James's Light Meter Collection: Kiesewetter Excelsior Junior
Kiesewetter Excelsior exposure meter East Germany
Maker: Kiesewetter
Model: Excelsior Junior
Circa: 1957
Cell type: Selenium
Measure type: reflected/averaging

A very cute little meter, about 2-inches square and half as thick. It looks a throwback to the 30s: a simple scale meter and calculator dial around it. Easy to use, easy to read. I think of all the "direct read" meters from this era that tried so hard to make it easy and it became complicated in the process. This is very straightforward. No tricks, no gimmicks. You don't need to read a manual to figure it out.

Another one that's hard to research. Rudolph Kiesewetter appears to be a (formely East) German manufacturer of electrical and test equipment that's still in business, but their website defies the internet translation software so I haven't been able to read it and verify.

Kiesewetter seems to have a connection with Excelsior, either as a favored trade-name or as a merger with another company; it's unclear. Regardless, they produced a number of simple meters that are all along these lines. This Junior is probably smaller and a little simpler, but the others I've seen (like the Mini Photoscop or the Excelsior 3) don't appear to offer anything more.

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