Vintage light meter ideas please

[BrianShaw]

But no matter... "(Weston EI numbers are about 1/3rd stop slower than ASA)." It's hardly a problem.

 

[Jim Noel]

I particularly like the Weston Master III, which is the first with ASA index vs. Weston scale. I consider it a must to have a Zone System scale pasted to the dial. I admit my addiction to Zone System makes me feel lost when the Zone Dial falls off. I usually find the scale in the case or my pocket, lick it and stick it back on.

The meters are accurate when working but some fail. When I get one that's not working I will try and fix it. I have had only two Weston meters fail on me. One due to a scratched coil (scratch which severed a wire) and another that had a dead selenium cell. Generally the Weston and GE meters have well-sealed cells.

An issue of calibration though. Older meters were calibrated to tungsten while modern meters are calibrated to a standard closer to daylight. This means you really shouldn't condemn an old meter for not agreeing with a modern meter.

Some Master II's also had ASA dials.

 

[MartinCrabtree]

My Master II works perfectly at 1/3 stop under ISO rating. And the Invercone is the way to go. Great exposure with difficult lighting..........well as long as there's enough of it.

 

[jim10219]

I have several selenium light meters. They do lose accuracy with age. And finding replacement selenium cells are darn near impossible since nobody has made them in years. They're caustic and expensive to make, and don't offer any real world advantage over other solar cell technologies. So there's not much of a market for anyone to ever take them up again.

That being said, all of mine do give fairly accurate readings (except in low light of course), if you compensate for their age. For all of mine, you just set the ISO/ASA to one stop below the film you're using and they work beautifully. So if I'm using ISO 100 film, I just set the meter to ISO 50, and do everything else normally. You'll want to check your meter against a known good one to see how far it is off.

One of these days I'm going to run some experiments to replace the selenium cells with silicon. I'm thinking if you find the right type of silicon cell and install a colored filter over the sensor and use a resistor to bring the voltage down, you could probably get pretty close and it would still all fit inside these old light meters and remain accurate enough to use. But that'll take more research and experimentation than I have time for right now.

 

[jgoody]

The Gossen Luna Pro sbc is an excellent meter - incident and reflected - and you can read various areas and see up to 3 stops under/over indicated on the meter. Wide ASA range. It takes common 9V batteries. But it's not small -- approx 2 1/2" wide X 4 1/2" tall X 1 1/2" deep.

 

[Bill Burk]

Some Master II's also had ASA dials.

I believe some Weston Master II may have ASA dials. Steve Smith apparently has one, because he set his Weston to 80 on Weston Master II and with pointer at 400, he says f/16 is opposite 125

When I do the same with my Weston Master III that is known to be ASA, and I set ASA 80, pointer at 400, I see f/16 is opposite 130. Essentially the same reading.

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

 

[Sirius Glass]

My CDS meters died decades ago and now live in some land fill.

 

[Down Under]

As the majority of posts confirm, the Weston Masters (any model from II and above) have it all over every (non-battery) meter from the 1960s. I bought one in 1964 or so and still use it. Westons have their limitations, and when I got my first one I had to do a bit of serious reading to learn how to use it properly - the big dial on the front is configured to allow for compensating exposures (plus or minus) depending on the light conditions. Westons do take a bit of getting used to.

My Weston collection now consists of a II (working well), a III (fiddly, correct exposures in bright light but a tad off in low light, two Vs (one works, one doesn't), and a Euromaster (which works OK when I give it a tap). My favorites are the V and the II.

If you buy a Weston, it's good advice to ensure you also have the instruction manual. Be sure to read it.

There is an older (1930s-1940s) Weston model, the Universal. One occasionally turns up on that OL auction site, but whether they work or not, and even if they do how accurate they are, are important points.

If you want something more modern, Gossen made a Lunasix (a III, I think) that was highly reliable for its time. I got one in the mid '60s but it was stolen and I didn't get around to replacing it til the early '90s. Much more reliable in low light situations. There was also a small Gossen meter with a sliding baffle to help keep the selenium cell ticking and a nifty hard plastic case. It was called the Sixtar, I think, and came out in 1960 or so. If you find one that works, buy it. My partner has one, they are cheap and reliable and long-lived.

As someone else wrote, the Zeiss Ikon Ikophot meter is good value (= inexpensive). As with the Westons from that era (1950s), check it out carefully before you buy.

Oddly, none of my handheld meters entirely agree with each other in their readings. the variations float back and forth by up to half a stop minus, a third stop plus. My Gossen and the working V are closest to my Nikkormat in-camera meters. I shoot B&W or color negative anyway, so I err on the side of caution and expose on the side of slight overexposure to fluff up the shadows a bit. For what it's worth, this has never let me down.

 

[Kino]

I am surprised no one has recommended the Vintage Norwood Director series, which is really the precursor to the Seconic Studio Series of light meters. While it doesn't require a battery, a complete kit has dedicated ASA/ISO slides, an integration sphere (incident), flat lumadisc (directional incident) and a lumagrid (for directional reflected). A very accurate, reliable meter; and they are not expensive on the used market.

(I think it was also badged as a "Brockway" as well...)

 

[Jim Jones]

Another vote for the Norwood, which was mentioned in passing in post #14. It was certainly one of the most versatile selenium cell meters of its day. I found the Master II and later Westons easier to use, but that may be from decades of experience with them.

 

[Lee Rust]

I carry the Sekonic L-398 at all times. A direct descendant of the Norwood Director, the ergonomics and accuracy are hard to beat. One downside is the large magnet in the meter movement that throws off the compass in my car... another is the limited low-light sensitivity.

 

[David Lindquist]

There is still someone refurbishing Westons, and selling refurbished Westons, Ian Partridge .com is still doing them, his website states available today, July 2017, and he does a good job, I dropped a 5 a while ago, cracked the glass and the meter stoped working, I sent the meter to him to see if anything could be done and got back a virtual new meter, he is expensive but worth a look,
Richard

In a fit of GAS I recently bought a rebuilt Weston Master IV from Ian Partridge: http://ian-partridge.com/westonrepair.html Personally I find something cool about the dial graduated in candles per square foot instead of EV's. Not saying that's rational. I think his prices are reasonable for what one gets.

Now for a battery powered vintage meter there's always the SEI Spot Photometer. I wish Ian Partridge would undertake the replacing of the selenium cells in these...
David

 

[Patrick Robert James]

I have a Zeiss Ikophot and a Weston Master IV and they are both fun to use for nostalgia. BUT I prefer the Luna Pro SBC to pretty much everything else, even modern meters.

 

[jim10219]

I carry the Sekonic L-398 at all times. A direct descendant of the Norwood Director, the ergonomics and accuracy are hard to beat. One downside is the large magnet in the meter movement that throws off the compass in my car... another is the limited low-light sensitivity.

A third is the size and having to carry a separate meter. Not that it's a huge meter, but I rarely actually require an incident meter, and they're not all that tiny or convenient compared to something like a Sekonic hot shoe mounted meter.

 

[LouisGR]

I was worried about using a selenium meter as I've been told older ones can lose their accuracy ( I have one which reads what ever it fancies ,it may just be the case it is broke) Wheres your Auction Ian ?

Selenium meters are extremely accurate and constant above Exposure Values around 4 [at ISO 100} if they are working well and calibrated.

If you live in the temperate zones in an area that is relatively free of atmospheric pollution you can check the accuracy of a selenium cell as follows:
1. Make sure the zero setting is spot on by making sure that no light gets to the cell and adjusting the setting screw till no light reads zero.
2. Set it for ISO 100
3. Take a direct [not incident] reading from the clear blue sky with the sun at your back [and no clouds] around midday -- between say 11 am and 2 pm-ish.
4. If the Exposure Value of your reading is within ⅓ to half f/stop of 15 your meter is spot-on.

Cheers

LouisG

 

[Chan Tran]

Selenium meters are extremely accurate and constant above Exposure Values around 4 [at ISO 100} if they are working well and calibrated.

If you live in the temperate zones in an area that is relatively free of atmospheric pollution you can check the accuracy of a selenium cell as follows:
1. Make sure the zero setting is spot on by making sure that no light gets to the cell and adjusting the setting screw till no light reads zero.
2. Set it for ISO 100
3. Take a direct [not incident] reading from the clear blue sky with the sun at your back [and no clouds] around midday -- between say 11 am and 2 pm-ish.
4. If the Exposure Value of your reading is within ⅓ to half f/stop of 15 your meter is spot-on.

Cheers

LouisG

You check only 1 point. How accurate do you expect at other light level?

 

[macfred]

Another solution -
surprisingly precise … AGFA Tages - und Kunstlicht Belichtungstabelle

Tages - und Kunstlicht Belichtungstabelle by Andreas, on Flickr

 

[LouisGR]

You check only 1 point. How accurate do you expect at other light level?

Thanks for following up on this matter. In fact, it's not 1 but 2 points: total darkness and the sky around noon on a cloudless day [EV 15 @ ISO 100]. A clean, working selenium light meter can be expected to be linear between these 2 points.

Best wishes, Louis

 

[pentaxuser]

What did you decide on in the end, BADGER.BRAD?

pentaxuser

 

[Chan Tran]

Thanks for following up on this matter. In fact, it's not 1 but 2 points: total darkness and the sky around noon on a cloudless day [EV 15 @ ISO 100]. A clean, working selenium light meter can be expected to be linear between these 2 points.

Best wishes, Louis

Total darkness is not a good calibration point.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I have never used a battery powered meter but I really like my Zeiss Ikon Ikophot meter. It is excellent except in very poor light.

that's where you need the battery power!

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Total darkness is not a good calibration point.

+1

 

[LouisGR]

Total darkness is not a good calibration point.

Try it, it works

 

[Pioneer]

Total darkness is not a good calibration point.

It seemed to work great for mine. I guess you could complain to Weston about their calibration procedures. I am sure that they will be more than happy to revise their instructions based on your observations Chan.

 

[Grif]

So, if Dark, and sunny 16 (or whatever north clear midday sky is called) aren't good points, what would be alternatives?