|
|
Photography Forums
heatherdeedo
|
 |
Date Posted:
Mar/04/2003 11:46 AM
|
|
Has anyone used one of these? I just bought one from off Ebay and I have a few questions....never used a flash meter before.
1. I put in a new battery, pushed the TEST button.Needle goes to the very spot BEFORE the TEST area. Is this ok?
2. Is the "Exposure Index" dial actually where you input the film's ISO?
3. What is the correct way of taking a reading? Where do I point the meter, as it doesnt have a sensor that I can see.
Thanks!!!
-------------------------
Heather
www.reflectionsbyheatherbrown.com
|
|
Dimitri
|
|
Date Posted:
Mar/04/2003 12:14 PM
|
|
Heather,
A quick search in the web gave me this:
<< To use, just turn the meter on, place it at your subject's location, pointed toward the camera, and fire the flash. The meter needle then points toward the aperture setting for ISO 50 film. If you're using a different film speed, you can either compensate the reading in your head, or you can use the funky little (non-electronic) dial. Point the arrow at the meter's reading, find your film's speed on the inner ring, and read the aperture on the outer ring. Extremely crude, but it works. >>
Hope this helps in answering your questions 2 and 3.
For question 1, when you set it to test, the needle should move all the way to the right and stay within the area marked TEST. If it is just before the test area it means that the battery is almost gone (or the contacts are not clean, in which case clean them with a cotton tip and some alcohol)
-------------------------
Athens, Greece
---------------
Too many Chiefs, not enough Indians....
|
|
heatherdeedo
|
|
Date Posted:
Mar/04/2003 12:30 PM
|
|
Thanks, Dimitri! Only problem, is my dial doesnt have a spinner thing-it just says "Exposure Index" on it and you can only point the dial to: 25, 50, 100, 200, or 400?? Iwas assuming that meant ISO?
-------------------------
Heather
www.reflectionsbyheatherbrown.com
|
|
Dimitri
|
|
Date Posted:
Mar/04/2003 12:36 PM
|
|
Heather,
Yes this means ISO.
**edit**
Check also this link. There is a picture of the 500B. This is wher I found the instructions on use of the dial. Maybe it will be of help.
-------------------------
Athens, Greece
---------------
Too many Chiefs, not enough Indians....
Message edited by: Dimitri on 03/04/2003 12:38:57
|
|
heatherdeedo
|
|
Date Posted:
Mar/05/2003 8:49 PM
|
|
Raphael
I also have a Spiratone Vignetar-its like a telescoping filter that screws onto my lens, and gives a soft white vignette to my photos-pretty cool!
-------------------------
Heather
www.reflectionsbyheatherbrown.com
|
|
Michael
|
|
Date Posted:
Mar/06/2003 10:54 AM
|
|
Heather, I also use the Wein 500B incident light meter and it's really easy to use. Just turn it on, place where to want to read the exposure, fire the strobes. The meter will give you a reading. The dial on the unit should be set so that the arrow points to the exposure value you got when the needle moved. This is so you can compensate from ISO50 film, which is the meters standard.
Say, for instance, that when you fired the strobes, the meter read f/8. You would spin the dial so that the arrow pointed to f/8. Now, if you are using ISO100 film, you can look at the dial and read the exposure value marked 100. Easy as pie. I've found that this meter is accurate to about 1/2 stop and works well.
Michael
-------------------------
Man, this lens cap makes my pictures dark!!
|
|
heatherdeedo
|
|
Date Posted:
Mar/06/2003 12:54 PM
|
|
okay, guys, there is definately something up with this meter. I have no f/stop dial at all. Im pretty sure there never was one there to begin with. Can my meter still work? HOW?
-------------------------
Heather
www.reflectionsbyheatherbrown.com
|
|
Dimitri
|
|
Date Posted:
Mar/06/2003 1:47 PM
|
|
Heather,
Maybe the dial was removed (fell off?), but it shouldn't be much of a problem. You can do one of two things.
1. You can make a homemade dial cut from a piece of plastic, and use something to attach it, or,
2. You can do the calculation in your head. Just remember that the measurements are for ISO50. So ISO25 is -1, ISO100 is +1, ISO200 is +2, ISO400 is +3 and ISO800 is +4. This means that you close or open the aperture by as many stops as the correction number.
Here's an example. SAy you fire the flash and the reading is 5.6. This will give you the following combinations.
ISO25 - f4
ISO100 - f8
ISO200 - f11
ISO400 - f16
ISO800 - f22
If you remember the +/- corrections all will be OK, (I think )
-------------------------
Athens, Greece
---------------
Too many Chiefs, not enough Indians....
|
|
Batesville
|
|
Date Posted:
Feb/23/2009 6:01 PM
|
|
Quick question on this topic. I'm trying to compare this model to a digital model. And while I understand that the WP-500b is set to ISO 50, what shutter speed is it set to?
The digital light meter I have has you input both the ISO and the shutterspeed you are shooting at, but the WP-500b just has the ISO (and it's set automatically to 50). How would I compare the two?
|
|
Dimitri
|
|
Date Posted:
Feb/24/2009 2:27 AM
|
|
Batesville,
it is a flash meter. It is not set to any shutter speed. You use the flash synchronization shutter speed in your camera (marked with an X).
You only start getting worried about shutter speed if you need to shoot at a slower speed than the sychronization speed (you need to balance ambient and flash light)
The major "problem" with the Wein (and similar meters) is the fixed ISO speed (just have a look 2 messages up for a more detailed answer)
-------------------------
Athens, Greece
---------------
Too many Chiefs, not enough Indians....
|
|
Paparazzi Cathy
|
|
Date Posted:
Feb/24/2009 6:48 AM
|
|
HOLY SMOKES! DIMITRI!!!!!!!
-------------------------
No one takes a picture of something they want to forget.
|
|
Dimitri
|
|
Date Posted:
Feb/24/2009 9:44 AM
|
|
Hi Cathy
Yes it is me and this is a flash visit (no pun intended ).
good to see that everyone is still here.
-------------------------
Athens, Greece
---------------
Too many Chiefs, not enough Indians....
|
|
Paparazzi Cathy
|
|
Date Posted:
Feb/24/2009 12:49 PM
|
|
Aww man. Hope everyone is well.
-------------------------
No one takes a picture of something they want to forget.
|
|
photocat
|
|
Date Posted:
May/23/2010 11:32 AM
|
|
RE: Wein WP-500, WP-500B, WP-1000
I am used to selecting a film ISO EI, then finding the flash power-distance and aperture settings to get the film exposed correctly.
If the old model flashes did not have adjustable power, then the process would be to assume flash is on FULL power, then find the distance, calculate (guide number=10 feet times f8= G.N. 80),get f-number and ASA EI combinations to use.
I looked in Google many times using keywords "WP-500" "WP-500 manual"and there is a PDF manual "honeywell_flashmeter_wp500b-wp1000.pdf" maybe at www.orphancameras.com or Butkus website. These models may have some appearance changes for the same model or name number.
When the Switch is "OFF", the meter is reset (so the circuit that accumulates and holds the reading is reset to zero)
The battery test is good when the switch is on test and the needle reads above f/16 under the word "TEST".("TEST" would be on its own scale (maybe should read Battery Test BAD-OK)
The model you have has a black pointer knob that you should select "50" to mean ISO 50 or ASA 50 or E.I. 50 . Then switch ON, and fire the flash immediately. (The manual said the meter includes ambient light, and maybe there is a measurement window of time (like 1/250 sec, during which the ambient accumulates into the reading). When the meter shows the f stop, that is for the EI that the black knob is pointing to (EI50 or EI100). Sometimes there is a chart on the back that you use to compensate the EI to a value between the given standard EI that the black pointer points to. (Since EI 64 is between 50 and 100, EI50 gets f/8, EI64 is more sensitive so f/8 +1/3 (chart), which is 8+1/3.(8+1/3 is smaller aperture).
The WP-500B Professional (Ebay search) series may have a white dial scale integrated to the pointer knob style (Some WP-500B models seen for sale on EBay). The white dial has EI on it, and a arrow pointer that points to f-numbers scale printed on the chassis. I think you fire the flash, the meter indicates f/8, then point the white dial arrow pointer at f/8 scale on the chassis, and so the EI on the white dial now corresponds to f-numbers on the chassis scale. (for EI100, Read EI100 on the white dial across from f/16 on the chassis scale). This process uses a circular dial like a dial based light meters of the earlier time.
|
|
PhotoKathy
|
|
Date Posted:
May/23/2010 4:29 PM
|
|
PhotoCat, the message you replied to was from 2003. You might want to check your profile settings (under the Customize tab above) to ensure the most recent messages are displayed first. 
-------------------------
Canon user (50D).
|
|
TomBrooklyn
|
|
Date Posted:
Oct/05/2010 10:04 PM
|
|
<< It is very crude compared to today's flash meters. >>
How so? What does it lack?
<< You only start getting worried about shutter speed if you need to shoot at a slower speed than the sychronization speed >>
Why is this a worry?
<< The major "problem" with the Wein (and similar meters) is the fixed ISO speed >>
Why is this a problem?
|
|
heatherdeedo
|
|
Date Posted:
Oct/05/2010 10:08 PM
|
|
Yes, this post has been around a LONG time!
I thought I needed to add-I still use this Wein meter with my Alien Bees. I figured it out, and in fact, I love it! It is dead-on.It doesn look old and somewhat pathetic, and the plastic on the front is cracked...but it has never failed me yet.
www.reflectionsbyheatherbrown.com
-------------------------
Heather
www.reflectionsbyheatherbrown.com
|
|
jbander
|
|
Date Posted:
Oct/06/2010 1:50 AM
|
|
I know how to use the meter but how do you set the speed, what speed do you use? I'm shooting a Pentax 6X7 and the x speed on the speed adjuster is 1/30. The instructions on the flash meter say that speed is 250 so I'm lost I have a Wein wp500b. Thank you folks.
-------------------------
Jon Anderson
|
|
TomBrooklyn
|
|
Date Posted:
Oct/09/2010 4:06 PM
|
|
This unit doesn't work with flashes of a duration less than 1/3000 seconds. Is that a problem?
|
|
swanseamale47
|
|
Date Posted:
Oct/11/2010 3:39 AM
|
|
Studio flashes are generally a good bit slower than that, but some camera flashes close up might get pretty fast.
Message edited by: swanseamale47 on 10/11/2010 03:39:37
|
|
|
