Light meter i think??

I picked this up at a boot sale i figured it was a light meter of some description because when i held it up the the needle moved. The seller didnt know what it was either so i flipped him 2 bucks for it. It looks as old as Methuselah. No instructions and i cant make heads or tails of the little dials. Has anyone seen or used one of these before.
Oh its made in good old England also

Manual from here:
http://www.urmonas.net/manuals/westonIII/westonIII.html
Have fun with your new light meter
Matt

Thanks Matt i should have just googled it myself

These things were worth their weight in gold back in the days before through-the-lens metering.

And Weston made some of the best. I had one and only found Lunasix's and Sekonic Studio meters to be "slightly" better.

Now put it away, you're making me feel my age!

It's a little ancient and care-worn, rather like me, but the Weston Master is a photographic icon.

Treasure it.

G

In these eco-conscious days you can tell everyone you've got a solar powered meter. I still have a Master V as a back up, they used to be the standard meter but not so great in low light levels.

Hi Clarky,

I was given one of these meters the other day - aren't they fantastic to hold? I haven't really used mine in anger yet, but the build quality is fantastic! I haven't tested to see how the Weston exposure ratings equate to digital ISOs, but once I've got that straight presumably it'll be perfectly useable. Sadly mine's missing the invercone, so it won't do incident light readings, but, blimey, what a beautiful object!!

Jonathan

I've got my ORIGINAL Weston Master 11 from about 1953 era; my Dad smuggled it in to England from Jersey ( No Purchase Tax at 60% or Import Duty at 50% as it was in those days !) It cost £7-12-6d I think. It came with the Mk 1 Invercone which I still have ! The Weston Speed are one third stop different from ASA speeds. 100 ASA=80Weston. I took it to Germany when I was in the Army and got some great results- but I didn't realise the shutter speedcould be out, and used my Contax 11 with f1.5 uncoated Sonnar at top speed which was the unheard of 1250th second and slides came out all over-exposed ! Now I use a Master V with Invercone but wouldn't get rid of my Dad's present; he died in 1968.

This is a picture of the one I purchased in 1965 just before I was about to emigrate to Australia. It cost about £10 if I remember correctly. I still have it and the photo is one that I took about two years ago.

Thanks everyone for your replies. Now that i have the instructions i will have a little play with it and then put it away i think