As hood ornament.

Spotted on Harrison Street in the Mission District the other day:

D2X, 16-35 AF-S lens.

One of the more unusual hood ornaments but irresistible given that a like device had found a home on my Leica M3 for some 35 years while I struggled with exposure before the days of automation. It never let me down, and as it used a selenium photovoltaic cell which needed no batteries, it never ran out of juice either.

Here’s mine just before I sold it in 2006, in rather better shape. These were made by Metrawatt under contract to Ernst Leitz.

I recall paying GBP 7.50 (ca. $18) for mine at the Wallace Heaton store on Old Bond Street in Mayfair in 1971, and sold it in 2006 for some $50. Mustn’t grumble. The store to the gentry, Wallace Heaton is long gone, but I’m sure my Leicameter is making a Leica M user happy to this day. Contrary to popular opinion, selenium cells do not die from too much light exposure. Their biggest killer is moisture seeping in past cracked rubber seals in the innards. A fine technology.