best meter ever in an SLR camera

David Lyga · Mar 9, 2015

May I dare say in the original Canon AE-1? The needle is so convenient to view and the speed of that meter is unparalleled. Do you agree ... or was there an even better meter to use? - David Lyga

wiltw · Mar 9, 2015

Olympus OM-4...could do 9 point multispot averaging and even allow you to declare which reading to be used as Shadow and which to be used as Highlight

John Bragg · Mar 9, 2015

Nikon F5 matrix meter and spot metering. Very versatile and reliable.

snapguy · Mar 9, 2015

Thumb

My thumb and forefinger, held high and rubbing together. And, by the way, my hounddog is superior to your hounddog.

David A. Goldfarb · Mar 9, 2015

I like the spot metering in the Canon New F-1. I calculate in my head, based on the readings. I'd be happy if all my cameras worked that way.

E. von Hoegh · Mar 9, 2015

wiltw said:
Olympus OM-4...could do 9 point multispot averaging and even allow you to declare which reading to be used as Shadow and which to be used as Highlight

The 3 had the same meter, both get my vote.

Rick A · Mar 9, 2015

David, are you asking the best meter, or the best meter display? The best meter is the one that's in your favorite camera, and works the way it should, giving accurate exposure info. The best display(easiest to see and use) is highly subjective.

Dennis S · Mar 9, 2015

Canon A1 has the LED center bottom instead of the right side of the AE 1p. So far my fav. Very bright red which is great & accurate in all lighting.

flavio81 · Mar 9, 2015

Best finder display i've used so far: The one in the Canon F-1N. The one in the Nikon FE and FE2 is very good as well; easy to see all relevant info.

Best meter i've used: Most of them are good, but i'm particularly fond of the one in the Canon A-1 (due to sensitivity), Canon F-1N, and Nikon F2AS (easy to see LED lights).

Theo Sulphate · Mar 9, 2015

From personal experience, the meter on my F3/T has worked the best for me. Best display: Nikon FM3a.

As a wish: Hasselblad 205TCC or FCC in Zone System metering mode, although I've never used one or even seen one.

I didn't realize the OM-3, OM-4 let you pick spot highlight and shadow; that is quite nice.

Sirius Glass · Mar 9, 2015

Minolta SLR meters, all are great.
Nikon F100 has a wonderful matrix and spot meter.
Nikon N75 has a wonderful matrix meter.
Hasselblad PME is wonderful matrix meter.

Are you looking to start a religious war over light meters?

blockend · Mar 9, 2015

For most hits in full auto mode, Nikon's matrix is good, but it can be fooled like any meter. For precision, any camera that gives a defined metering area, like the Canon FTb, is fine. Displays are a matter of taste but needle metering shows an index of accuracy (cool, warmer, bang on), whereas LED types generally just show over, under or green light for about half a stop, so you don't know how far out you are just by looking through the finder. The best types give an indication of exposure in stops (plus or minus half, one stop, one and a half stops, etc).

The Canon T90 was one of the earliest cameras to allow multi-averaging, but I find it too finicky to use regularly. I used an iPhone light meter app for five rolls of slide film with a dead Nikkormat meter last autumn, and the exposures were fine.

Ricardo Miranda · Mar 9, 2015

It is the one in your brain.

Only you can decide if the camera is telling you truths or porkies.

chriscrawfordphoto · Mar 9, 2015

The multispot meter built in to the Olympus OM-3, 3Ti, 4, and 4Ti. The Canon T0 had a similar system.

David Brown · Mar 9, 2015

I am constantly impressed by the autoexposure of my Minolta Maxxum 7. It may or may not not be the best, as I have no way to objectively compare, but it's very good.

The easiest manual in camera meter I ever used was on a Pentax Spotmatic.

Alan Gales · Mar 9, 2015

John Bragg said:
Nikon F5 matrix meter and spot metering. Very versatile and reliable.

The choice of Matrix and Spot metering is hard to beat!

gone · Mar 9, 2015

I've always liked the simplicity and accuracy of the Leicaflex SL meter readout (what a viewfinder!)

Chan Tran · Mar 9, 2015

David Lyga said:
May I dare say in the original Canon AE-1? The needle is so convenient to view and the speed of that meter is unparalleled. Do you agree ... or was there an even better meter to use? - David Lyga

As reading thru the posts others are saying the Olympus OM-3,4, the Nikon F5 the Nikon FM3a which I can't say which is best but I think they are all good metering system. I think the AE-1 is one of the poorest metering system as it doesn't work well in manual mode. There is no indication of the actual aperture or shutter speed set in the viewfinder.

MartinCrabtree · Mar 9, 2015

I like the later Nikon meters. Choice of spot,center weighted and matrix. On the higher end cameras the spot and center weight size is adjustable. The spot doesn't go down to a 1* spot but small enough.

Sirius Glass · Mar 9, 2015

MartinCrabtree said:
I like the later Nikon meters. Choice of spot,center weighted and matrix. On the higher end cameras the spot and center weight size is adjustable. The spot doesn't go down to a 1* spot but small enough.

Put a zoom lens or telephoto to narrow the spot.

fotch · Mar 9, 2015

I like the Nikon, especially the F3HP. However, given a choice, prefer a separate meter.

mrred · Mar 9, 2015

John Bragg said:
Nikon F5 matrix meter and spot metering. Very versatile and reliable.

My F6 beats it.....

JW PHOTO · Mar 9, 2015

This might seem odd, bu one of the better built in meters that I have used was on the old Miranda Senorex camera. The main two reasons I bought one new in 1969 was it had a removable prism and a bottom-weighted metering setup. It read through the mirror and was biased toward the bottom of the scene. It was very good for beach scenes and landscapes because the brighter sky was largely ignored. It had a lollipop that moved according to the ASA/shutter-speed set and then you matched the needle to center in the lollipop circle. Simple, but very accurate as long as you did your part. My Leicaflex SL is simple too along with most matched-needle metering systems. The best meter I have used, in my opinion, is the DP-12 on my once owned Nikon F2. It was so sensitive you could actually meter in candle light. I now have an Nikon F4S that's darn good to, but I still miss that F2AS. John W

johnha · Mar 9, 2015

I've never got on with matrix metering - not knowing what has been compensated for makes it difficult for me to dial in any adjustment. The Pentax Z-1 matrix metering supposedly has a 'highlight compensation' system - if it measures very high EV levels (i.e. a predominantly bright high key subject) it increases exposure to compensate. Usually I use spot or centre-weighted because I can predict their behaviour more easily.

The off the film metering in the Pentax LX is superb in very low light - in Auto it will hold the shutter open as long as necessary (or until the batteries expire).

frank · Mar 9, 2015

Nikon F4 gives choice of average, spot, or matrix, even with manual focus Ai/s lenses.

best meter ever in an SLR camera

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