Russian Optek optical exposure meter click for manual
Maker: Leningrad Opto-Mechanical Plant
Model: Optek
Circa: Mid-20th Century
Cell type: Extinction (Optical)
Measure type: Reflecting

An interesting site discusses this meter (among others), if you can read Russian. Pretty much everything I know about it comes from this site.

This is a copy of the Balda Expophot, Russian style. If I read the translation correctly, they made it for 50-60 years. The Expophot showed up around 1938, so figure this one was right about the same time—that puts it through the end of the century.

There are a number of little variations in it. It comes in a few different colors, the box art (what passes for it) varies, and some have different markings on the back—possibly denoting different manufacturing plants. The Russians were free and easy with assigning manufacturing jobs across different plants as they saw fit.

Mine's a black model with black-on-bare-metal dial, and came in a green matchbox.

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