Who Is Nowadays Using A Weston Master: Why &/Or For What ?

R

ruben

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I am looking now at my Euro-Master and I must confess that besides being somewhat heavier than my digital Sekonic L308b, it is not bigger.

But I confess the "presence" of my unused Euro Master belongs to another photographic culture, if you enable me to say. It is somewhat like "when photography was photography", instead of the quick and false insinuation of my Sekonic "I am faster".

Of course no one should interpret me as saying the digitals are bad or lye or slow. But somehow in my mind they are the "cut it short" way. Or in other words, if you was to ask from a Weston that minimal info you ask from a digital - the Weston is not any bit slower. But in the other way around if you are going to ask a digital what you normally ask from a Weston, then you will work much harder and slower with your digital.


The Westons impose a kind of discipline in exposure, which while in BW work may be more demmanding, "expose for the shadows - develope for the highlights" - this is the true work for BW film, involving knowledge of your film, testings, and accurate processing. No one among the diletants like me should doubt that the hard way brings absolutely better and even outstanding technical results.

So what is your philosophy when using a Weston Master ? Is it you use-only meter ?

Cheers,
Ruben

for a great picture of the latest version:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hairyhippy/2684146764/sizes/o/
 
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It's (Weston Master V) my use-only meter because it's the only meter I have. :) I generally use it with unmetered cameras (or cameras with untrustworthy meters) for readings to confirm or correct my "Sunny 11" (northern light) guesstimates.

I would prefer a meter with good low light capability such as a Luna-Pro or a digital meter with such ability - low light exposures are much more difficult for me to estimate.
 
I have no "philosophy" about my WMV. It's doing a well-enough job when I'm out with my non-metered cameras. I take a reading once or twice an hour or so, or to measure between changing light conditions, but for most of the shots it stays in the pocket. After my recently acquired M5 and M6, I've mostly shot with these and measure all the time. A bit more cumbersome...

I like the classic yet "modern" appeal of this beautiful meter though!
 
In normal daylight, I'd be very surprised if there's ever been any other meter that (assuming it's properly calibrated) is quite as easy/foolproof to use for incident light readings as a Weston IV, V, Euromaster. (The Invercone arrangement for the earlier Westons is a bit fiddly although I've used a Weston II with excellent results.) I've found that the hemispherical domes on modern meters (I've used a Polaris and a Digisix) seem to be much more directional and if they're tilted slightly towards the sky/sun, they give readings that are significantly too high. With my Weston V and Invercone, just pointing the meter away from the subject without paying too much attention to direction results in accurate exposures every time. So, for transparency film, they still take some beating.
Obviously they're of limited use in low light and they're not flash/spot meters by any stretch of imagination but I think they still have a unique place in film photography. (The Weston V also has all of the 1/3 stop shutter speeds on the calculator dial which is a real bonus with older cameras.)
 
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Hi Peter and HuubL,

I get the feeling that both of you do not compensate your guessings/readings - for which I am not going to appeal for a public lynch of you, but yet I don't see much of the point in using a Weston otherwise, or extracting its honey. It would be like using a very expensive, luxurious and capable car for a very short daily travel to work.


photostream




Dont hear me in an aggressive tone please, although I am somewhat pushing.

Cheers,
Ruben
 
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Batteries not included

Batteries not included

Of course! Which is why my Weston Master V serves as back up for my Gossen Luna-Pro sbc. The Weston is also my primary incident meter. A perfect symbiotic relationship.
 
Two reasons. First because it broke some years back. It really sucks as I did like it. I've learned that I like incident and spot approach to metering more for 35mm work.

B2 (;->
 
cool! Thanks Ruben. Something to play with this weekend. The meter seems to function fine and react to light so maybe I can figure it out.
 
They're wonderful meters. Simple & reliable, and like you mentioned have a unique classic photography feel to them. But if you do any amount of low light photography you'll need another meter. No amount of compensation will fix a selenium cell's inability to work well in low light. If you are working w/ larger format and doing landscape a Pentax analog spot meter will be a good choice. In good light, if you know how to meter off the right things and make adjustments, the Weston is probably all the meter you'll ever need. I'd definitely go for the Euro Master as it's a lot quicker to read.
 
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ruben said:
The Westons impose a kind of discipline in exposure...


So what is your philosophy when using a Weston Master ? Is it you use-only meter ?
Click to expand...

I don' t think a Weston meter imposes a significantly different discipline than any other meter. It has a different process to determine the exposure settings - read the light, transfer the setting to the dial, then look for desired exposure combinations. The major difference between Weston (and Gossen Luna Pro, for example) and more modern "digi-meters" is the manual transfer of light reading to the calculator dial.. is that what you mean?

Weston III has been one of the meters I use for the past 30 years. My philosophy is simple: get an light reading and exposure recommendation ASAP. I use it when I can be assured of only needing reflected measures (I don't have the correct Invercone, but I know they once existed. I also specifically choose to take the Weston when I find that I don't happen to have a spare battery for my other meters. Having once been caught in the field with a dead battery and no replacement I tend to be a bit sensitive about that issue.

Question: Hey... why isn't this thread wrapping?
 
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I use my WMV almost daily. With the zones labeled on the dial I find it very intuitive for b&w exposure. I meter the important area (say skin tone), put it into the zone I want (VI, maybe) and then meter other areas to see where they are going to end up. I might then make notes on development. I shoot roll film so I don't adjust development for each exposure, but I might adjust if the roll was from a single session, of a day with a particular type of light. Anyway, I'll stop using my Weston Master V with the pry it from my cold dead hands.
 
ruben said:
Hi Peter and HuubL,

I get the feeling that both of you do not compensate your guessings/readings - for which I am not going to appeal for a public lynch of you, but yet I don't see much of the point in using a Weston otherwise, or extracting its honey. It would be like using a very expensive, luxurious and capable car for a very short daily travel to work.


photostream




Dont hear me in an aggressive tone please, although I am somewhat pushing.

Cheers,
Ruben
Click to expand...

No problems Ruben, perhaps I should have phrased it differently, I usually estimate exposure but will use the meter to give me a ballpark figure. If I'm over or under I'll adjust accordingly after metering :)
 
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