A lot of the earliest cameras with meters featured incident meters rather than reflective ones. You could get a metering knob for the old hasselblads. Yes, the film winding knob actually contained the meter, and it was an incident. Today, you can get a PME prism (either 45 degree or 90 degree) that has an incident meter built on top...it also features TTL metering. All that said, I think reflective metering can be quite effective if you use something consistent and you pay your dues getting used to how it meters. I have used Leicas for awhile, and the strongly center-weighted metering is very consistent and very accurate. Once you learn what tones give you an accurate exposure, just point it at those tones and fire away. The same goes for the Hasselblad 203FE -- it has a similar center-weighted meter that is incredibly accurate if you point it at an appropriate tone. It's really about the photographer knowing the correct tone to point it at.
All that said, I have found the matrix metering in the D3 and F6 to be superbly accurate. It can get tricked in certain backlit situations, but even in those, it generally gives you a usable exposure...perhaps not the optimal one, but one that you can work with.
On the digital versus film thing, it is really about your preferences, intended output and experience with the given cameras. For me, the camera I find most enjoyable to work with and shoot is the Leica MP. It just disappears and all I think about is the image I am trying to create. The camera I would trust to get the shot no matter what would be the D3. As long as you press the button at the correct time, it will make an excellent image. The camera that I think makes the best de facto image is the Mamiya 7II (6x7cm). I like this even more than 4x5 cameras because you get more depth of field, wider angle lenses with less vignetting, much more real-world usability, and astoundingly good lenses.
Here are images from all three...I hope the Nikon thread will forgive me that only one is with a Nikon:
MP:
D3:
Please forgive the fact that the D3 shot is worse than the others...I have not had a chance to take too many with the D3 yet...I have only gotten it recently. Take solace in the fact that that is a largely unmodified ISO 2000 jpg, right from the camera. No other camera that I know of can yield a file like that.
Mamiya 7II:
