It's a bird..it's a plane...no...it's the Flexameter!

I found myself browsing through eBay a few weeks ago not really looking for anything when I came upon a quirky looking gadget I had never seen before. It turned out to be a Kuhn Flexameter, somewhat rare but most importantly - quite entertaining.

I received it in the mail a few weeks later and it's all I thought it was going to be - big, odd and almost impossible to use in its quirkiness :)

The finder fits into the accessory shoe of the camera and the image that is displayed on its groundglass is clearly visible yet somewhat dim. As you focus the 50/2.8 lens it comes with the image comes into focus and at that point you transfer the distance setting to your lens. Does this allow for more stealthy photographing? Well...if the subject stays at the same distance I assume that glancing down the waistlevel finder may be less obvious - but most importantly it seems quite fun to use.

Here are some photos of it fitted ontop of my Leica M3.

Kuhn Flexameter, with leather case, ontop of a Leica M3

Looking down onto the finder with the magnifying unit flipped up.