Gossen C-Mate help

[mrladewig]

I picked up a Gossen C-Mate at the flea market over the weekend. Its in very good physical condition, but the battery was dead and I couldn't test it there. Couldn't turn it down for $5.

So today I picked up a fresh Wein 1.35V battery and am trying to gather some info on this meter.

So far I haven't been able to find a manual for it online, only places wanting a silly amount to sell you a photocopy of the manual.

There isn't much to it. There is a dial for exposure calculation with a small adjuster for film speed, a needle to indicate the light reading and a slide over cover for incident readings. On the backside, there is a battery cover/switch and a I believe a zero dial.

The battery cover has positions 0,1,T and X. 0 is off, 1 activates the meter, T seems to indicate testing the battery, and X opens the cover. In T mode the meter reads out to a white line on the meter around 11, so I'd assume this indicates the battery is good.

If anyone could confirm I've guessed the functions correctly, I'd appreciate it. It would be nice to know the correct method for setting zero on the meter. Also, if you have any other info about the meter such as the angle of view in reflective mode, I'd appreciate it.

And if its an unreliable meter, please feel free to let me know. I'm planning to acquire a Pentax digital spot at some point, but if this will work accurately enough for E-6 film, I might leave the dslr at home on some trips.

[EuGene Smith]

I have a C-Mate and it seems to be a fairly nice little meter, certainly a lot simpler to read than the modern meters with so many functions and readouts that I get totally lost. Anyhoo, PM me an address and I'll send you a photocopy of the owners manual at no cost.

By the way, the 4 3/4" X 3 1/2" manual is a 4 3/4" X 14" paper, printed on both sides, and folded in half and then folded in half again. It is operating instructions only, and doesn't give any specs.

Eu

[mrladewig]

That would be greatly appreciated Eugene. I'll send a PM.