Weston Master Exposure Meters

My Small collection of the meters I lusted after in the late 60s and early 70s.
Page Last Edited : Monday, 1st of September 2025.
© Dave Rowlands. All Rights Reserved.

As an apprentice electrician earning a mere £3.18' 6d (£3.95p) in 1967, I always wanted one of these meters, especially the dark, moody Master IV. It cost around £25.00 new at the time, which was way out of my league. I have the invercones for all of them except my latest acquisition, the Weston Master 3, which came in a different case than what I was used to, as a reading can be taken whilst still in its case.

I've had working versions of all of them since V1, but sold them a few years later. I've now reacquired my latest set, including the first and second versions.

The formula for converting to Weston Film Speeds is multiplying the ISO value by 0.8 which will give you the result and to convert from Weston to ISO simply multiply the Weston value by 1.25.

Weston Master I

Weston Master

Manufactured in the UK by Sangamo Weston in Enfield, Middlesex after the war in 1947. It is the first of the Master series and the first Weston to have an "upright" format.

All Black Metal

The lettering and mumerals are very hard to read as there is so much information displayed on the dials.

This came with the ND filter and Invercone. The filter is used in bright light which put the high range scale into view.

Different Case

The top loading "Ever Ready" case is still in great condition.

It needs a polish but I'll eventually get around to that.

Weston Master II

I finally managed to get one for myself. I was stunned when it arrived. It has never been used and is in immaculate condition. It didn't come with a case, but I'd rather use it without one. The cases to me seem more of a hindrance.

I've owned and sold on a few of these, but never had one in this condition, The meter is just as accurate as it was back in the day it was made. If it weren't for the fact that it does not have a locking mechanism for the pointer, I would probably classify it as my favourite meter.

Original Box

The box is in reasonable condition with just a few signs of handling and age.

Manual Included

Once opened that old familiar aroma of the early 50's came seeping out.

Weston Speeds

The booklets were printed in 1954.

Still In Plastic

Is It Used?

Not A Mark

Such Quality

Not A Scratch

The Cell

That Dial

Only a Shilling

Light Values

Weston Master III

Manufactured in 1956 and sold for around £25.00. Essentially the same physical model as the Master II and Includes dial settings for Exposure Values (EV). The UK model is gloss black with white meter face and redressed dial face, it also has rare red dial variant.

A Sleek Black

I bid on this because of the case, I'd never seen one like it before. Readings can be taken whilst in the case after opening the front cover. It's a nice heavy meter but very hard to read the dial. The one I have is quite accurate considering its 2025 age of 69, it is five years younger than me.

Well Protected

The case included with this keeps the meter well protected. The only thing I don't like about it is that the meter is constantly monitoring the scene, there is no needle lock available.

Some comparison photographs were taken using my E-M1 II in manual mode with the ISO set to 200, and another shot was taken with the ISO set to Auto, no exposure compensation and the default JPEG used. I checked all my meters, and they gave the same exposure value, so I will use different weather conditions to challenge these little beauties and see how that goes.

The page will be updated as I go along.

ISO 200, 1/500th, f5.6

ISO set to 200, Weston 160.

Auto ISO, 1/500th, f5.6

ISO 400 was chosen by the camera, Weston 320.

Weston Master IV

Manufactured in 1960 and sold for around £35.00. Made in the UK, this is a modern compact redesign, squared off at the top with an aluminium top shell mounted on a black plastic chassis. It has the black meter face and a needle lock making incident light reading easier.

That Black Face

I did eventually manage to get one in 1976 which came with a Canon Ftb and other gear.

The slide switch on the side was a stroke of genius and I never understood why they dropped it.

It also uses a new design of Invercone and an inward-facing pointer.

Very Cool

I found this so easy to read in bright sunlight compared to the white faced dials but everytime I was taking readings all I could see in the silver button was a distorted image of me.

Weston Master V

Manufactured in 1963 and sold for around £35.00. Same general design as the Master IV, but has a silver/white meter face. Dial retains inwards pointer but in more intuitive layout.Intermediate shutter speeds and f stop numbers are restored. Meter needle lock is push button rather than slider. Has D.I.N. film speed ratings in addition to A.S.A.

With Invercone

The silver/white meter face dial was also a lot easier to read in bright sunlight than the pure white ones. If they had kept the sliding lock swithch I'm sure this would have been extremley popular.

Sleek

Its not very often you get the instructions with them.

Weston Euro Master

Weston Euro-Master

Manufactured in 1973 and sold for around £35.00 and the last Model of Master made by Weston. Apart from the dial, its identical to the Weston V.

Clear Readings

It's no differentt than the V and so much easier to see in bright sunlight.

Exposure Dial

The Dial is simplified and reverts back to the anchor shutter speeds and f stop numbers. Supports DIN and ASA speed ratings and the EV system.

All the different versions of these meters that I have owned have been quite accurate considering their age. I've also been extremely lucky in getting ones that work as they did when new. I did eventually manage to buy one in 1976 when living in Canada. It came with the Canon Ftb (I never knew why) and it was the Master IV.

The kit was purchased from a local photography store in Burlington, Ontario where I lived and it consisted of the Ftb, Master IV, Black Square Camera bag that weighed more than the gear alone. The lens was a beautiful 50mm f1.4 and came with an assortment of filters, cleaning brushes and blowers. It had been sold to the original owner many years previously and he traded it in for something new. I paid $125.00 CA (half of my weekly wage at the time) for it. I traded the Ftb for a Pelix a couple of years later and still used the Weston. It was all stolen from my car in 1982 while getting a burger after a DJ wedding stint at 2:30 AM, and there was no one around. I was gone for less than two minutes.

Invercone Variations

The Invercone is used for incident light readings, where the light falls onto the subject and the Invercone and is measured by the meter. The default way of using the meter is to take reflected light readings from the subject.

I have the invercone for all the meters I have, except for the III. The VI and the V use practically the same cone (and, after checking the text imprinted on the cone itself, which states it's for either version), so I didn't notice any difference in readings.

For more information on using these meters in manual mode, please refer to my Manual Mode page.

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