During my search on the history of the "Norwood Director" I stumbled on this cute little thing.. It happened to be a patent of Don Norwood from 1958 and was made in Japan by Walz. Till today that's all I know. I've acquired some models and was intrigued by the "Helio Valve". As the name implies it is a valve to control the light of the Sun. (Greece= Helios - Sun) It was really something to figure out the working of these valves, understanding the purpose I was able to get the whole story. See below. In practice it works like this: You choose an appropriate shutterspeed for your image by aligning the shutterspeed with the red arrow. In the Valve window you read the Valve-letter. Next move the slider on top of the HelioValve to this letter also. When done and measuring now the meterneedle will show the needed aperture. (Direct reading method) This meter sure adds some extra appeal to my collection after hunting those ovals. Also I have noticed at least two versions of the HELIOVALVE - a chrome one and a black one with different letters printed on top. If you used to work with one in the late 50's and know more about extra slides, please let me know.

Here you see the Chrome HelioValve which was an extra gadget I suppose. The Super Director was built for direct readings where no calculating was neccessary. Available were 19 slides, the last one was the "S".(Max Sensivity) Don believed as stated in his Patent that for most people 4 slides would do for general use. The meter has the following valve letters: AA-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K (Range of the chrome HELIOVALVE) and furtheron L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S. S is the last letter which represents a slide fully open, thus uncovering the cell completely. (Same as with HelioValve out). As said before each letter is coupled with a shutter speed at a particular ASA setting. Example: Asa setting : 125 - A desired shutter speed of 1/60 would give the letter K - Next set the the HelioValve on K also and measure... The meter will stop at the correct aperture for this combination. Align the measured aperture with the shutterspeed at the red arrow and all shutterspeeds and apertures are coupled. That's all folks...!I've checked several combinations with my Minolta IV and both meters matched!!!

This is the black version of the Patented HeliumValve. The meter has the following valve letters: AA-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K and furtheron L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S. The range on the black HELIOVALVE goes from: C | | F | H | J K where | represents the next coming letter in the alphabet!

This is the original PhotoGrid for the Super Director. Diameter  ø is a little more and also the pattern of the grids is different from the Photogrids of the Directors. When the PhotoGrid is placed the direct reading is as follows: ASA 32 - 1/50 With Valve out or ASA 125 - 1/200

Shopping on Internet through Ebay can be somewhat a gamble, most of the time descriptions are minimal because the seller don't know anything about these meters...! Be prepared to handle surprises! This was a nice surprise, the meter came in a case with the Photogrid, Photosphere and the HelioValve aswell. Putting the case aside one starts to examine the new treasure, ignoring the case. Later, much later I discovered a supplementary Calculator Scale sitting under a protection flap. Here it is temporarely taken off, because the case needs some repair. Enhanced Calculator: Apertures f/0.7 - f/128, Shutterspeeds 128sec - 1/2000, Cine 128FPS - 8FPS Note also the Polaroid scale and the LVS (Light Value Scale) I wonder how many more secrets are there....?? Anybody who can supply more info, will be named in our "Friends of NorWood Survey".

The ID plates on the back vary also by type. Till now I've noticed two versions . This one has a short user manual on the back as well as serial number.

This one has a scheme on the back with some valve values and the corresponding shutter times. Meter just came in..There was also a dial in the carrying case.(enhanced shutter times and apertures)

Time went by, and my wife did do a nice job on the leather case as I've restored the enhanced dial. Click to view the treasure after restauration... I'm very proud on this meter..It matches my Minolta IV all the time, I gave up to check and doublecheck the meter under adverse lighting conditions and now use it with confidence in the field for most of my exposure calculations! One starts wondering why did we buy those gadgets through the years. It is very refreshing to see a meter from the 50's giving the same result as a modern Silicium-blue cell. Very frustrating also...Well it can't read flash output!

Part of the original patent drawings. On with the show.....!

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