Re: Leicameter M

[Paul Schliesser <paulsc@eos.net>]

> About a week ago I asked about the booster for MC meter.  No one 
>     helped me so far.  What is the booster for?

David,

Here is all I could find on your meter. I believe that you have a 
Leicameter M, not an MC. The MC doesn't have a door, and the booster fits 
on rails over the meter cell window on the front.

The Leicameter M was made from 1955 to 1957.

The only info I could find is from the 1984 edition of _The Leica 
Rangefinder Way_.

Use the red scale for low light with the door open, use the black scale 
for bright light with the door closed.

The booster plugs into the side of the meter and increases the 
sensitivity 4X, for very low light levels. There is no indicator for this 
on the dial, so you need to open the lens 2 stops more than the f/stop 
shown on the red scale.

The MC meter measures an angle of 55 degrees (roughly the coverage of a 
35mm lens). The book doesn't give this information about the M meter, but 
I would imagine that it would be similar, but would be a narrower angle 
with the door closed, since the meter is peeking throught the little hole.

I've never used one of these, so I was hoping someone who actually had, 
would answer your question.

BTW, this book is the single most useful Leica book I have. It's by the 
late Andrew Matheson, and it basically a collection of instruction 
manuals in the style of the Focal Press "Way" books. It covers all of the 
M-series bodies up to the M4-P, the screw mount cameras, and all of the 
strange and wonderful accessories including (but not limited to) 
closeup/repro/copy devices, stereo attachments, and all of the Visoflexes 
and associated gagets. If you want to actually use these things, this 
book will tell you how. Most similar books (including many of the other 
Focal "Way" books) spend too many of their pages telling you about basic 
photography instead of telling you how specific equipment works. It's 
full of very clear line drawings and exploded views.

- - Paul