Light meter for Vivitar 450/SLD

I recently aquired an old Vivitar 450/SLD from my father. The light meter does not seem to be working. I am new to

photography, and would like to know if anyone has any suggestions for me to try, or am I going to have to have the

camera repaired? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I'm not familiar with that particular model, but cameras from that era typically had ON/OFF switches for their meters. If you've put in a fresh battery, you still might not have the meter turned on. Have you checked to see if there's an on ON/OFF switch? There may also be a battery check function.

 

This is what I would do, if it were my camera:

 

1. brand new battery

2. use a pencil eraser and clean the contacts in the battery chamber

3. make sure the camera meter is ON (consult the owner's manual. If you don't have one, maybe someone can find a copy for you)

4. do the battery check (consult the owner's manual)

5. Look at the owner's manual and make sure I'm doing everything correctly

 

6. If I get NOTHING on the battery check routine, I'd verify that the battery really is good

7. If I get an OK on the battery check, but nothing from the meter itself, then I'd suspect that either the photocell is bad, the meter movement is broken, or there's a broken electrical connection somewhere.

 

It's possible that the meter itself is bad on your camera, but I've seen a lot of older cameras where the meter is okay, the problem is mainly just figuring out how to use it.

I also have a Vivitar that was my father's. Definitely not worth the cost of a repair. Just get a Sekonic or Gossen handheld meter. A used one will do. Or follow the Sunny f/16 rule: In bright sun, your exposure is f/16 and the shutter is 1/ISO speed of your film. Example, 1/400 with Tri-X or any other 400-speed film. Round that off to the cloest thing on your shutter dial, usually 1/500. Bright overcast is f/11 cloudy is f/8, really cloudy f/8 at 1/250. Experiment and you'll learn exposure well enough you won't need a meter.