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[OM] Weston Meters

Subject: [OM] Weston Meters
From: Rich Lahrson <tripspud@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 24 May 2001 17:35:29 -0700
> The recent talk of the Weston Master V has reminded me of just how great
> this meter is.  It's the one I learned on in the 50's.  There's one on eBay,
> but it has the unfamiliar (to me) name SANGAMO/WESTON on it.  Does anyone
> know if this is a knock-off, a meter made by somebody who bought Weston out,
> or what?
>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1238743597
>
> JohnP
>

Hi John,

     It looks like the current one.  I've got a reconditioned Master
III.  Back in the
'50s, there wasn't a lot of choices in exposure meters and the Weston
Master
series was one of the most popular.  Great meters!  No batteries to
replace
or hassle with in the cold.

     This is basic meter!  Use one and learn the wonders of calculating
exposure
factors for lens extensions.  With the earlier Western Masters, like the
model II and III,
the needle points to numbers that are candles-per-square foot.

    Now, I don't fully konw how this works, but I picked it up years ago
from the
old Ansel Adams' Basic Photo series books:  You get the square root of
the
ASA (like ASA 64, square root is 8) of the film you are using.  That's
your
f-stop (in the example, f/8) and the meter dial indicates a number, the
reciprical of which is the indicated shutter speed (like, 200 c/ft2 is
1/200 sec).
Or, f/11 @1/00, etc.  That's middle grey, the big arrow exposure.  Those
of
you with this meter, if you haven't tried, check it out.

    Well, enough math.  The point is that this
system is way faster, as the simple exposure calculations can be figured
in
the head  So the exposure dial can be by-passed in many situations.

     I don't know of any other meters which will read directly in c/ft2
like the old Weston meters.  Of course these meters were popular before
cameras generally had them built-in and automatic.  Not all Weston
models
read directo c/ft2, just the earlier models.

                                                                Cheers,


Rich Lahrson

tripspud@xxxxxxxxxxxx




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