Here are the two light meters that I use.

Pentax digital spot meter and the Weston Euromaster with ‘Incidental’ reading cone.

Generally the Matrix metering provided by modern cameras is very good, but when critical exposure is required; nothing beats the hand-held meter.

I use a simplified version of Ansel Adams zone system, as discussed at length in his book ‘The Negative’ along with the zone label attached to the Pentax meter, mentioned in the book ‘Way Beyond Monochrome’.

Both books give a very good explanation of metering in all conditions; add to that the many references that can be found on the internet, I am not going to elaborate. Suffice to say that for those who use film, a meter is an invaluable way of avoiding the often heard comment “I think that has turned out” for digital it avoids the ‘machine-gun’ syndrome.

Unfortunately the digital camera and scanner add their own difficulties ‘blown high lights’ being the biggest problem to deal with, for me anyway. Keep an eye on the Histogram…… is my mantra since the evil digital entered my life!

For scanners avoid contrast as ‘flat’ looking scans are easier to deal with post processing.

Given all this, I still get it wrong at times but hay-ho.

Do look at all the links in this post as there is some good information there.