to discover what works best FOR YOU. If you understand what you're doing, it's all quite easy. If you do it by rote, relying on what Experts say, you're heading for trouble anyway. You may find that the following explains some of the basics (or you may not): http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/ps expo neg.html

Cheers,

R.

If I start with the films ISO and use the shadow key as described in the instructions, would it simply mean adjusting the ISO number if I find my negatives are consistently under or over exposed?
I have already established a developing time that works well for me with my previous method of metering off the ground. Spotmetering is new to me. I found your article in the link interesting, but I struggle at times with technical stuff.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Yes. Just adjust the ISO. Nothing more and nothing less.

Cheers,

R.