Analog film photography and cameras

Right-o, everyone seems to be pretty keen on meters. I understand the difference between incident and reflected light meters but I'm not 100% on spot meters (they also seems fucking expensive). Anything to know/recommend?

I think to really benefit from a spot meter you want to have a bit of knowledge about the zone system. The Zone VI Workshop and Adams' The Negative will tell you pretty much all you need to know (to start with anyway) and once you start placing the important part of the image on the zone you want and checking the other parts will be within the range you wish you'll wonder how you ever manged before.