Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/11/26
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On 11/21/99 jem.kime@cwcom.net wrote: >Tom, >Good to hear this. Are there any further specs. you can share with us? >Sensitivity seems to be as good as the M6, EV1. >It's not quite as small as the 1954 (selenium) 'Leica-Meter 2' I have (33mm >x 33mm x 23mm) but it will have much better sensitivity, accuracy and >presumably longevity! >Are the two dials interlocked so that they relate to each other? I.e. 1/500 >@ f5.6 can be adjusted to 1/60 @ f2? >I notice that the pointers align themselves with numbers that have to be >read vertically, I'm sure this would not be difficult after getting used to >it. >best regards, >Jem Jem, I just got my VC meter yesterday, a nice black one, # 00007. It is a delight to use. The dials (chrome on the black meter) are not interlocked. The shutterspeed dial has a clickstop on it, you set it at the speed you are using and then turn the f-stop dial until the green diode goes on. Very quick and simple. The meter has an automatic shutoff after 8-10 seconds. Initially I found it a bit too short but once I got used to it, it is fine. The diodes are quite bright and does catch the attention of other people "what is the red light on top of your camera?" is a common question. The acceptance angle of the sensor is the same as a 90mm lens or as the old MR meter. It has one advantage over the MR meter, it is not coupled to the shutterspeed dial of the camera and can thus be used as a very small handheld meter. Just aim it in the direction you want a reading from, press the button, adjust the f-stop dial until the green diode goes on and transfer the reading. The meter remains "live" as long as it is on, i.e if you change the direction the meter reads the new light condition. It will probably take a while for me to get used to this fact and remember to leave the setting at the designated reading and not to correct it when I lift it up to see the f-stops on the dial. I also found that it can be used as a Hi/Low meter, take a reading of the darkest area and then point it to the brightest area, it will give you a quick range and you can mentally average it. It uses two 76 type batteries, the same as the M6 and also the same as the M6TTL loves to devour. The fact that the diodes are on for a very short time should keep them going for a long time. I would suspect that the circuitry is the same as in the Bessa-L camera, the diodes look the same and the sensitivity range seems to be the same. Only change I would incorporate is to have the dials black with white lettering, makes it easier to see in daylight than the black lettering against chrome background. I have thing about this which might explain why most of my cameras are black and the lenses are matching black. I find it easier to pick out a small white digit on a black background than a black one on a chrome background. The worst of them all is the shutterspeed dial of the titanium M6, white lettering on grey/yellow tinged back ground! I also got my finders, a 50 brightline and a 75 brightline, looks like the old 50 finder for Leica, but machined from brass and painted black (available in chrome too). Very high contrast and brightness and easy to use. It will be a nice combination to put the 75/2,5 on a IIIF with this finder. As a rule I have found the finders produced by both Cosina and Konica (for the 60/1,2) to be extremely good, but one also has to take into account that all the Leica finders for 35/50/85/90/135 are by now close to 40 years old and might have suffered over time. Cosina also has access to modern high-tech glass and optical acrylics that simply was unavailable to Leitz at the time of the last finders. It will be interesting to compare the new 35 finder from Leitz for the screwmount 35/2 Asph with one of Cosina's 35 finder in this aspect. Now all I have to do is to get a leather strap and attach the VC meter to it and hang it around my neck. The diodes are bright enough to make people think that I have the absolute smallest cell-phone and then I can meter their faces and expose correctly! All the best, Tom A