Finally!

Finally!

If you like to use an exposure meter for light readings and use a film Leica M1, M2, M3, M4, M4-2, M4P, MA, MD or MD2, you will be ordering one of these unless you are lucky enough to have a functioning Leicameter M/MC/MR/MR-4.

Finally someone has crafted an accessory shoe meter for the film Leica M which couples with the shutter speed dial.

By way of background I suggest you read my comprehensive piece on the Leicameter first.

Then if accessory shoe mounted meters are of interest read this. I have been using that minuscule Reflx meter with success but I would be the first to admit that speed is not its forte. As with all other accessory shoe meters it is not coupled to the Leica’s shutter speed dial. Decide to change shutter speed or aperture and you must first dial in the new shutter speed/aperture on the meter (slow), then take your light reading (fast) and transfer the indicated aperture/shutter speed to the lens (even slower). It takes time. And you have to struggle with that too small shutter speed dial on the Leica with its even smaller shutter speed engravings. This gets to be less fun and more challenging as anno domini kicks in.

By contrast the coupling Leicameter models attach to the shutter speed dial so you set your shutter speed using the knob on the meter (fast), take your light reading and transfer the aperture to the lens. That knob is large and easy to handle and the Leicameter’s engraved shutter speeds and apertures are large. Pretty speedy if you work in shutter priority mode.

Well, Keks has updated the Leicameter with a 1.3 inch OLED display while retaining the shutter speed dial coupling feature. As with the Leicameter MR/MR-4 the angle of measurement is 30 degrees, which is similar to that of a 90mm lens so you can use the 90mm frame selector lever for ‘aimed’ exposure measurement. The battery, while rechargeable (ugh!) is said to deliver a 10 hour life after a one hour USB-C charge. Assuming that the display stays on for one minute once a reading is taken that translates to 600 minutes or 600 exposures – call it 16 rolls of film. For me, with a 50% ‘keeper’ rate, that’s a long time. And Keks claims the battery is user replaceable, and while I see no hatch for the replacement, this is promising. Eventually all batteries, rechargeable or not, die. Ask owners who laid down $7,000 for their Leica M240 digital not so long ago for which no replacement batteries are available. That’s a costly paperweight and Leica should be damned for no longer making the batteries. With the Keks M-meter, maybe you have to undo a screw or two in 5 years’ time? And they claim it uses a common rechargeable cell.

This is not Keks’s first foray into light meter manufacture. B&H lists a couple of models in a variety of finishes, so there’s some reason to think Keks know what it is doing. Here are the specifications for the Keks M-Meter from their site:

Keks M-meter specifications.
That ‘Max/Min aperture’ customization setting is interesting.

Using images from Keks’s web site, here is my forensic analysis and thoughts and questions:

Keks’s meter is less wide than the Leicameter MC and MR/MR4.

That’s good news. It means more clearance for an aftermarket rapid rewind crank which I consider an essential enhancement to the stock M knob rewind.

It looks great:

On a Leica M2.

The display is big and clear. Lets hope Keks programs a black-on-white option:

The buttons on the right are for ISO setting.

You recharge it using USB-C:

Recharging. The rear button is presumably for taking a light reading.

And you don’t even have to remove it from the camera. And there’s no funky specialized 1.35 volt battery considerations like with the Leicameter MR/MR4.

And here’s a surprise:

British (design) and Best.

The coupling pin for the Leica’s shutter speed dial is there – let’s hope they got the length and location right:

Coupling pin.

And it looks like exposure compensation is a feature:

Exposure compensation setting.

If this meter functions well, Keks will sell a lot of these. And I will be one of their first sales. With a functioning Leicameter MR4 selling for $200 and up, and they are all end-of-life, this is a bargain. Keks offers variants in black chrome or shiny black paint for those thus inclined.

My order.