Batteryless light meters

[ulrich.von.lich]

The only one I know is the Sekonic L398A. Are there others?

 

[Morry Katz]

I have an old Spectra Combi that has batteries for low light and a battery-less selenium cell for regular incident usage. I almost never use the low range.

 

[Rob-F]

I have a Norwood Director, a Brockway, a Color-Matic, and a Spectra Professional. These are all closely related, are incident light meters, and do not have any batteries. The first three are essentially the same thing, but the name changed from time to time.

I also have a couple of Weston meters. Those are reflected light meters, although they can be used with an Invercone, which is an attachment that converts them for reading incident light.

Here'a shot of a Norwood and the Spectra Professional. There is also a Minolta meter in the picture, but that one is battery powered.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Weston Masters!

In fact there are dozens of others, but they pretty much died out in the 60s. I got a Yashica last week-end.

Cheers,

R.

 

[delft]

There is the Weston Master. Mine is still going strong, like the Sekonic:

Dirk

 

[sevo]

The Sekonic L-398A and Spectra P-251 are still being made. The Weston Euromaster probably not, but there are quite recent ones around - the service dept. of the final successors to the original maker did still make some (obviously from spares) on special order until two or three years ago, but they have since been taken over and shut down their internet presence.

Sekonic alone had dozens of different models, and many held up well.

One thing to avoid are West German ones, from just about any maker. The dominant selenium element type in Germany from the mid fifties on was potted with some type of plastics (going by the decay products probably PU) that has almost universally decayed by now - West German made selenium meters (even from reputable makers like Zeiss Ikon or Gossen) usually are dead or fail within few hours of exposure to light.

 

[BSchall]

There's all kinds of old battery-less meters.

I have a Gossen Pilot 2 that's still accurate. Also have an even older GE DW-68 that's accurate.

Check out this site: http://www.jollinger.com/photo/meters/meters/ge_dw68.html Pretty impressive collection of metets.

 

[nikon_sam]

I have the Weston Master II and a Gossen Pilot both rebuilt by QLM a few years ago...they work great...
I also have a Sekonic L-8 in the box with the Plug-in Amplifier and lanyard...it looks like new but unfortunately quit working...I would get it fixed but doubt I would actually use it...

 

[ulrich.von.lich]

Thanks for the suggestions. But I guess none of them is still being commercialised ?

Will accuracy decrease with age or as long as they are working, they are accurate?

 

[Timestep]

You would be best served with a NEW Seconic 398.
We almost lost this classic, 'till they found a new useable source of selenium.
I had a Norwood as my first good meter; replaced it with a Weston Master IV— which matched the Norwood in incident mode with the Invercone and needle lock.

Decades later, returned to the Seconic version of the Norwood, now incorporating a needle lock. Then obtained a new Seconic as back-up.

In this case, as with the Tiltall tripod: buy your last meter first.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

I have two Weston Master meters, one is working and pretty accurate. I have a couple other non working selenium meters that have come along with various boxes of camera stuff that were given to me or found at yard sales. Some of them are beyond utilitarian pieces though, since their appearance is very nice. The finish of a few accessories made in the age of the selenium meter is outstanding.

I've always wanted to try an extinction meter just do so. I love the theory behind them but our eyes are always adapting to light conditions so it seems like they would be about as accurate as the Sunny 16 rule. Regardless, peering through that little semi-translucent tube and looking for a number might be fun.

Phil Forrest

 

[nikon_sam]

If in their original condition they will quit working or could give inaccurate readings...once rebuilt they should last many, many years...
When I bought the Weston Master it would still react to light but then died...this meter was built in the Forties...I figure if it works another 25 years I'm happy...

 

[Roger Hicks]

I have two Weston Master meters, one is working and pretty accurate. I have a couple other non working selenium meters that have come along with various boxes of camera stuff that were given to me or found at yard sales. Some of them are beyond utilitarian pieces though, since their appearance is very nice. The finish of a few accessories made in the age of the selenium meter is outstanding.

I've always wanted to try an extinction meter just do so. I love the theory behind them but our eyes are always adapting to light conditions so it seems like they would be about as accurate as the Sunny 16 rule. Regardless, peering through that little semi-translucent tube and looking for a number might be fun.

Phil Forrest

Dear Phil,

It isn't (I have at least two).

Cheers,

R.

 

[Steve M.]

I'll put another word in for the Pilot 2. If it could reliably meter lower light levels it would be the perfect meter for me. Small, light, and extremely intuitive and fast to read. Works great w/ one hand too. A lot of the meters aren't set up for anything other than incident metering, but the Pilots can do both w/ a little sliding cover. A good thing, as I never use incident.

Selenium cells will generally last many years/decades, but it depends on how they were used. If the meter sat in a drawer in the dark when not being used, it likely will last a very long time. I really like the convenience of not having to do a battery ck on my meter when I head out the door too. One less thing to deal with.

 

[wolves3012]

The Weston Masters are plentiful, well made, rugged and relatively cheap. They tend to work fairly well or not at all (or have negligible reaction). I have two Master IVs and one Master III. One of the IVs has a dead cell but the other two are working and accurate enough. From the Master IV onwards they have needle-locks and an easier-to-use invercone. Don't leave them stored with the lock on because the needle can end up stuck to the scale.

The downside of any selenium meter is lack of sensitivity but the battery-less operation is very useful. Keep them dry and stored in the case/dark and they last decades.

 

[batterytypehah!]

I doubt you'll find one in Paris but the GE DW-68 seems to be pretty indestructible, too. I have two of them, bought for around $5 each. Its design keeps the cell very well shaded when not in use, even without a case, which I think is why they have lasted. Not particularly fast to use, though.

I also get a kick out them being made not far from here in Lynn (city of sin), Massachusetts. But that's just me 😀