Norwood Director Light meter

The Norwood Director was introduced around 1948 and quickly became the industry standard for motion picture and studio photographers.

It used a selenium photovoltaic cell (the honeycomb-like window on the front) and a translucent white dome to measure light falling on the subject rather than reflected light — a revolutionary method at the time.

It’s often associated with early Hollywood studio use; later versions evolved into the Spectra Professional light meters still used today.

The Norwood Director design was licensed to General Electric, who made several models (Type 868, Type 880, etc.) into the 1950s.