why do the Pentax Digital Spot Meters go for a small fortune on Ebay?

Because they are the best in the type.

True 1-degree spot metering area allows precise reading of values in the scene, and measuring the subject brightness range.

Compact, batteries readily available.

Easy to use, and you can attach a paper "zone dial" that allows you to place a reading into a particular zone eg textured shadow area placed in zone two or three.

Good meter.
 
If you want an inexpensive yet nice spot meter, keep your eyes out for a Soligor digital SM. It's bigger than the Pentax, lighter, very easy to read, accurate, and can sometimes be found for under $100. Bob.
 
I like the Minolta meters better, and al least in Europe they were more widespread among cinematographers and studio photographers. They had more versatile cine respectively flash modes, and were considerably ahead of Pentax and the others where the finder system quality was concerned - their early generations even beat the finder image quality of pretty much every camera. But then the original Minolta 1° is bigger and heavier than many SLRs...

The original Pentax meter lent itself to particularly easy zone system modification - there were third party modifications for it, and some of the latter ones got a Zone scale built in. Most photo schools and books teaching the Zone system do/did so based on Pentax spot meters - and in the US, the Zone system seems to be popular beyond large format amateurs.
 
They're expensive because they're no longer made, and Ansel Adams was famous for promoting the use of them for the Zone System. A lot of his followers who themselves because famous also used them and promoted them, because Adams did.

They're not the best spotmeters. They're quite primitive, only reading to 1/3 stop accuracy. Minolta's Spotmeter F is a lot cheaper, more accurate, and can read flash if needed. It is small, like the Pentax. An even better choice is one of the Sekonic models that do incident or 1 degree spot. They're modern highly accurate digital meters, still manufactured, and are not very large...plus you get incident metering as an option for when you shoot slides or digital (which do better with incident. Spotmetering is best for negative film).

There is absolutely NOTHING about the Pentax digital spotmeter that makes it worth the idiotic amounts ebay crooks are demanding. Nothing. Save your money and get a modern meter. I love my Minolta Flash Meter VI and wouldn't trade it for 10 Pentax meters. It sells for less than a Pentax used and does ten times more.
 
I preferred the Minolta too, but I can't get as vehement as Chris about it. I have four spot meters: both digital and analogue Pentaxes, a Gossen and an LED-modified SEI (1/2 degree comparison photometer). They're all good; resolution of under 1/3 stop is looking for a precision that isn't there;and most people don't know how to use them anyway (not you, Chris!)

With some cheap meters, the measuring spot does not quite correspond with the circle in the viewfinder: test it with a candle flame. It is unlikely to be far out, but it can be as much as 1/2 degree.

Cheers,

R.
 
Another vote for the Minolta. My only other meter is a Weston EuroMaster which continues to defy the conventional wisdom that all 50-year old selenium cells are dead, and I use it quite regularly.
 
I wonder what the Pentax would cost now if it went back into production? The Sekonic L-758D DIGITALMASTER is $634 at B&H, Minolta seems to be out of production too. The Gossen Starlite 2 claims a 1-degree spot, at $680. Maybe the ebay prices are not unrealistic? I see a few at BIN $400-$500.
 
About six years ago when I bought my first Hasselblad I asked the guy who sold me his kit if there was also a light meter included. He said "No, but for only $50 I can add a wonderful Pentax Digital Spotmeter.". I thought he was probably ripping me off but it was just $50 and I needed one so I said ok. It wasn't until much later that I found out how sought after they are and what kind of prices they fetch on the used market.

It was a nice meter but I ended up selling it for around $200 as I preferred an incident meter for the kind of work I do. I always wondered why the Minoltas were cheaper as they seem much more sophisticated.
 
digitalintrigue said:
Recent completed auctions are $200-$305. That doesn't seem to be a small fortune but it may be to some...
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Might not be a small fortune, just more than I would want to pay. I did pretty well by my Sekonic Auto Leader and L28c2 Studio Meter before I got a Luna Pro SBC and later a 1 degree spot meter attachment. Even still, I rarely use the attachment. That may by my loss.
 
My Pentax digital spotmeter has been my only hand held meter for over twenty years. I got used to it. Maybe, people got used to their spotmeters, and the asking prices have risen because of it. I love the Pentax spotmeter. It is small and accurate.
 
raid said:
My Pentax digital spotmere has been my only hand held meter for over twenty years. I got used to it. Maybe, people got used to their spotmeters, and the asking prices have risen because of it.
Click to expand...

I think this explains the price more than anything. People like the familiarity of what the grew to learn in use.
I had not looked at the prices before reading them here. $300-$500 seems like too much to be honest.... I would not pay so much now.
The Pentax meter is great because of it's simplicity in my opinion not in spite of it.
If I had to buy a spot meter today I would likely get the Minolta only for the addition of the flash capability.
Currently I use the original Pentax spot meter. It's my second one since 1990 or so (the first suffered a violent accident) and works exactly as I need it to.
 
Andy: I am sticking to the Pentax because of its reliability and simplicity and small size. I may have paid $275 for it from B&H many years ago, and I find a spotmeter very useful in teaching me how to best expose for a specific situation. I once dropped it in Salzburg (Austria), and a local camera repairman fixed it quickly for me. The drop affected the battery chamber from inside, and the spring had moved.
 
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