Mecaflex
The Mecaflex is a
The camera is equipped with the newly developed
Description
The complete camera top, hinged at the front, is a flush cover with no protruding controls. When flipped open, it reveals the waist-level finder. On the right-hand side is the single-stroke wind-on lever with the manual reset frame counter on top, and next to it the remote-release-threaded shutter button. On the left-hand side is the rewind knob with a film reminder on top. When the top lid is fully opened, the large square magnifier swings up over the focusing screen. An action finder is also incorporated into the top cover. At the base are the ¼ inch tripod socket, the A/R (advance/rewind) switch, and a release button for the removable back.
The Mecaflex is equipped with a unique breech-lock lens mount operated by a lever at five-o-clock at the front. Sliding the lever toward six-o-clock releases the lens. The shutter speed dial surrounds the lens mount. The semi-automatic preset lens
The Mecaflex is built of precision cast metal alloy parts with a matte chrome finish and decorated with a striped black body covering material. The camera, at first a Metz product for which Kilfitt was to supply the lenses, was manufactured at the
Kilfitt was a reputable lens manufacturer, well known for designs like the 1955 Macro Kilar series and the manufacture of the Voigtländer 2.8 / 32-86 mm Zoomar. He started lens manufacturing in Munich in 1941 and expanded production to Liechtenstein in 1947, but production was later gathered in Munich. However, only a limited number of lenses were made for the Mecaflex:
- Kilfitt Kilar 1:2.8 F=40 licensed by Benoist Berthiot, Paris
- Kilfitt Kilar 1:3.5 / 40 manufactured by Heinz Kilfitt, München
- Kilfitt Tele-Kilar 1:4 /105
The camera came in a small box complete with a zippered case and a metal neck strap. Accessories included an add-on eyelevel mirror finder that would attach inside the folding finder.
Two versions
Metz Mecaflex:
- Manufactured from 1953 on, for about five years
- Shutter speeds B, 1 to 1/300 sec.
- M/X synchronisation selector switch
- Striped pattern body cover
Kilfitt Mecaflex:
- Manufactured in Monaco from 1958 on by SEROA, for about seven years
- Shutter speeds B, 1 to 1/250 sec.
- No M/X synchronisation selector switch
- Fine-grained pattern body cover
References
- ISBN 2-903671-08-7.
- ISBN 3-88984-130-9.
- ISBN 0-9514392-3-5.
- ISBN 1-897802-11-0.