In praise of old light meters

cliveh · Nov 26, 2020

Bill Burk said:
A Weston Master II fell out of my cargo pants pocket the other day. Dead as a doorstop. Got another one on the way to replace it for ten bucks.

Don’t even really need it but had a nice Zone Sticker on it, and I plan to switch the front out when I get it.

A Weston Master II, what a beautiful light meter. I had one for years and then had the galvanometer replaced with one from a Western Master V.

Helge · Nov 26, 2020

cliveh said:
A Weston Master II, what a beautiful light meter. I had one for years and then had the galvanometer replaced with one from a Western Master V.

Never found a working one.
In my world they are unreliable.

ic-racer · Nov 26, 2020

My Leudi extinction meter

Dale Raby · Dec 5, 2020

Back in the day I carried a Gossen Luna Pro/Lunasix. It would still work if I could get a mercury cell for it, the air-batteries are too expensive and don't have a very good service life. After more than forty years, though, I mostly would use it to reassure myself that my estimation was correct.

cliveh · Dec 5, 2020

If you want a really attractive light meter, how about:-

bunip · Dec 5, 2020

bunip · Dec 5, 2020

This appears very smart but never figured out how to use it

Sirius Glass · Dec 5, 2020

bunip said:
This appears very smart but never figured out how to use it

You have a better chance of figuring it out than I. Your Italian is much better.

AgX · Dec 6, 2020

bunip said:
This appears very smart but never figured out how to use it

To me it is obvious even without reading the manual on the back, just by reading the front side:

There it is said "Start" and then there are steps "1" to "3".

Thus
-) set at the wheel the film speed
-) turn the wheel for the day and daytime
-) for the setting
-) for the weather

Only the setting of "distance" then remains enigmatic, but this is explained too at the rear side.

The Agfa calculator is quite small (size of palm of hand), came in different languages, in different materials, for many years, by both Agfas. It is very well regarded by several Apuggers.

foc · Dec 6, 2020

bunip said:
View attachment 261004 View attachment 261005 View attachment 261006

From my limited Italian, I can figure some of it out. The time of the day and the months, the subjects.
It is fairly comprehensive and very low tech. Great to see it. Sunny 16 in a cardboard disc.

AgX · Dec 6, 2020

There are Aluminium and Formica versions. But no cardboard ones, thus being very resilient.

Strange enough I only got one sample, others say it is quite common.

Ariston · Dec 6, 2020

My Sunny 16 meter is the worst... It breaks every night!

bsdunek · Dec 6, 2020

ic-racer said:
My Leudi extinction meter

View attachment 260325

Wow, Haven't seen one of those for years. Had one back in the mid-50's. Used it with my Voightlander Baby Bessa.

grahamp · Dec 6, 2020

I used to meter off a white card with my Weston V under low light, then correct for the offset from a grey card and any tungsten lighting effect. You do want to watch out for optical brighteners in the white surface, as that can inflate the reading in the presence of UV light.

Peter Schrager · Dec 7, 2020

Craig75 said:

I want one!!

AgX · Dec 7, 2020

Whereas the Agfa dial was more directed at the average advanced amateur, this slide-ruler thing seems to have been aimed at the scientifically inclined photographers...

Helge · Dec 7, 2020

A comprehensive exposure table can be very, very good in that it is dialed into sensometrics, and as such corresponds well with how a scene is perceived rather than how it is exactly lit.

You want that dark corner of the room, that occupies two thirds of the frame to look dark, because it is so, it’s often hard to convince a light meter to do it, and also by how much exactly?

Weather dependent light is if not stepped, then distributed in slanted plateaus.
Artificial light is also pretty predictable.
A well lit living room is about EV6 because that is how much light a human needs to navigate and work without it being glaring and waking them up too much in the hours before bed.
Cosy lighting is always between EV5 and 4.
Lower than that and it’s downright murky.

Craig75 · Dec 8, 2020

Peter Schrager said:
I want one!!

Theres the even more stylish version. Never be embarrassed again when you take the 11x14 plate camera for a spin and offend others eyes by pulling a sekonic out your bag.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rare-Pho...-/143876665025?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

Bill Burk · Dec 8, 2020

grahamp said:
I used to meter off a white card with my Weston V under low light, then correct for the offset from a grey card and any tungsten lighting effect. You do want to watch out for optical brighteners in the white surface, as that can inflate the reading in the presence of UV light.

I had to do that at a scout camp during evening flags ceremony as it kept getting darker and darker. Just used whatever piece of paper I had handy.

Bill Burk · Dec 8, 2020

I do wonder however, with Weston Master meters, the needle always seems to be on one end or the other, 1.6, 25, 50 or 200. Maybe it's really just an extinction meter.

sionnac · Dec 15, 2020

I love the Weston Luna Pros for the design alone, I have a few. Does anyone use a Gossen Sixticolor color temp meter? I got one at a PHSNE show a few years back.

macfred · Dec 15, 2020

Another Agfa disc = Tages- u. Kunstlicht- Belichtungstabelle

macfred · Dec 15, 2020

a flyweight ...

https://fotografische.de/bauanleitung/belichtungsmesser-download/

BobD · Dec 15, 2020

I never could get used to digital light meters. For me, The analog type are just so much more intuitive and show changes in levels so much better and simpler.

cliveh · Dec 15, 2020

I can't remember when I last used a light meter. If you use the same film, developer, with constant time/temperature, why would you need one?

In praise of old light meters

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