Selenium Meters: Repairable ?

R

ruben

Guest
Hy all,
Is anyone in the World whom I can send a Gossen Pilot and get it back with an accurate cell ?

I know there is a company in the UK selling selenium cells, according to the specifications you tell them, but for such details I would need to have doctorate, and I even don't know a doctorate in which branch.

Thanks,
Ruben
 
Have you tried writing to Gossen themselves? They are usually rather cooperative on that sort of thing. It depends, of course, if they still have some of the old parts in stock.
 
Ruben, Quality Light Metric is the most recommended meter repair place I know of and I have had great service from them on two Weston Master V meters. One day I'll send them two Master IVs just because.

George Milton is the best.


I've heard that they do a lot of meters for the movie and tv studios.

Quality Light Metric Co
7095 Hollywood Blvd Ste 550
Los Angeles, CA 90028-8912
Phone: (323) 467-2265

Eli
 
mervynyan said:
wouldn't it be cheaper to get a new one?
Click to expand...

Hi mervynyan,
I do own already around 10 light meters of different sorts. The Pilot belongs to the cathegory of shoe mount, like the Digisix and the VC.

These are the smallest meters, both for shoe and pocket. This is the type I need nowadays.

PERSONALLY i don't like the digisix for giving me an EV which then I have to transform, etc. And there are other complaints about bad ergonomics leading to touch the wrong buttons about temperature or daytime.

The advantage of the Pilot over the VC, according TO MY PERSONAL taste, is that the Pilot gives you with a single touch the whole scale of combinations.

Furthermore, I dislike very much the mess of numbers and dots with which Gossen usually confuses the photographer. But in this cheap model they apparently designed for kids, the scales are clear.

If you happen to know a digital meter of the same size as the Pilot, displaying the full combination of exposures for the given reading, kindly let me know.

Cheers,
Ruben
 
For about $100, you can replace it. I suspect that you will find repair cost to make that decision (the repair option) "not economically advantageous". An overhaul of a Weston meter by QLM was not long ago quoted at about $70 (give or take a bit... my memory is a bit gummy).

According to the Pilot manual:

(begin quote)



Should your PILOT-2 require service, send the​




meter (directly or through an authorized dealer),
in the original packing if possible, prepaid and
insured, to:​

Bogen Photo Corp.







P.O. Box 506, Ramsey, NJ 07446-0506​




(201) 818-9500

FAX (201) 818-9177​







​
A brief description of the reason for sending the​




meter should ac company the package. Proof of
purchase must be provided for all warranty
repairs.
(end quote)​




​





​

I'd call first if I were you!

​
 
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ruben said:
If you happen to know a digital meter of the same size as the Pilot, displaying the full combination of exposures for the given reading, kindly let me know.
Click to expand...

Hi Ruben,

via clever arrangement of the two dials, the VC II does that, doesn't it ?

Roland.
 
Another very compact meter that does this is the Sekonic L-208. It's one of the smallest meters I know, supports incident and reflected metering, runs on modern batteries, is available new and has a relatively comfortable matchneedle readout with a wheel. It's not digital though.

Philipp
 
ferider said:
Hi Ruben,

via clever arrangement of the two dials, the VC II does that, doesn't it ?

Roland.
Click to expand...

I don't follow you, perhaps with more detail.

Cheers,
Ruben
 
ruben said:
I don't follow you, perhaps with more detail.
Click to expand...
Well, if you look at the picture (linked from Cameraquest)...
VC-set.jpg

...you see 5.6 next to 125, but also 8 to 60, 4 to 250, as well as 11 to 30 and 2.8 to 500. Just follow the parallel lines printed on the meter :) So you get some information beyond just the one immediate f-stop/speed combination. It's probably not as intuitive as having it all on a circular dial, but the information is there.

Philipp
 
Built-in Selenium meters?

Built-in Selenium meters?

What about builtin selenium meters? I have a couple of Canon 7s, with meters in various states of accuracy.

Has anyone tried replacing them? Is it easy enough (for a camera-repair novice)? And where would you get a viable selenium chip? Cannibalize another camera?
 
Crawdiddy, there was a page on old Canon meters. I can't remember who wrote it right now. Anyway, the author stated that most meters were repairable without replacing the cell. In my own experience I had a Contax III that worked fine after the contacts to the cell were cleaned. Stu
 
I've done some looking around on this topic lately, too. This page recommends a good cleaning and a bit of conductive paint to revive dirty contacts. That seems like a reasonable first try. Dirty contacts certainly cause enough other problems in old cameras.

If the selenium really is dead, this fellow's page demonstrates substituting a standard silicon solar cell, like from a cheap pocket calculator, and a resistor in place of the dead selenium cell. I've also read that you may be able to black-out or cover small parts of the solar cell as a simple means of adjusting the output down a bit.

As soon as I can scrounge up a cell I plan to try these ideas with a dead handheld Sekonic meter that has a readily accessible adjustment screw. And maybe in my sad old Rolleimagic I, which is almost useless with its dead meter.
 
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