Attempt #3 out 4 to make a simple, "direct reading" meter for the amateur niche: i.e. you just point it and read the exposure and that's it. Of course it's not quite that simple, and attempts to make things too simple usually fail. This was superseded by the Model 854 "DR" version two years later, which had a revolving scale so you weren't limited to 1/50th shutter speed. But this actually was an improvement over its predecessors, the Model 850 "Junior" and the Model 852 "Cadet", because it had a much simpler face (the others had mutliple scales, and were confusing to look at). So you can see they were making progress. They just hadn't arrived.

Mine was DOA, so I used it as an excuse to take it apart. If you want to see what this looks like inside, check out the autopsy.