Light meters

Shootar401 · Jan 3, 2014

just out of curiosity, what was a common type of light meter used in the 60's? I'm thinking a Weston or Norwood.

benjiboy · Jan 3, 2014

In the U.K it was the Weston, I only sold my Weston Euro-master about six weeks ago after almost forty years service, I now have a modern digital multimeter that does everything except wake you with a cup of coffee in the morning, in fact if it could nag you, you could marry it

kintatsu · Jan 3, 2014

Gossen Sixtono/Pilot was pretty common in the 60s, as was the Sixtomat. The Sixtomat came out in the 50s, but was pretty common, from what I understand, around here into the 70s. So was the Sixtino. I have both and they are really nice meters, although not spot, they cover about 30 degrees.

AgX · Jan 3, 2014

It very much depended on where in the world the photographer was based as international availabilty was lesser, depended on import agents and the market share.

Xmas · Jan 3, 2014

Yea before 1961 Gossen and Weston had 99% of UK market and it was large as some people went from tables and calculators for mono to meters for colour.

Then import restrictions were lifted and allowed Ja imports and they flooded the markets.

cliveh · Jan 3, 2014

Weston Master II or V.

chriscrawfordphoto · Jan 3, 2014

Gossen Luna Pro came out in the 60s and was very popular

snapguy · Jan 3, 2014

In the US back then the Weston was ubiquitous. A lot of people had them, too.

MartinCrabtree · Jan 3, 2014

I still use a Weston Master II.

BrianShaw · Jan 3, 2014

I still use as Weston Master III and a Gossen Luna Pro.

Xmas · Jan 3, 2014

So when I get asked I flip out the low light baffle and say the immortal words

'beam me up Scotti'

E. von Hoegh · Jan 4, 2014

Shootar401 said:
just out of curiosity, what was a common type of light meter used in the 60's? I'm thinking a Weston or Norwood.

In the US, the high quality meters were Weston and GE. Norwood incident meters were used a lot by movie people. Gossens were around, both the selenium ones and the early LunaPro/LunaSix models.

E. von Hoegh · Jan 4, 2014

cliveh said:
Weston Master II or V.

The Master II came along right after WWII. Master III was introduced about 1955. Master IV, ~1965. The Master V was introduced in 1967. So if you want a Weston for the sixties, get a III, a IV, or maybe a V.

David Brown · Jan 4, 2014

I still have an early Sekonic from that era.

E. von Hoegh · Jan 4, 2014

David Brown said:
I still have an early Sekonic from that era.

I have a pair of Master IIIs and Invercones - one NIB and one I use quite a lot, unless I need very low light peroformance in which case I use a LunaSix.

leicarfcam · Jan 4, 2014

Weston and GE were common in the 40's-70's here in the USA followed by Gossen.. Sekonic came in 3rd place..

R.Gould · Jan 4, 2014

The Weston master IV was around and in common use in the sixties, and in 1963 bthe weston V came out, these were very the meters to use, 99% of pros and any serious amateur would have one, I still have and use both a Weston master IV and V meter, prefering the IV, both are still working fine and are accurate compared to a modern Sekonic.

BrianShaw · Jan 4, 2014

R.Gould said:
...the weston V came out, these were very the meters to use, 99% of pros and any serious amateur would have one,...

I always wanted to be a 1-percenter... and now I am. Thanks!

cliveh · Jan 4, 2014

The best light meter is your eyes.

E. von Hoegh · Jan 4, 2014

cliveh said:
The best light meter is your eyes.

Good luck with that. (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

But if you want to choose an organ, I'd go with "the best exposure calculator is your educated and experienced brain, recieving it's input from a properly-functioning handheld meter of the type which best suits you".

CHX · Feb 1, 2014

I still use a Leningrad 4. Nice solid little thing.

Regular Rod · Feb 1, 2014

Shootar401 said:
just out of curiosity, what was a common type of light meter used in the 60's? I'm thinking a Weston or Norwood.

I used a Weston but as a schoolboy it cost me a lot of Saturday work to earn enough to buy it. Prior to that the exposure guide that came in the box with the film...

RR

thuggins · Feb 20, 2014

I have a fairly extensive collection of meters, but whenever an external meter is required it is invariably the Zeiss Ikophot - the white bakelite (?) one in the brown leather case. Although these were made in the early 1950's it is still dead on accurate, covers a full range of typical light situations with no baffle or booster cell, and best of all requires no batteries.

Jim Jones · Feb 20, 2014

Many Weston II meters were still in use through the 60s and beyond. I still use them in preference to the Norwood and various GEs.

elekm · Feb 20, 2014

I used a Weston III for a long time. Great meter. Lots of tiny numbers on its dial.

These days, my favorite is a Zeiss Ikon Ikophot T. It's a CdS and uses a 9-volt battery, which lasts a L-O-N-G time. It can do both reflective and incident metering. It's very accurate.

Light meters

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