Dan Scott wrote (and Tiger Moses subsequently replied):
>Anyone familiar with old, batteryless, exposure meters--specifically a GE
>Type DW-68 (made of metal and glass, takes readings with "cover closed",
>"cover open", and "hood off")? Were these any good/very accurate? If so,
>how would you operate it?
[Tiger's reply snipped....]
Hi Dan,
As promised, I dug through my closet last night and found my old batteryless
meter. Guess what? Mine's also a GE DW-68. It still matches up pretty
well against my more modern, battery-operated meter. Notice that your meter
has two concentric metal dials. The outer dial has teeth, and is marked
with three red triangular indicators labeled "COVER CLOSED", "COVER OPEN",
and "HOOD REMOVED". The inner dial has a black face and a little index mark
-- this is used to set the film speed. Finally, there's silver faceplate
that does not rotate -- this has an "f-STOP" scale along the top, and a
"LIGHT" scale along the bottom. (I don't know what the red-outlined "spade"
and "diamond" icons are for, but it doesn't seem to matter....)
To operate, set the little ASA index mark to the appropriate film speed --
from 1.2 to 800. Next, decide whether you'll measure with the cover closed,
the cover open, or the hood entirely off the front of the meter body. Next,
take a reading of the reflected light from your subject, and note the
resulting value on the meter (in foot-candles -- how 'bout THOSE units?).
Next, rotate the outer dial so that the appropriate red triangular indicator
on that dial aligns with the number on the "LIGHT" scale on the faceplate.
(For example, if you read 30 on the meter with the cover open, align the red
"COVER OPEN" triangle on the outer dial with the number 30 on the "LIGHT"
scale.) Finally, look at the "f-STOP" scale on the faceplate to find the
correct exposure time for any particular aperture setting. (In my example,
the reading of 30 on the meter corresponds to 1/100 sec at f/8, given an ASA
of 100.)
Hope this helps.
Bill Peifer
Rochester, NY
-
This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe,
go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to
visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
