Lightmeters

Ikophot was Zeiss/Ikon's name for their hand-held meters; like a lot of companies, they didn't get around to giving them separate model names until later on.

This one looks very much like the DeJur 5, though it's a little smoother around the edges and quite a bit younger (note the ASA dial). They both have that distinct trapezoidal shape and finger notches on the sides to make the dial turn a little easier. I've always thought that DeJur probably licensed the design from Zeiss or vice-versa, but I can't prove it.

This must have been fairly popular, as Zeiss made a couple versions of it with only minor tweaks. Their Ikophot Rapid was the same thing but used a match-needle instead of a scale.

There's also a certain resemblance to the Russian Leningrad. I didn't photograph it here but you can see it here: there's a slide-in incident cover for the cell that normally stays in the middle of the case. The early Leningrads both have that same feature.

That makes me think they were all made by the same entity. Since Zeiss/Ikon had been cut in half after World War II, and there was still some cooperation between the two entities until the Cold War really settled in, I tend to think they were designed before the end of the war by Zeiss/Ikon, and manufactured by one side or the other (perhaps both) through the early 60s. I've always thought the Leningrads were East German anyway.

And before anyone complains, the color here is actually pretty accurate. Ikophots might have come in different colors, but mine is definitely a sort of buttermilk.

Metrawatt of Germany made the Horvex line of meters, of which there are three major versions. The original came out just before the war. The Horvex 2 is from the mid-50s, and this Horvex 3 showed up around 1960.

A simple little meter. Aim the little arrow on the calculator dial at the needle and read the pairs. There's another arrow if the accessory photocell is plugged in. That was a Horvex special feature, and common to all their meters.

There only apparent difference between this and the Horvex 2 appears to be the arrangement of the calculator dial; the older model has Weston, ASA and DIN; this one drops Weston and adds an EV number window. Also, the back (mouse over to see it) has a diagram that explains how to use the meter.

The last of the official Weston Master series, at least in the US. When the parent company shut Weston's US operations down around 1972, the Master V went overseas. The english subsidiary, Sangamo-Weston, tweaked it and released it as the Euro-Master. When they went under, another company acquired the rights and made the Euro-Master II for awhile.

A japanese company updated the Master V and released it as the Master 6 . Purists consider it a bastard child of the line.

Anyway, the Master V was the last of the major revisions of this famous make, and one in good working order is still prized today. But at the time, it was the end of the era. Kind of like the Contax RTS III SLR, an old-school beauty in an age of electronic, autofocus marvels, this was the last great hurrah of the selenium cell era. CdS cells had taken the market by storm only a few years earlier, and even though many people pointed out its various shortcomings, CdS rapidly took over.

Personally, this is my least favorite of the modern Masters because I hate the calculator dial (I'm not too thrilled with the pointer lock button either). I think the Master III and IV were both easier to read and use. This one looks too much like a roulette wheel.

This is freshening of the Weston "Junior" from before the war. It's a shade smaller in length and width, a little bit thinner, and has rounded edges and a smoother lines. In front, the face has been replaced with white-on-black (echoing its Master II brother) and the logo is redesigned a bit. Functinonally it's identical: you read the meter needle's positon, which is your Light Value. Let's say it's 24. Then you turn the knob on the upper left until the 24 on the bottom half of the ribbon is over your film speed. Let's say we're using something rated 20. The shutter ƒ/stop combinations are read off on the top row (in this case, ƒ/8 at 1/25th, ƒ/5.6 at 1/50th, and so forth.

The biggest difference is on the back side (mouse-over the image above). On the Junior, the rear cell is a full disc and that's it. This one has a half-disc, and there's a rotating incident cover (which Weston called an Invercone) built-in. On my example, I have it half-covered. So you could rotate it to completely cover the cell for incident work (better) or uncover it for reflected work. Since the invercone is physically mounted on the meter, you can't lose it the way you could with the Masters. It's a nice feature.

Sekonic—they made a lot of very good meters. But they made some junk and this is a prime example. I still don't know why they felt compelled to make it. It's basically the same concept as a Weston 617 from the mid 1930s: there's a meter scale at the bottom and a disconnected calculator wheel. The only advantage is that this has a CdS cell.

Scale readings are great but the scale needs to be long, and this is pretty tiny. For my money, you could get a Sekonic L-98, which also CdS and has match-needle operation, which is a better system on something like this. The L-98 is a little larger and heavier, but not enough to matter.

Seriously, if it didn't say Sekonic on it, I'd have sworn it was Russian or behind-the-curtain somewhere. They were always 20 years behind.

Leningrad Light Meters are a series of light meters made by Vibrator factory in Leningrad, former USSR and produced between c.1950-84.

The Gossen SIXTOMAT electronic is a product of the house of GOSSEN; pioneers in exposure meter design and manufacturers of the world renowned LUNASIX, SIXTAR, SIXTOMAT, SIXTINO and BISIX meters, also the SIXTICOLOR colour temperature meter and the LABOSIX enlarging exposure meter. The SIXTOMAT electronic will solve all the exposure problems reliably and precisely.

Gossen Lunasix 3 Cased Professional Light Meter

This originally came out as the Lunasix in 1961, but Gossen eventually redressed and rebadged it in the USA as the Luna Pro. It sold (with various tweaks and alterations) until it was replaced by the sbc model in the late 70s. Quite a long run for a meter.

This was one of the first CdS meters to hit the market and it made a huge splash. Modern Photography's review said it was the most accurate across the scale, and it was great in low-light--two big drawbacks for selenium cell meters. The fact that it took batteries wasn't a big deal.

Metrawatt Metrastar light meter

The story of Metrawatt AG began in Nuremberg, Germany 1933, when Dr. Siegfried Guggenheimer AG (originally founded 1906) was ordered by German government to change its name.^[1] At the same time the name of Metrophot light meter, previously manufactured by Guggenheimer, was changed to Metraphot.

Metrawatt continued developing and manufacturing light meters for three decades. Those included Tempiphot - the first selenium light meter with booster cell attachment, successful series of Horvex meters, and several models made exclusively for Leica cameras.

Metrawatt was later merged with BBC and ASEA, and finally with Gossen in 1993, forming the present Gossen-Metrawatt.

Seconic L- 256 D Flashmeter

Description: Incident/Reflected Light Type, 270ï¿½ Pivoting Receptor Head, Digital/Analog Displays, EV1 - EV19.9 Measuring Range, f/1.0 - f/90, Silicon Photo Cell