Hi All,
My camera is a Pentax MZ-60 and I've been doing some reading on exposure meters (I don't know too much about it :o ), like spot metering, matrix metering center, weight metering,average or averaging reflected-light meters etc. Most cameras have at least one of these functions, but I've read through my manual and I don't think I have one of them. Does anyone know how I would go about checking the light when taking a picture using my camera since I don't have one of these functions? thanks for any help you can give me.

A quick look and I found "Metering system : TTL open-aperture 2-segment metering." This probably means it just averages.

Average Meters where all there were for many years. All of my film photography has been taken using a averaging meters. You can always buy an spot meter;-) if you need one.

Pentax makes a great hand held digital spot meter, but another and more versatile idea would be a Sekonic meter that measures incident light, flash exposure and spot metering like the L558. There's also the L358 but you'll need the spot metering adapter (recommend the 1 degree).

I find the spot meter a really valuable tool in some situations, but that goes back to my slide film days when we didn't have the histogram tool to check. :) Still, it's a very good tool but will take some practice to get used to. You'll need to use the camera on manual mode with a handheld light meter, just transfer your readings to the settings on the camera.

thanks for the replies everyone.:)

A quick look and I found "Metering system : TTL open-aperture 2-segment metering." This probably means it just averages.
thanks Canuck935, I think you are right about this.:)

Hi All,
My camera is a Pentax MZ-60 and I've been doing some reading on exposure meters (I don't know too much about it :o ), like spot metering, matrix metering center, weight metering,average or averaging reflected-light meters etc. Most cameras have at least one of these functions, but I've read through my manual and I don't think I have one of them. Does anyone know how I would go about checking the light when taking a picture using my camera since I don't have one of these functions? thanks for any help you can give me.

May I suggest that you learn to judge exposure on your own rather that spending money on fancy meters? Too many people become so attached to meter readings that they forget what exposure is about. The meter should be a check, not a final answer.

If you're using the built-in meter, here are a couple of things to keep in mind:

First, find out what area the meter is measuring.

Second, use a Zone V area to base your readings on. You could buy a gray card (and cut it up in little pieces so you have a portable measuring area), or just use something like grass or any other mid-tone to base the reading on.

Light meters assume that everything they look at has to be 18% gray (actually, it's probably more like 12% but that's a long story....).