OddCameras.com
Mecablitz 111 (Flash)
This
is a very old electronic flash, a Mecablitz 111. It's an amateur flash
without a battery pack, to be connected to AC current. There was a
Nickel-Cadmium Power pack available, but most amateurs would not buy it
as it was very expensive and difficult to handle. There is little
information about this flash. It must have been released in the early
1960s. I found it in an American catalogue from 1963. It was still
produced in 1967, as it was part of a professional ophtalmologic
equipment sold by Leitz in a 1967 catalogue.
Metz sold the first electronic flash model in 1952. In those days these
were an equipment for professionals, usually a big flash gun and a big
and heavy separate battery pack, the first of these were lead batteries
with liquid acid that had to be kept upright. Dry packs were the next
amendment. Then nickel-cadmium packs arrived with a significantly
higher capacity, hence less weight. But these would ask for careful
handling of charging and decharging. Metz also produced flashes for Leitz and Braun.
So an amateur flash without battery pack made sense. They furnished a
long AC cable and you could also charge the flash, take it off the
cable and connect it to your camera within the next minutes. But you
could only fire once. On the other hand this flash still works
perfectly after more than 60 years. A nickel-cadmium pack lasted at its
best only several year, but not many.
Some pictures:
The flash and its cable.
Front. The american catalogue said that it covers a square zone, so it could be used horzontally or vertically.
Right side.
Back. Just a charging lamp, a test button and the scale to calculate the distance/aperture value.
Left side.
Bottom. This is not a hot shoe contact yet, it works with a PC plug.
Lamp on, it really works after 60 years. GN 20 (ISO 100) according to the scale.
So this is a piece of amateur photographic history.