'Justodrem' Extinction Meter, 1930s, good condition

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'Justodrem' Extinction Meter, 1930s, good conditionAn interesting bit of background to an interesting extinction meter.... DREM were a company founded in Vienna in the mid-1920s by Dr E mil M ayer (b. 1871) , a Viennese street photographer who used his knowledge to develop a range of photographic products, principally extinction and later 'electric' exposure meters. Initially he made extinction meters (several versions of the 'Justophot') in the latter half of the 1920s, branching out to 'electric' exposure meters (eg the Drem-Electric, the Largodrem) by the mid 1930s. The 'Justodrem' extinction meter was certainly on the market by early 1934, and it must have been a successful product, since it was still being marketed in the UK in 1939. The interesting point is that close up photos of another Justodrem found on the internet shows that meter marked as 'made in Austria', whereas this listed example is marked 'made in Germany'. Was it the case that after the Anschluss (German annexation of Austria) in March/April 1938, when Austria officially became part of 'Greater Germany', manufactured goods were henceforward regarded as 'made in Germany' ? The final sad twist is that Dr Mayer (who I presume was Jewish) committed suicide with his wife in June 1938 in the face of impending Nazi persecution and destruction of his photographic work. ............... The Justodrem This extinction meter works by firstly adjusting the meter to your eyesight, pointing the meter against the light and pulling the telescopic shaft (see photo 2) until the strip of letters visible within are in focus. You then point the meter at the subject and (taking your time) you determine which is the dimmest legible letter. The letter you arrive at is the tst, this is then read against the 'Scheiner' chart to determine exposure times at varying aperture settings. Or something along these lines. I don't have the box with its printed instructions - however, someone else has kindly transcribed them...copy and paste this link...../photo/cam-beli.htm Closed, the meter is 7 cms in length. Fully extended it is 9 cms long.Condition In terms of function I can certainly work the meter to the point of getting a sharply-focussed but dimmest legible letter. However, I feel that the letter strip inside is a little bit grubby, and I wonder whether this might be affecting the accuracy of light passage readings..... Cleaning the strip would be difficult - I'm not sure how one would get inside.Cosmetically, the outer body of the meter is in excellent condition. There are rub marks on the telescopic shaft, but nothing that's going to affect function. What's included : Justodrem extinction meter Postage (Package approx. 150g) UK - £3 (Royal Mail Second Class) Europe - £3.75 (Airmail Small Packet)USA/Japan/Hong Kong/China - £4.75 (Airmail Small Packet) ****** PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING BEFORE YOU BID ****** The above mail services offer the basic level of £46 maximum compensation ( including the cost of postage) and WITHOUT tracking . The basic service is fine and reliable, but it is slower and not tracked. I provide excellent, secure packaging using new materials, with printed address and return labels. And if payment is received by 9.00am on a working day, I post 95% of parcels that same day, and send you a personal message confirming the item has been posted . This is a FIVE STAR service ! Once posted, matters are out of my hands - and some countries (eg Italy, USA) seem to be extremely slow in the domestic delivery of items from abroad. This has nothing to do with me - if you live in those countries tell your own Customs/Domestic Postal services what you think of them ! VERY IMPORTANT Please note that whilst I retain a Certificate of Posting and will assist in the event of any item not arriving I will NOT be held responsible for the failings of postal services either in the UK or overseas. If you want greater speed and/or security (at greater cost), select the 'Recorded' or 'International Si... read more

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