Weston Euromaster - Replace or Repair?

Martin Aislabie · Sep 12, 2008

I have a Weston Euromaster that has sadly seen better days.

I dropped it one too many times and the Selenium Cell Mask broke, which also led to the sliding exposure scale being stuck between bright and dim settings.

I always had great faith in the Incident Light Meters readings from the Weston

So - the questions is - do I try and get it repaired or is there an equal incident light meter out there with their own version of the Invercone.

I have a seperate Spot Meter - so am not realy in the market for an all signing and dancing meter - just a great incident one

Thanks

Martin

nemo999 · Sep 12, 2008

Martin Aislabie said:
I have a Weston Euromaster that has sadly seen better days.

I dropped it one too many times and the Selenium Cell Mask broke, which also led to the sliding exposure scale being stuck between bright and dim settings.

I always had great faith in the Incident Light Meters readings from the Weston

So - the questions is - do I try and get it repaired or is there an equal incident light meter out there with their own version of the Invercone.

I have a seperate Spot Meter - so am not realy in the market for an all signing and dancing meter - just a great incident one

Thanks

Martin

Repairing your bent Euromaster will cost £50 or so, a lot cheaper than buying a new meter (assuming the cell is OK and reading accurately, if not this will cost a further £60 or so). You can of course buy another one secondhand for less, but this might need servicing, too. If you are attached to your Weston or need its no-battery cold-weather capability, I'd have it fixed - otherwise there are plenty of other meters that will do the job (Sekonic, for one) and will read in much lower light. No one else seems to have copied the Invercone (maybe it was patented), everyone else seems to use a hemispherical incident-light diffuser, but they seem to work fine.

michaelbsc · Sep 13, 2008

I don't know what it would take to send it to California to Quality Light Metrics. The import and export paperwork might make it completely unworkable. But if it is reasonable I can tell you they do a fabulous job. I had two Weston Masters repaired by them earlier this year, and they are as good as new.

Martin Aislabie · Sep 13, 2008

Guys, thanks for the replies

I can get it serviced in the UK by a company called Megatron (http://www.megatron.co.uk/homepage.html) for about 66UK Pounds (aprox 120USD)

On the other hand - its about half the cost of a new meter

So I was wondering what else people rated as a good or bad incident light meter

The low light reponse isn't realy a problem - I strugle to focus my View Camera in those sorts of light levels anyway

Thanks

Martin

nemo999 · Sep 13, 2008

Martin Aislabie said:
Guys, thanks for the replies

I can get it serviced in the UK by a company called Megatron (http://www.megatron.co.uk/homepage.html) for about 66UK Pounds (aprox 120USD)

On the other hand - its about half the cost of a new meter

So I was wondering what else people rated as a good or bad incident light meter

The low light reponse isn't realy a problem - I strugle to focus my View Camera in those sorts of light levels anyway

Thanks

Martin

There was a recent thread about this - most people (including me) seem to approve of Sekonic meters. I have an L308 and L358 - both are easy to use - the L358 is larger, more expensive, more sensitive, has a few more features (which I don't really use) and has the slight annoyance that you have to unscrew one cover and fit another to change between incident and reflected light readings (and then store the cover you've just taken off somewhere where you won't lose it!).

David Lingham · Sep 14, 2008

Martin

Have a look on ebay. Currently there are two Weston V's on both around £10.

Ian Grant · Sep 14, 2008

How can they be on both They will show up on all flavours of Ebay .com, .co.uk, .de, .it etc etc

I've bought 2 Master V's off ebay in the past 18 months and found that despite appearing to work the cells were at the end of their life. You're really taking pot luck and hoping it's accurate buying one unseen. Unless of course you buy one that's been serviced & has a new cell/movement.

Ian

John Lawrence · Sep 14, 2008

Martin,

I've got a Master V that was serviced (had the cell replaced etc...) by Megatron about a year ago, if you're interested. The only downside is that there is a small crack in the incident dome, but this doesn't go all the way through the plastic. It's had little use since it was serviced, and I've just got an L308s: seems a shame to just keep it and not put it to good use. So if your're planning to use it (and not sell it on) you can have it for free if you wish. Just message me with your address and I'll post it to you.

John

benjiboy · Sep 14, 2008

nemo999 said:
There was a recent thread about this - most people (including me) seem to approve of Sekonic meters. I have an L308 and L358 - both are easy to use - the L358 is larger, more expensive, more sensitive, has a few more features (which I don't really use) and has the slight annoyance that you have to unscrew one cover and fit another to change between incident and reflected light readings (and then store the cover you've just taken off somewhere where you won't lose it!).

I have a Sekonic L358 , and having to change from the Lumisphere, to the Lumigrid drives me crazy too, so I bought a little Lowepro pouch that fits on my belt to keep the one that's not in use in, and it works for me.

David Lingham · Sep 15, 2008

sorry Ian, what I tried to say, was there are two Weston V's on ebay both for around £10. I should always read my posts.

bdial · Sep 15, 2008

I agree with Ian re: meters from ebay. If the needles move, they'll be described as "working", but that's not the same as it being an accurate functional tool. For ebay, I'd assume that the meter needs to be serviced, and bid accordingly. There are always exceptions, of course, but there's a lot of risk that it won't be any better than what you're trying to replace.

I suppose one could always ask the seller to set the scale at asa xxx and make an outdoor reading at noon and tell you the result...

Ian Grant · Sep 15, 2008

What I found was even with a very bright light source the needle wouldn't shift off or even reach the top of the scale on the low light mode. When new a meter that reads 10 in the lowlight mode reads 10 in the bright light position.

Interestingly a Leica dealer I use occasionally won't sell the Selenium cell Leica-meters at all, he says they are all too old and inaccurate, and that's been his policy for at least 8 years.

Ian

Trevor Crone · Sep 15, 2008

Indeed, I bought one on the Bay recently, described as working. When it arrived I checked it against a spotmeter and it was hopelessly out. Fortunately the seller was honest and said because he saw the needle moving he thought it was in good working order. I returned it for a full refund.

Martin Aislabie · Sep 24, 2008

John Lawrence said:
Martin,

I've got a Master V that was serviced (had the cell replaced etc...) by Megatron about a year ago, if you're interested. The only downside is that there is a small crack in the incident dome, but this doesn't go all the way through the plastic. It's had little use since it was serviced, and I've just got an L308s: seems a shame to just keep it and not put it to good use. So if your're planning to use it (and not sell it on) you can have it for free if you wish. Just message me with your address and I'll post it to you.

John

John, thank you for your very kind offer but I will politely decline if I may

I have a emotional attachment to my old Weston and have decided to get her fixed

I spoke to a chap at Megatron and he seemed to think fixing her up would not be a big deal

I look forward to dropping my faithful old Weston in many more places across the world before long

Thanks

Martin

eli griggs · Sep 24, 2008

Martin, you ought to pick up a spare Weston or two while they can be serviced by competent people because, IMO, it won't be so long before this will become prohibitively expensive if available at all.

I'd also like to point out that a little drop can put these out of action quite easily. I've got two Master Vs I had put right by Quality Metric (a 1st rate service!) and when the strap gave way on a 'vintage' camera bag one afternoon, the resulting impact with the floor broke the glass in one of them just enough to put it out of action. Only about a $25 repair, it would have been very inconvenient to go without a stand-alone meter while waiting for it to be serviced and returned, even though George Melton is super quick in that department.

Remember, if you don't have a good back-up, every time you pick up your kit, all your 'eggs' are effectively in one basket.

Cheers

Paul Goutiere · Sep 24, 2008

I have a Master IV a Master V and a Ranger 9, accumulated over the days. The Master V (is this also the Euromaster?) appears the most consistent and reliable. It has outlasted my Luna Pro SBC as well as retained it's accuracy.

The Weston Ranger is hanging in there with a modification to accept silver oxide cells, but of course it needs batteries.

The Weston Master V is by far my favorite for reliability and size. I think I'd buy another for a spare as well as have them serviced.

benjiboy · Sep 25, 2008

The Weston Master meters when they were made were the best buy in photography, and certainly in the thirty three years since I bought mine new for £10 ($19 US) which even all that time ago was still inexpensive, it's still like new gives accurate readings, and has been the best investment in photographic gear I have ever made.
Weston Ranger Cds meters were never sold in the UK, I don't know why, because the 1V,V, and the Euromaster were made in the UK. Westons are certainly worth repairing at companys like Quality Metric and Megatron IMHO because where would you buy a meter these days like this for the repair cost ?

outwest · Sep 25, 2008

I have a bunch (two dozen?) of Westons of all flavors from pre Master to Ranger 9s. In my experience in running across them, the least likely to be working are the IVs and Vs, especially the IVs. The IIs and IIIs are almost always working and can even be found new in their original bright red boxes with the strap still wrapped. I had a EuroMaster II overhauled by Mergatron figuring it was the latest and greatest, but note it did require service when I sent it in. I had my Ranger 9s tweaked at Quality Light Metric and they definitely provide a quality service.

Martin Aislabie · Sep 30, 2008

Guys, thanks for all the good advice

You are of course right - I should pick up a spare and keep safe it for the inevitable day when I drop my first one somewhere irretrievable (I like photographing waterfalls so it’s not too hard to imagine)

Thanks

Martin

Martin Aislabie · Nov 4, 2008

Just a wrap-up note to say I have just received my Weston back from Megatron in full working order.

I can highly recommend then - they were quick (about 7 days from posting to getting it back), reasonable price (£52 inc P&P) and pleasant to deal with on the phone and via e-mail.

Here hoping for many more years of faithful service

Martin

benjiboy · Nov 15, 2008

That's pretty good Martin, I have a Euromaster that was about £10 new in 1975 I checked it recently it's still accurate but now in semi-retirement, £52 is a very fair price, these meters if they were produced today would be a lot of money.

pentaxuser · Nov 15, 2008

benjiboy said:
That's pretty good Martin, I have a Euromaster that was about £10 new in 1975 I checked it recently it's still accurate but now in semi-retirement, £52 is a very fair price, these meters if they were produced today would be a lot of money.

Yes for what is now probably the equivalent of a brand new meter, it's great. Anybody care to work out what £10 in 1975 money is today? Inflation means that £10 then is a sight more than 5 times as much now.

On second thoughts don't work it out, you might frighten us all to death as to what things cost in real terms then.

pentaxuser

Weston Euromaster - Replace or Repair?

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