Weston Master II

Chan Tran · Mar 20, 2010

I have a Weston Master II exposure meter. I got it at a garage sale many years ago and never used it. Recently, out of curiousity I checked it to see how accurate it is. I found that the direct reading in Candela per foot squared is quite accurate but the dial would indicate wrong exposure.
For example, 400 c/ft^2 which is EV15 for ISO100 but dial this value in the built in dial I would get 1/130@f/20 which is EV15 and 2/3. Using Weston rated speed of 80 for ISO100 I would get 1/130@f/18 which is EV15 and 1/3.
It seems to get the correct exposure setting I would have to set the dial for ISO64 instead.

Denis P. · Mar 21, 2010

Older Weston light meters used different speed ratings. The general formula states that Weston 80 equals 100 ASA/ISO. So, you're right that you should set the film speed dial to 80 (or even 64, as you say).
Check also here: Weston meter

Galah · Mar 21, 2010

Denis P. said:
Older Weston light meters used different speed ratings. The general formula states that Weston 80 equals 100 ASA/ISO. So, you're right that you should set the film speed dial to 80 (or even 64, as you say).
Check also here: Weston meter

Amazing how these old Weston Masters continue to work so well !

benjiboy · Mar 22, 2010

I think the Weston 11 master meter came out in 1948, after around sixty years it's a miracle they work at all never mind accurately ,

Steve Smith · Mar 22, 2010

benjiboy said:
I think the Weston 11 master meter came out in 1948, after around sixty years it's a miracle they work at all never mind accurately ,

The miracle could be that they have had the cell replaced. A service which Megatron in the UK still offer.

Steve.

benjiboy · Mar 22, 2010

Steve Smith said:
The miracle could be that they have had the cell replaced. A service which Megatron in the UK still offer.

Steve.

They may still do it Steve but there's no mention of it on their website now http://www.megatron.co.uk/homepage.html

edp · Mar 22, 2010

They did my Master V in October 2008, and I don't think their website mentioned it then either.

ic-racer · Mar 22, 2010

I'd do a Zone I test on an old meter anyway, and use the results of that test for my exposures.

Galah · Mar 22, 2010

benjiboy said:
I think the Weston 11 master meter came out in 1948, after around sixty years it's a miracle they work at all never mind accurately ,

I have a W-M II and a V (neither has been "serviced"): both work well.

I have several other "built in" selenium meters in various cameras: all work OK.

Chan Tran · Mar 22, 2010

I bought mine at garage sale so I can't be sure but I believe it has not been recelled.

Steve Smith · Mar 23, 2010

benjiboy said:
They may still do it Steve but there's no mention of it on their website now http://www.megatron.co.uk/homepage.html

You are right. It doesn't mention it any more. I think it used to be on the Euromaster II page at the bottom. They offered calibration and/or cell replacement.

edp said:
They did my Master V in October 2008, and I don't think their website mentioned it then either.

I definitely saw it about a year ago. It did take a bit of searching for though.

Steve.

MartinCrabtree · Mar 23, 2010

He repairs them.Shipping may be a bit stiff but the price for an overhaul isn't bad.

Galah · Mar 30, 2010

Hi all,

Over the week end, I bought a second Weston Master II Universal Exposure Meter (Model s141/7350) black body with a white scale , manufactured in England, exactly like the one I have had already for about a year.

This one came in the original box, a leather eveready case and a lanyard, and the original instruction booklet.

What I found interesting was that both copies of the meter give identical readings in the same conditions: that must be good?

Alright then, my question is: is this model meant to have an invercone (so it can do "incidental light" readings) or not?

A very careful reading of the instruction booklet and the illustrations therein seems to suggest -strongly- that this model was never meant to be used for "incidental" reading, only for reflected light readings (and, therefore, was never meant to be used with an invercone).

Is there anyone who can confirm this, please???

Steve Smith · Mar 30, 2010

Galah said:
Alright then, my question is: is this model meant to have an invercone (so it can do "incidental light" readings) or not?

Mine has both an invercone and an ND filter which fits in place before the invercone. The invercone from the later Weston IV and V meters do not fit.

http://www.urmonas.net/manuals/westonII/westonII.html

EDIT: I was hoping that link to a manual would include instructions on the invercone and filter but it doesn't!

I think the idea is that in order to fit the invercone the door is opened which sets the meter to its low light range. The filter compensates for having the door open and also pushes the scale back to the high range. Without the filter it works normally on the low light range.

Steve.

benjiboy · Mar 30, 2010

The invercone fitted to the later Weston meters like the Master 1V, V, and Euro Master that is bigger than the meters body and allows the light to back leak in backlit situations and because of it's cardioid shape IMHO is the best incidental light meter ever, I've been using it for more than thirty years, and although I have a Gossen Luna-pro SBC ( Profisix), a Gossen Digipro, and a Sekonic L-358 the Weston purely for incidental light readings in normal daylight is the best of the lot, Jack Dunn who invented it in the 1950s was a genius.

Chan Tran · Mar 30, 2010

I have the manual for my Weston Master II (unfortunately the manual is in much better shape than the meter) and it does say that you can use an invercone with the Master II.

Galah · Mar 30, 2010

Chan Tran said:
I have the manual for my Weston Master II (unfortunately the manual is in much better shape than the meter) and it does say that you can use an invercone with the Master II.

My manual doesn't mention any invercone whatever and makes no reference to incident light measurement at all, only to reflected light readings. :confused:

No invercone was provided and no mention of such an accessory is made in the manual:confused: (unlike in my WM-V manual).

Galah · Mar 31, 2010

Steve Smith said:
Mine has both an invercone and an ND filter which fits in place before the invercone. The invercone from the later Weston IV and V meters do not fit.

http://www.urmonas.net/manuals/westonII/westonII.html

EDIT: I was hoping that link to a manual would include instructions on the invercone and filter but it doesn't!

Steve.

Well, Steve, if you open to page one, in the link you provided, it states:

"Brightness

Your exposure meter is designed to measure reflected light or brightness and not incident light...."

So, it pretty well appears to eliminate the use of invercones etc and all that goes with it?

Yet, people still claim that the WM II can be used to/is designed to read incident light.:confused:

are they simply incorrect?:confused:

I know later models (e.g, the WM V) are actually clearly designed to read both incident and reflected light, but the WM II ?:confused:

Steve Smith · Mar 31, 2010

Galah said:
Well, Steve, if you open to page one, in the link you provided, it states:

"Brightness

Your exposure meter is designed to measure reflected light or brightness and not incident light...."

So, it pretty well appears to eliminate the use of invercones etc and all that goes with it?

You are correct. My meter has an invercone and an ND filter. However, it's a III not a II like I thought it was!!!

Steve.

benjiboy · Mar 31, 2010

There was an invercone for the Master 11 http://westonmeter.org.uk/westontwo.htm. I'm not sure if it was supplied with the meter, or as an optional extra .

Steve Smith · Mar 31, 2010

... and mine for the III looks just like that. This page: http://westonmeter.org.uk/westonthree.htm shows the ND filter I mentioned.

And on the home page:

The Invercone was first advertised in 1948 for the Master II.
There is a neutral density filter that clips into the cell recess for bright light measurement as you can't close this with the invercone in place (unlike on later models).

Steve.

erikg · Mar 31, 2010

The Invercone converts the meter for use as an incident light meter, this will be true for the Master II as it is for all following Masters. My guess is that early manual was not written with the Invercone in mind, perhaps it had yet to be added as an option.
Quality Light Metric in Hollywood still works on these meters, and the price and turn around are very reasonable, exceptional even.

Galah · Mar 31, 2010

OK, thanks everyone. This seems to clear it up

Galah · Mar 31, 2010

benjiboy said:
There was an invercone for the Master 11 http://westonmeter.org.uk/westontwo.htm. I'm not sure if it was supplied with the meter, or as an optional extra .

Thanks for the link: this really clears it up.

RMD · Apr 3, 2010

With reference to the mention of Megatron in this thread,this company has recently ceased operation.
A company called Optical Test and Calibration (OTC) has taken over some of the maintenance side of the industrial business,but there is no mention of repairs to Weston meters.

Weston Master II

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