The Kuhn Flexameter - Viewfinder Giganticum

R

Rich Silfver

Guest
I bought one of these some time ago and received it earlier this week.

The ground glass is pretty clear and it's highly entertaining focusing the lens and see the image appear on it. You then flip up the magnifying part on it for the fine tuning, manually transfer distance settings to the camera lens and you're set to take 'stealthy photos' - as long as the distance remains consistent haha.

Is it really something I will use a lot? I doubt it - BUT it's entertaining and I will take it out this weekend with the M3 or III (F) and see how it performs.

Fun fun.

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The flexameter on my M3 with the leater case it came with.


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Same stuff but from an angle.


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Looking down with the magnifier flipped up.
 
I've the impression that this gets to be a bit like a TLR, but without the coupling between the taking and the focussing lens. Could be a lot of fun though. Is the image in the finder laterally reversed too?
 
Will,
nope there are no framlines. The lens on the Flexameter is a 50.

I haven't used a FOKOS but I would love to get my hands on a nice, black one... :)

I've only ever used a VIDOM but just bought a WINTU I'm looking forward to play with...
 
Rich,

Please tell us how it goes.

Would a interesting comparsion between the Flexameter and the Fokos, since lens vs RF...

Cheers





Will
 
7 years later .... bumping this thread. I researching this waist level finder and came across
this old thread. Pretty interesting device ... if you are a camera accoutrement geek like me.


This is who developed this finder, from the Head BArtenders website, the link is above by OP.

"The hero, eh, heroine, of our story, is none other than Frau Doktor Elsie Kuhn Leitz. She was the
daughter of good ol' Ernest Leitz II, President of Leitz and co-father of the Leica with Oskar Barnack. Elsie's married name was Kuhn. She and her husband settled down in, of all places Wetzlar, and were in, of all things, the camera accessory business. Their little company produced this gem of a device, the Kuhn Flexameter in the mid-1930's."

-what a lucky girl, she got to sit around and design cool devices for a prestigous camera company!
 
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