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Exposure meters

Sdeve
Posted 13/03/2009 - 20:07 Link
I hope this is in the right section.

Digging through my old bits box, I came across a couple of old lightmeters. Both Westons, with invercones. One A Euromaster 2, the other a five (V).

They got me wondering if anyone still uses a light meter.
viewfinder
Posted 13/03/2009 - 21:15 Link
Yep!...still use my Westonmaster V.....somwhere I still have the 'III' model that was my first meter in my teens in the 1960's...it still worked last time I looked at it. They can be rebuilt and are excellent meters for balancing lighting in still life shots. They were the best of the worlds selenium meters and in their era were much better than the early Cds models which were prone to colour preferences/sensitivity. I once dropped the weston IV meter I was using from a gantry in a factory. After watching it bounce on the concrete 20 odd feet below I went down and picked it up. when I had got it apart all that was 'wrong' was the balance spring had become unseated. after putting it back in place I finished the job!

The invercone is/was an item that was loved or hated according to the character of the photographer,..personally I always dropped them in the nearest dustbin.......
Edited by viewfinder: 13/03/2009 - 21:19
shim
Posted 14/03/2009 - 11:03 Link
Argh!!! The Invercone is the best meter attachment ever made. It's a push fit into a 55->49mm stepdown filter ring which can then be screwed into your lens/filter thread and you can take incident light readings with your camera. (ASA correction constant needed). The shape of the invercone was carefully formed so that it took onto account any top lighting and side lighting.... no other lighting device does this. If you must throw anything in the bin.... throw away your gray cards

shim
johnriley
Posted 14/03/2009 - 11:25 Link
Weston Invercones are highly sought after in the Vintage market, basically because they become mislaid. Also it seems because viewfinder is throwing them away!

Weston meters with Invercone will sell just so people can have the Invercone. Now we have a new and previously unthought of applications (by me at least) shim will now up the demand level even further...
Best regards, John
gartmore
Posted 14/03/2009 - 11:30 Link
I can see no purpose in using a Weston without the invercone, you can use the cameras meter to take reflected readings.
Ken
“We must avoid however, snapping away, shooting quickly and without thought, overloading ourselves with unnecessary images that clutter our memory and diminish the clarity of the whole.” - Henri Cartier-Bresson -
johnriley
Posted 14/03/2009 - 11:32 Link
Quote:
I can see no purpose in using a Weston without the invercone, you can use the cameras meter to take reflected readings.

And it will be far more accurate and far more sensitive. Absolutely agree with you gartmore!
Best regards, John
Pwynnej
Posted 14/03/2009 - 11:35 Link
I have the Master V as well, I don't use it so oftern, as my Sekonic 108 is a more frequent companion..

When I do use the Weston with the Invercone I do notice how well the exposure has come out.....
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viewfinder
Posted 14/03/2009 - 11:46 Link
Yes the cameras meter is usually better, provided that the camera actually has one in the first place!

........My Hassleblad did'nt have one,....my MPP Mk7 does'nt have one,...my Rollieflexes DO have them but they are only small selenium cells on the camera top and NOT as useful, or as convenient, as the Weston.
johnriley
Posted 14/03/2009 - 11:58 Link
If anyone ever wants to use an old camera with no meter and no rangefinder, perhaps one of the Zeiss Nettars or similar, then a useful tip is to also carry a Pentax MX or similar with a 50mm or 100mm lens attached. The camera can be used to measure exposures and to set the distance on the older camera. It's much more accurate than guessing the distance, especially when the photographer is as rubbish at guessing distances as I am!
Best regards, John
viewfinder
Posted 14/03/2009 - 12:08 Link
Part of my training was to accurately judge distances and set them on the camera without removing eyes from the subject....our instructor actually requiered us to focus the camera with it behind our backs...it was repeated constantly thousands of times until we were perfect at it.

These days all of my cameras are set to hyperfocal distance as a constant default setting for instant action as soon as they are needed.
gartmore
Posted 14/03/2009 - 13:09 Link
viewfinder wrote:
Yes the cameras meter is usually better, provided that the camera actually has one in the first place!

........My Hassleblad did'nt have one,....my MPP Mk7 does'nt have one,...my Rollieflexes DO have them but they are only small selenium cells on the camera top and NOT as useful, or as convenient, as the Weston.

viewfinder wrote:
Part of my training was to accurately judge distances and set them on the camera without removing eyes from the subject....our instructor actually requiered us to focus the camera with it behind our backs...it was repeated constantly thousands of times until we were perfect at it.

These days all of my cameras are set to hyperfocal distance as a constant default setting for instant action as soon as they are needed.

Been there, done that!

You still haven't told us why you've binned the invercones.
Ken
“We must avoid however, snapping away, shooting quickly and without thought, overloading ourselves with unnecessary images that clutter our memory and diminish the clarity of the whole.” - Henri Cartier-Bresson -
shim
Posted 14/03/2009 - 14:29 Link
johnriley wrote:
Weston Invercones are highly sought after in the Vintage market, basically because they become mislaid. Also it seems because viewfinder is throwing them away!

Weston meters with Invercone will sell just so people can have the Invercone. Now we have a new and previously unthought of applications (by me at least) shim will now up the demand level even further...

It was actually the idea of the man who invented the Invercone or "Back-Leak" Incident Light Scheme as he used to call it, he used one on a Nikon F. His name was Jack Dunn of Stockport and he had earlier invented the SEI Photometer Link (Salford Electrical Instruments) and he later realized that spot meters weren't the answer to exposure problems. I heard him lecture on it during the 70's at a camera club.

I'm surprised that you haven't come across the book Exposure Manual by Jack Dunn and George Wakefield. I've got the 1974 3rd Edition by Fountain Press, bit dated now. It's shown in the book.

shim
johnriley
Posted 14/03/2009 - 14:52 Link
Cheers, shim, that one had passed me by!
Best regards, John
Edited by johnriley: 14/03/2009 - 14:52
viewfinder
Posted 14/03/2009 - 21:29 Link
This is turning into a trip down memory lane.....

....I remember the SEI spot photometer VERY well and although I currently have no use for one I would very much like to own one. As far as I know it was never actually originally intended for photographic use but for lighting engineers and theatre lighting techies etc. As an instrument it is excellently designed having both simplicity and great efficiency. Over the years, I have had a look and play with some more modern spot meters but they did not compare favourably with the SEI instrument except for being a lot smaller.

It's only in recent years with access to the internet that I discovered Ansel Adams's use of the SEI photometer along with his UK made Cooke lenses.
golfdiesel
Posted 17/03/2009 - 16:43 Link
The only thing with exposuremeters is that you have to work the other way around.
You select the exposure time and it gives you the correct f-number to use.

I want to set the f-number and let the exposuremeter give me the exposure time...
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