Minette Type 1X Light Meter

Bend The Light

Hi,

I picked up a Minette 1X light meter in a charity shop. It was with a bunch of other great stuff.
Thing is, I have no idea how to use it. :scratch

I searched t'interweb and came up with nothing particular, so wondered if anyone could give me a clue?
Typically I would be shooting with camera alone, possibly with a manual flash on a bracket. Sometimes I would be shooting with studio lights, too (a pair with umbrellas and softboxes, but little else)

Could anyone help, or direct me to a link for a manual or something?

Many Thanks

Craig

Art Scott

give us couple of photos photos please? showing the face and also the light gatherer areas.........does it have a battery?

a minitte 9 is a selinimum cell meter.....your probably is also.

I found one on ebay...it is a selinimum cell meter, it is a reflective meter (works in same manner as one in camera)

Set you ASA (ISO) lift the selinium cell cover and point toward subject to be photo'ed the meter should move, then you can rotate the large silver ring
util you get a shutterspeed (on large silver dial) and aperture (inside window) that your camera and lens combo will work with.....
shutter speed are denoted by the word time with an arrow pointing at them.....the other numbers on the dial are for Polaroid movies.

HTH

if the meter does not move when pointed directly at a light source (bare lamp) then the selinium cell is dead.

Bend The Light

Art Scott wrote: »

give us couple of photos photos please? showing the face and also the light gatherer areas.........does it have a battery?

a minitte 9 is a selinimum cell meter.....your probably is also.

I found one on ebay...it is a selinimum cell meter, it is a reflective meter (works in same manner as one in camera)

Set you ASA (ISO) lift the selinium cell cover and point toward subject to be photo'ed the meter should move, then you can rotate the large silver ring
util you get a shutterspeed (on large silver dial) and aperture (inside window) that your camera and lens combo will work with.....
shutter speed are denoted by the word time with an arrow pointing at them.....the other numbers on the dial are for Polaroid movies.

HTH

if the meter does not move when pointed directly at a light source (bare lamp) then the selinium cell is dead.

It's this...


light meter by Bend The Light, on Flickr

The cover at the top of the picture flips up, and there's a window which appears divided into 3 bits. The only other thing is a little dial with + and - on the back, presumably for calibrating?

Art Scott

That is exactly what I found on ebay...the auction was over but pic was still up and that is how I wrote the hints on how to use it....
by going from the pic to here to write and edit........

Yes the dial on the back is for calibration...calibrate to what...unknow without manual....
do not lk now why the light gatherer is divided into segments....might just be Minette thing.....

Does the meter move when pointed at light????
As I stated earlier they did not have the longest life span.....
I have an old Pentax spot meter that needs some work and those can still be brought back to life...
but a selinium cell meter would not be cost effective and also as I stated...they are a reflective meter...
When these were popular cameras did not have meters inside them so this was your only avenue to getting decent photos...
somewhere I have a couple of Weston Light meters, selinium cell, and they are tiny about and 2 inches long and inch wide
and maybe 1/2 inch deep but they qwere accurate in their day........

Bend The Light

Yes, this is not much bigger than what you said.
It moves when pointed close to the bulb in the light indoors, but someone elsewhere said it needed to be pointed at the subject, not the light source.
I do wonder if it's dead, or something. But it does jump to a reading of 8 or more when pointed at the light...

I have contacted an old friend whose worked in photography for nearly 50 years...gonna see him tomorrow, so might get some lessons!
He also says he has a few really good meters which he uses to calibrate others, so maybe that is how it's done.

Anyway, as a curiosity, it's nice. If it works, even better...

Cheers for your help.

Craig

Art Scott

Bend The Light wrote: »

Yes, this is not much bigger than what you said.
It moves when pointed close to the bulb in the light indoors, but someone elsewhere said it needed to be pointed at the subject, not the light source.
I do wonder if it's dead, or something. But it does jump to a reading of 8 or more when pointed at the light...

I have contacted an old friend whose worked in photography for nearly 50 years...gonna see him tomorrow, so might get some lessons!
He also says he has a few really good meters which he uses to calibrate others, so maybe that is how it's done.

Anyway, as a curiosity, it's nice. If it works, even better...

Cheers for your help.

Craig

Sounds like the selinium cell is going bad...yes you point it at the subject..it is a reflective ambient light meter....the one in your camera is more accurate......It is a good piece of nostalgia but that is about it......

Bend The Light

Art Scott wrote: »

Sounds like the selinium cell is going bad...yes you point it at the subject..it is a reflective ambient light meter....the one in your camera is more accurate......It is a good piece of nostalgia but that is about it......

Ok, thank you.

Just out of interest...as my knowledge of photography is increasing slowly, with help, there are still gaps. The light metering stuff made me think of one question:

On my camera there are 3 types of metering...evaluative, partial, and centre-weighted average. What exactly do they mean? All my shots are usually evaluative, and I haven't thought about it...should I?

Cheers

Art Scott

read this article : http://www.all-things-photography.com/general-metering.html and it will explain in easy to understand terms all the different most common forms of metering.....
all the types you asked about....

Hope this helps.....

Bend The Light

Thanks Art. Again.