Canon EOS 5 (A2, A2e)

Canon EOS 5 - front view

This is an early model EOS camera dating from 1992 to 1998. All EOS cameras have the same basic shape from the first film EOS (EOS 650) to the latest digital EOS . The main way in which the various EOS models vary is in size. This EOS 5 is a large and heavy camera. It weighs 665 g (with no lens, battery or strap) and measures 154 by 120 by 75 mm.

The EOS 5 was aimed at what is now called the prosumer market - that is, the lower-end professional and high-end amateur market.

The outside of the camera is black plastic - I think polycarbonate but I am far from certain about that. The weight of the camera clearly says that the camera has a metal chassis. The battery holder on the right acts as a grip and is covered in a rubbery material. The battery is a lithium 2CR5.

For its day, it has a lot of controls but very few compared to a modern digital SLR. The controls are in two places. The most used are on the top plate and the less used on the back.

On the far left of the top plate is a mode selector dial. This has the expected options for a serious photographer - Programme, Tv, Av and M. It also has DEP, x, CF and CAL - details later. On the opposite side of off ('L') are settings that declare this to be an amateur camera. Here are no words or letters, just icons. This offers four options: Portrait, Landscape, Macro and Action.

Next to the mode selector is a button to release the built-in flashgun. Once the flashgun is raised, this button allows you to set flash exposure compensation.

Towards the rear by the mode selector is the indicator for the position of the film plane.

Canon EOS 5 - top view

In the middle, as is usual with SLR cameras, is the pentaprism viewfinder.  This is an actual pentaprism - on lower-end EOS models, Canon used a penta-mirror which gives a smaller and darker image in the viewfinder. On top of this is the built-in flashgun. This is a sophisticated flashgun which has a zoom function to allow the best illumination of the subject. On top of the built-in flashgun is a Canon-specific hot shoe. I am not calling it an accessory shoe as I cannot imagine that anyone has ever fitted anything but a flashgun here.

The space to the right of the pentaprism is dominated  by an LCD screen. This displays various pieces of information depending on the set functions and the actions being carried out at the time. In front of this is a button to activate the self-timer which gives a ten second delay between pressing the shutter release and the shutter firing.

On the right, in front of the LCD screen, is the now ubiquitous selector wheel and in front of this is the shutter release. This last is a plain, smooth button - no cable release thread now.

On the back are more controls. On the top right are two buttons. The right-hand one allows you to set just one of the five autofocus points to be active - or all five. The left-hand one has two functions. Normally, it acts as the exposure lock. This allows you to point the camera at the most significant light source in your subject and then recompose without altering the exposure. Useful where too much sky will result in underexposure of the key elements. It is also used to toggle between 0 and 1 when setting the Custom Functions.

Canon EOS 5 - back view

In the centre of the back is a secondary selector wheel - this one has an on/off switch and it is not necessary to ever use it. On the left of the back are four more buttons. These are labelled 'Drive' (to select how many photographs are taken with one press of the shutter release), 'AF' (to select how the camera attempts to focus), '<icon>' (which selects the exposure metering system), and a multi-function button which allows you to override the ISO setting, set exposure bracketing, red-eye prevention, silence the beeper and, finally, allow multiple exposures on one frame. Right to the left is a window to allow you to see the cassette inside the camera. This is very useful to people with poor memory like me (although I prefer a holder for the film box end which allows you to add personal notes like pushed ISO rating).

On the front of the camera is the EF lens mount. As this is a 35mm camera, it is 'full frame' and will not accept the modern digital EF-S lenses. As is usual with EOS cameras, the lens release button is on the left of the lens mount.

To the right of the lens mount, towards the top of the camera, is an auxiliary light emitter for the autofocus system. This helps the camera focus in poor light.

On the right-hand end of the camera are three items - a button to rewind the film part way through, a socket for an electrical remote control and the catch for the battery compartment. The remote socket is of an older design - it has three electrical contacts - and is not compatible with the later remote controls with a jack plug.

On the left end is the catch for the back and a PC socket for a flash cable. The last (also known as a German socket) has become obsolete since this camera but its presence here means I can use any of my old flashguns as well as my Canon specific Speedlite.  The base has a connector for a motor drive and a standard (1/4 inch Whitworth) tripod socket.

Control details.

The mode selector has what has become standard (Tv, Av, M & P) but also has four extras. These are DEP, x, CF and CAL.

'DEP' is a system to optimise depth of field. It works by then user focusing on the nearest point of interest and pressing teh shutter release, then focusing on the furthest point of interest and pressing teh shutter release. At this point, the camera selects a focus point and aperture that will result in both these points being in focus. The user then presses the shutter release a third time to actually take the picture.

'x' allows for flash synchronisation with the PC socket. The user can select between shutter speeds of 1/200, 1/125, 1/90 or 1/60 using the rear selector wheel.

'CF' allows the user to set any of the custom functions. The only one of these I use is the custom function to leave the film leader out of the cassette when rewinding.

'CAL' is used to calibrate the eye controlled focusing system. I find this both useful and easy to use. The EOS 50e also has this system. I read reports on the Interweb about how poor this eye control focusing is but I suspect those people have not calibrated the system properly - or not at all.

In addition to these 'creative zone' settings (Canon's term) there are also 'image zone' settings. For anyone who understands the basics of photography these settings are unnecessary. Their big disadvantage is that they disable user control over shutter speed, aperture, focusing system, metering mode and flash. The only advantage to using image zone settings is that you can use the camera as a point-and-shoot camera with interchangeable lenses.  This also applies to modern Canon digital SLRs. The five image zone settings are full auto, portrait, landscape, close up and sport.

The button to release the built-in flashgun has two functions - it releases the flashgun and, when pressed a twice, it allows you to set flash exposure compensation. If an external flash is fitted to the hot shoe (rather than by way of the PC connector), the flash release button will not release the built-in flashgun but pressing it just the once will allow you to set the flash exposure compensation.

The built-in flashgun is rather sophisticated - at least when compared to the built-in flashguns on the EOS 650, EOS 50e, EOS 350D and EOS 650D. This flashgun has a zoom function and changes focus according to the focal length signal from the lens. This is supposed to optimise illumination for differing angles of view. You can hear this focusing of the flashgun taking place as you rotate the zoom control on the lens. I have not tried this out so I cannot comment on how well the flash illumination optimisation works.

This built-in flashgun also has a separate red-eye reduction lamp. The way this works, when set, is the subjects of a portrait are asked to look directly at teh flashgun and just before the shutter opens and the main flash fires, this small red-eye reduction lamp fires several times. Red-eye in flash portraits is caused by the pupil in the eye being dilated due to the low light level allowing the flash to enter the eye, bounce of the red coloured back of the eye and then going back to the camera. This red-eye reduction lamp causes the subjects' pupils to contract, allowing less light into the eye and even less reflected light to bounce out of the eye. So no more excuses for zombie-eyed portraits.

I like having the flash PC (Prontor-Compur) connector for using off-camera flashguns. For modern photographers this is obsolete as neither cameras nor flashguns have PC connectors, but I am not really a modern photographer.

I am not going to go over all the options available on this camera. As a computer-controlled camera, the options are legion, but there are a few things worth mentioning.

Film rewind is automatic at the end of the roll of film. This rewinds fairly slowly and retracts all the film into the cassette. This can be altered in two ways. Firstly, the rewind speed can be increased - useful at social functions where dead-time spent reloading the camera with film is not a good thing. Normally, slow rewind is better for the film (less scratches and less build-up of static to attract dust) but this is not always the most important thing. Secondly, you can set the camera to leave the film leader out of the cassette. This is what I was always taught to do as the presence of film between the velvet light seals of the cassette improves the blocking of light. It also makes it much easier to load the film into the spirals for developing.  It is also possible to force film rewind part-way through the roll of film. For an amateur, we are always going to finish all the film in the camera, but a professional is very likely to have a number of unexposed frames left at the end of an assignment.

Film speed is set automatically by the DX coding on the film cassette. If you are using Adox films (for example) with no DX coding or loading your own bulk film into reusable cassettes, you need to set the film speed manually. This is entirely as ISO (which I still think of as ASA) with no provision for DIN settings. Not a problem, really. If you are using DX encoded cassettes, you can still set the film speed manually - useful if you want to push the film speed.

This camera takes a single lithium 2CR5 battery. This is common with all my EOS film cameras - I have three currently and have previously owned three others. In normal use, this should last for about forty rolls of 24 exposure film. This battery life can be extended by not excessively refocusing the camera, not keeping your finger on the shutter release button too long, not using the eye-controlled focusing and turning the camera off if you are not actually using it. You can also seriously reduce battery life by doing the opposite of all those things.

test photographs:

Ivy flowers

 Field, Lincolnshire Wolds

Rockabilly Buskers, Lincoln.

Rockabilly Busker, Lincoln

Contina IIa

Zeiss Ikon's Contina camera was a long lived and varied series of cameras.  The series started as the Ikonta 35 which was a post-war version of the 120 format Ikonta adapted to take 35 mm film.  This camera became two series of cameras - the Contessa and the Contina; the first Contessas and Continas were folding cameras. The Contessa version was more up-market than the Contina version. I have already written about one of the Contessa line - the Contessa LKE. The Contessa line have better lenses (Tessars) and coupled light meters and rangefinders. The Contina range have cheaper lenses (Novar, Novicar and Pantar) and the light meters, where present, are uncoupled. I have also written about the Contina line elsewhere - the Contina Ic.

lens: Novicar
focal length:  45mm
apertures: f2.8 to f22
focus range: 1m to infinity
lens fitting: fixed
shutter: Prontor-SVS
speeds: 1 second to 1/300 seconds
flash: PC connector
film size: 35mm

Contina IIa - front view, meter window closed

To make identifying and placing Contina cameras as difficult as possible, the Contina series split into two lines of cameras simultaneously.  The original Contina folding camera  became the Contina II folding camera with a light meter and then a series of derivatives. That original Contina folding camera, at the same time, became the Contina I rigid camera - no light meter or rangefinder - and then a series of derivatives.

Front view - meter window open

So, at any one time after 1953 there were two different Continas available, both just designated Contina. I have been referring to Contina I, Contina II, Contina Ic, Contina IIa but I don't think those were names offered by Zeiss Ikon, rather us collectors use them to make sense of the mish-mash of models.

Daniel Jiménez has produced a 'family tree' of the Contina series which he has given me permission to use here:

Copyright Daniel Jiménez

Daniel has a useful camera blog which can be found in an English version here. He also has a much larger Spanish version here.

This camera - is a Contina IIa. It is derived from the Contina II which was a folding camera but this version does not fold - that is, it is rigid. It is a compact and solid camera measuring 120 x 65 x 85 mm and weighs 567g. It offers a built-in but uncoupled light meter and an EV enabled shutter. It was not a cheap camera - it cost £43/15/1 in 1957 (in old money, or £43.76 in new money) which, given the average male wage in 1957 was £9.00 means this camera cost the equivalent of £2,500 in 2013 values. The version with a Novar lens only cost £36/12/7.

The top plate of the camera has a number of  items on it. On the left is a small rewind knob. I prefer these to the small folding cranks that became ubiquitous in the 1960s. When you first turn the rewind knob, it raises itself by one cm. This is above the height of the centre of the top plate and makes it easier to hold and turn.

rear and top view

Next to the rewind knob is an accessory shoe. At the time that this camera was made (1956/58) this was more likely to be used for a separate rangefinder than a flashgun. There are no electrical contacts in the accessory shoe so it is a cold shoe.

Next to the accessory shoe is the light meter window and the light meter control knob. Visible in the window is a needle connected to the light meter. The brighter the light, the more this needle moves towards the rear of the camera. Also in this window is a white circle which moves in response to the user moving the control knob. When the white circle is over the needle, the correct exposure can be read off the scale around the control knob. This is mostly in EV values - more later. In the centre of the control knob is the setting for the film speed. This camera was made in 1956/8 and uses the film speed standards in place at that time. A few years later (1960), the American Standards Association (ASA) revisited their film speed standard to produce the later ASA standard now known as ISO. The German DIN system remained unchanged so on this camera 21 DIN = 40 ASA rather than the later standard of 21 DIN = 100 ASA (ISO) - I always use the DIN standard with old cameras to make sure I do not get it wrong.

On the far right of the top plate is the film advance lever. This moves through about 200 degrees to advance the film and cock the shutter. The lever is all metal and only curves a very slight amount which I find makes it uncomfortable to use. In the centre of the film advance lever should be the frame counter. I can make no comment about this as a prior owner has removed it. Looking at the state of the metal that is left, I suspect a very amateurish attempt at a repair.

The front of the camera has four items - meter window, viewfinder window, shutter housing and flash PC connector. The meter window contains a two cm by one cm lens covering a selenium photoelectric cell.  This does not need any batteries, which I always reckon to be a good thing.  Most camera electrics from the 1960s to 1980s use mercury cells which are now illegal in just about every country there is. This window has a hinged cover - to open it, you lightly press the right-hand end (as the camera is to your eye). Selenium meters get a poor press as the photoelectric cell will deteriorate with time. However, if the cell is kept in the dark it only deteriorates very slowly, so this cell being covered, it has not yet (in 57 years) deteriorated enough to worry about. This is a single scale meter - an earlier version of the Contina IIa had a dual scale meter with a small window in the hinged cover.

Next to the meter window is the viewfinder window. This has quite a small eyepiece and a plain view with no bright lines. I find I cannot use it while wearing my glasses.  The Contina Ic, which I also own, has a much larger eyepiece - this was made just a few years later in the early 1960s.

In the centre of the front is a square chrome bezel containing the shutter.  This is a Prontor-SVS from Gauthier. This works on the EV system.  The light meter gives you an EV value from between  three and eighteen and you transfer this number to the shutter - you have to press a small tab on the shutter housing to get the EV ring to turn. Each EV number gives you a small range of shutter speed and aperture settings.  If you turn the EV setting ring without pressing the small tab, different speed/aperture combinations will present themselves to the mark at the top of the housing. For very low light levels, the shutter speeds are in green - you cannot set these, but you can read them.  To use them, turn the control ring on the shutter housing to B and read off a speed next to the aperture you want to use.  You then need to time the exposure yourself - the speeds are from four seconds to sixty seconds and you can count this quite accurately without a watch.

The lens is a Novicar lens (a Novar lens was also available) which I have found to be excellent if stopped down to f5.6 or f8. It is threaded for 27mm filters.  Maximum aperture is f2.8 and its focal length is 45 mm. Focusing is from about three feet to infinity (one metre to infinity). The throw of the focusing is only about 120 degrees, so very accurate focusing is not possible, but with no rangefinder, this camera was always going to rely on depth of field.

On the lower right of the shutter bezel (looking at the camera) is the flash PC (Prontor-Compur) connector.  This is the only means of connecting a flashgun. On the side of the shutter housing there is a selector for M or X - Magnesium or Xenon  - flash. M is for flash bulbs and X for electronic flash. With M, the flash is fired slightly before the shutter opens to allow the burning of the flash bulb to reach its maximum while the shutter is fully open. With X, the flash is fired as the shutter blades are fully open as electronic flash does not require time to reach its maximum intensity. This selector also has a V setting. This means Vorlaufwerk and is German for self timer. Moving the selector to this position causes an eight second delay between pressing the shutter release and the shutter firing. It is never a good idea to try this facility on an old camera as it might well cause the shutter to stop working permanently.

Rear/internal view

The back opens by pulling down a small catch on the lower right-hand edge. The back is hinged and there is a single light seal - a piece of velvet right by the hinge. The back itself has the pressure plate and a tensioning roller that goes by the take-up spool. Around the film mask are two machined film guides - showing as bright lines in the photograph above. The pawl for the rewind mechanism can be raised to enable fitting a film cassette and then lowered to secure the cassette.

24-December 2013

I have now finished my test roll of film - Agfa Vista+ 200 ISO from Poundland (yes, £1.00 per roll!). As expected, the camera works well. The only awkward thing was setting the EV values on the shutter as the mechanism is rather stiff.  I definitely would not want it too loose but it would be nice for it to be a bit easier to alter. The frame counter is missing on this camera - I assume due to a botched repair by the previous owner. It does not affect the camera's functionality at all and got me the camera at a bargain price. Below are a selection of pictures from the test film.

Pottergate Arch, Lincoln

Fountain in Lincoln Arboretum

Rockabilly Buskers, Lincoln

Lincoln Shoppers getting ready for Xmas

Foreign Buskers, Lincoln

Light (or exposure) meters

Light meters (which are also called exposure meters) are a modern invention and early photographers had to guess their exposures and rely on experience to get it right.  An early system used to make guessing easier was to use the Sunny 16 rule which says:

• "On a sunny day set aperture to f16 and shutter speed to the [reciprocal of the] ISO film speed [or ISO setting] for a subject in direct sunlight." 

 (from Bernhard J. Suess (2003). Mastering Black-and-White Photography, Allworth Communications. ISBN 1-58115-306-6)  So, if you are using Ilford FP4 film, which is ISO 125, on a sunny day you set the aperture to f16 and the shutter speed to 1/125 seconds.  This will generally give you a usable picture even if not a perfectly exposed one.  You do need to be aware that the amount of light on a sunny beach will be more than the amount of light in a sunny field - entirely due to the amount of reflected light.  You can easily adjust either the aperture or the shutter speed to compensate.  You also need to be aware that the amount of light present on a sunny day depends on how close to the equator you are.  A photographer in Norway using the Sunny 16 rule will get a very different result than a photographer in Nigeria would.  I have been trying this Sunny 16 rule out in Lincoln this week and in the middle of the day it produced the same exposure as my Ikophot exposure meter suggested.  By four in the afternoon, the Sunny 16 rule was a whole stop out.

A better system was the extinction meter.  This used a piece of translucent celluloid that was painted black apart from a series of grey numbers.  Each number was printed in a darker shade of grey than the last number.  So, in my Braun Paxette, the number 1 is nearly white and the number 16 is nearly black.  In use, the user looks through the extinction meter and notes the darkest number that is visible.  This number is then looked up in an exposure table to get suitable aperture and shutter speeds.  This picture of my Braun Paxette show one of these tables.  It is set up for 50 ASA (ISO) film and tells you to halve the exposure for 100 ASA film and double it for 12 ASA film (films were much slower then than we are used to now).  This chart refers to 'diaphragm' rather than 'aperture' but it is the same thing.

Extinction meter table on my Braun Paxette

These, although simple and not able to go wrong, had their drawbacks.  They depended on the quality of the eye sight of the user and that is very variable.

The next development was the electronic light meter.  Initially, these had a cell made from selenium that produced a small electrical voltage on exposure to light.  This voltage was then used to move a needle across a scale.  This needle would then point to an arbitrary number that has to be set on a scale.  The scale then indicates a range of appropriate aperture and shutter speeds.  It is tempting to think of these as EV numbers but they are not - at least are not on the three light meters I own.  These worked very well in reasonable light but were poor performers in poor light.  These fell out of fashion and were replaced by CdS meters.  The advantage of selenium meters is that they do not need a battery to work.  A big disadvantage is that they lose sensitivity with time.  Towards the end of their useful life they give a low reading which will eventually cause over-exposed photographs.  For this reason, some people will not use old selenium meters but my old (fifty years old, plus) meters all agree with my modern light meters.

 I suspect that the rate of deterioration depends on how the meter has been stored over the years.  If the meter is in the dark inside a case apart from when actually taking a reading, the deterioration doesn't seem to matter over a period of sixty or so years.

The next development was the CdS meter (Cadmium Sulphide).  These do not produce a voltage on exposure to light but act as a resistor that changes its resistance to electricity on exposure to light.  These always need a battery to work to provide the voltage.  Most modern light meters work this way.  These work in much lower light levels and do not significantly deteriorate with time.  The draw back with these is that battery technology changes and it can be hard (or impossible) to find batteries for older CdS meters.  In particular, mercury batteries are no longer made and the modern equivalents produce a different voltage which alters the accuracy of the meters.

A lot of meters from the 1950s used what are called Exposure Values (EV).  The idea is that you set your shutter to the indicated EV and this sets a combination of shutter speed and aperture.  As you then alter the aperture, the shutter speed will alter in unison - and vice versa.  I like the system but many people do not.

Here is a table of EVs and their associated aperture/shutter speeds:

 

Table 1. Exposure times, in seconds or minutes (m), for various exposure values and f-numbers
EV	f-number
	1	1.4	2	2.8	4	5.6	8	11	16	22
−6	60	2 m	4 m	8 m	16 m	32 m	64 m	128 m	256 m	512 m
−5	30	60	2 m	4 m	8 m	16 m	32 m	64 m	128 m	256 m
−4	15	30	60	2 m	4 m	8 m	16 m	32 m	64 m	128 m
−3	8	15	30	60	2 m	4 m	8 m	16 m	32 m	64 m
−2	4	8	15	30	60	2 m	4 m	8 m	16 m	32 m
−1	2	4	8	15	30	60	2 m	4 m	8 m	16 m
0	1	2	4	8	15	30	60	2 m	4 m	8 m
1	1/2	1	2	4	8	15	30	60	2 m	4 m
2	1/4	1/2	1	2	4	8	15	30	60	2 m
3	1/8	1/4	1/2	1	2	4	8	15	30	60
4	1/15	1/8	1/4	1/2	1	2	4	8	15	30
5	1/30	1/15	1/8	1/4	1/2	1	2	4	8	15
6	1/60	1/30	1/15	1/8	1/4	1/2	1	2	4	8
7	1/125	1/60	1/30	1/15	1/8	1/4	1/2	1	2	4
8	1/250	1/125	1/60	1/30	1/15	1/8	1/4	1/2	1	2
9	1/500	1/250	1/125	1/60	1/30	1/15	1/8	1/4	1/2	1
10	1/1000	1/500	1/250	1/125	1/60	1/30	1/15	1/8	1/4	1/2
11	1/2000	1/1000	1/500	1/250	1/125	1/60	1/30	1/15	1/8	1/4
12	1/4000	1/2000	1/1000	1/500	1/250	1/125	1/60	1/30	1/15	1/8
13	1/8000	1/4000	1/2000	1/1000	1/500	1/250	1/125	1/60	1/30	1/15
14		1/8000	1/4000	1/2000	1/1000	1/500	1/250	1/125	1/60	1/30
15			1/8000	1/4000	1/2000	1/1000	1/500	1/250	1/125	1/60
16				1/8000	1/4000	1/2000	1/1000	1/500	1/250	1/125
17					1/8000	1/4000	1/2000	1/1000	1/500	1/250
18						1/8000	1/4000	1/2000	1/1000	1/500
19							1/8000	1/4000	1/2000	1/1000
20								1/8000	1/4000	1/2000
21									1/8000	1/4000
EV	1	1.4	2	2.8	4	5.6	8	11	16	22
	f-number

To my light meters:

I have four old meters, each of the selenium type.  They are a Weston Master III, a Leningrad 4, a Ikophot and a Bewi Automat.  The Weston does not work - I tried to adjust the zero setting and managed to wreck the meter.  The blame for this lies entirely with me, not Weston’s design or manufacturing standards.

First, the Weston.

This is a Weston Master III

Weston Master III

It is the most complicated meter of the three I have - presumably it will do more than the other two.  The draw backs for me is firstly there is no ASA or DIN setting, it uses instead Weston values which are their own proprietary system. As films do not come with a Weston speed marked on them, it makes it unnecessarily difficult to use.  Secondly, I find the plethora of black and white marking difficult to distinguish.  As I mentioned earlier, I managed to break this meter, so my complaints about it are moot.

Secondly, Leningrad 4:

Leningrad 4

This is much simpler in layout than the Weston and much easier to use.  The needle points at red numbers, these red numbers are then set against a large pointer on the other end of the meter and the aperture/shutter speed combination are read off a black and white scale.  The film speed can be set in either ASA or DIN and will work with modern films with ISO speeds as they are the same as ASA.  A note of caution:  these red numbers are NOT Exposure Values - they seem to be arbitrary numbers and are different to the equivalent numbers on the Ikophot meter.

Thirdly, Zeiss Ikon Ikophot:

Zeiss Ikon Ikophot

This mirrors the Leningrad in as much as the meter needle points to red numbers and the red numbers are then aligned against a red pointer.  The aperture/shutter speed combination is then read off the scale - aperture in black and shutter speed in white on red.  Again, film speed can be set in either ASA or DIN.  A note of caution:  these red numbers are Exposure Values but only for 50 ASA/18 DIN film (I expect 50 ASA/18 DIN was seen as standard by Zeiss Ikon).  It is possible to use them directly on cameras with a EV scale on the shutter, but you will need to adjust for the speed of the film you are using.  This is simple enough - for 100 ASA, 21 DIN film, subtract 1 from the EV; for 200 ASA, 24 DIN film subtract 2 from the EV and for 400 ASA, 27 DIN film, subtract 3 from the EV.

The DIN/ASA scales on this meter are a bit unique.  DIN 21 SHOULD be ASA 100, but it is ASA 80.   I use the DIN exclusively and that works just fine.  I suspect using the ASA scale would also be fine as the difference between 80 and 100 is fairly small (1/3 of a stop).  As DIN is a German standard and Zeiss Ikon are a German firm, I would expect them to get DIN right.

Not cheap - it cost £10/13/5 in 1957 - which was just over an average man's weekly wage (so about £500 in 2013 values).

This is the meter I most often use as it is nicely made, feels good in the hand and produces satisfactory results.  A scanned copy of the Ikophot manual is available for download as is a scanned copy of Zeiss Ikon's 1930s exposure guide.

Lastly, my Bertram Bewi Automat.

Bertram Bewi Automat

This is a German meter (made in West Germany).  Bertram have been making light meters since 1928 . This meter works differently from the meters above.  For one thing, it has a digital read-out rather than an analogue needle pointing to a scale. 

The meter is rather larger than is usual for analogue meter - it measures 90 x 65 x 25 mm not including the activating button.  It is encased in ivory plastic.

 The only control is a ring to set the film speed.  This is calibrated in ranges. For instance, the DIN setting is a range of three numbers - 11-13, 14-16, 17-19, 20-22, 23-25.  That is one stop difference between each range.  Given the exposure latitude of film that is plenty accurate enough.  There are also ranges for ASA and Weston (ASA is the same as ISO and Weston is a defunct film speed system devised by the makers of the Weston series of exposure meters.

Using the meter is also different to analogue meters.  If you point this meter at the scene you intend to photograph, nothing happens.  You need to point the meter, depress the activating button for about three seconds and release.  Once you have done this, the shutter speed scale lines itself up with the aperture scale and you can read off suitable combinations of aperture and shutter speed.

The read out also has exposure values indicated - under L on the aperture scale.  These are adjusted for film speed and can be set directly on an EV enabled shutter.