Kopil Meter. Any Idea???

[matthewm]

Hello all,
I was at an estate auction today and purchased a Yashica Electro 35 GT in absolute MINT condition with what they described as "random accessories." Upon getting it home, I unpacked the camera, a Toshiba flash, a Yashica ST-7 mini tripod and this strange little Kopil light meter.

I replaced the battery in the meter with a Wein MRB625 and voila!, the little needle moved and reacted to me covering and uncovering the cell.

Does anyone know anything about this meter? I think I have a general idea of how to use it, but an instruction manual would be nice. I have an old Pentax Spotmatic SP and, surprise, surprise, the light meter has gone bad in it. I was about ready to shelf it, but being that I've got some great Super Takumar glass, I thought this little meter might get the camera out and about a little more. Any help would be greatly appreciated. It's not the KOPIL P model as I've found plenty of info on that.

I've posted pictures below so that you can see them and maybe get an idea of what it is???

Thanks in advance,
Matthew

 

[rogerchristian]

The meter uses a battery (duh!), and it appears, by lining up the white line on the front ring with the meter needle position, the light reading is transferred to the system, and the corresponding lens opening and shutter combos line up.

Really neat looking piece!

 

[ZeMane]

Hello Matthew,

Got one of this lightmeters 3-4 months ago. As previously commented, just set the ISO and then select H (daylight) or L (low light). Line up the needle with the white (H) or red (L) mark and then you get the shutter/f stop combination.

There's also a CH (check??) position that moves the needle to the light blue mark on the window.
Besides, an small screw on the bottom allows to calibrate or adjust the needle.

I could not find an instructions or manual, but found it out quite easy to operate. By the way, mine is amazingly accurate, even in "low" light situations... 😎

Enjoy it!!
Cheers,

Zé Manel

 

[matthewm]

I figured as much. I just didn't know what the different letters meant and I don't have any idea how the screw should be lined up. I may just shoot a couple of test rolls and see if that screw really makes much of a difference.

Seems to be pretty close when comparing with the meter in my 5D. I think I may have gotten lucky getting this in the bottom of the bag like that.

Hello Matthew,

Got one of this lightmeters 3-4 months ago. As previously commented, just set the ISO and then select H (daylight) or L (low light). Line up the needle with the white (H) or red (L) mark and then you get the shutter/f stop combination.

There's also a CH (check??) position that moves the needle to the light blue mark on the window.
Besides, an small screw on the bottom allows to calibrate or adjust the needle.

I could not find an instructions or manual, but found it out quite easy to operate. By the way, mine is amazingly accurate, even in "low" light situations... 😎

Enjoy it!!
Cheers,

Zé Manel

 

[matthewm]

Thanks for your response. Yes, it does use a battery and I was lucky enough to have an extra Wein Cell PX625 replacement battery laying around my apartment. Don't ask why because I have no earthly idea why myself, but I'm sure I bought it one day with the intention of using it in a camera that wouldn't accept it or something and just threw it in a drawer.

It is a neat piece and since my Spotmatic meter failed (as they ALL do) I just throw it on top and hopefully I'll get some decent imagery out of it. And if not, at least it looks cool in the process. 🙂

The meter uses a battery (duh!), and it appears, by lining up the white line on the front ring with the meter needle position, the light reading is transferred to the system, and the corresponding lens opening and shutter combos line up.

Really neat looking piece!