Miranda Automex III

The Automex line, introduced in 1960, was Miranda’s first entry into the metered SLR universe. The shutter trigger is still at the front right, but the arm over it is gone. Lenses here use an arm to connect to a body-mounted slide at the left of the lens mount. The slide is marked with F stops, and markings are also on top of the lens barrel. The lens stays open for composing and stops down to the desired setting with shutter actuation. A self-timer is added, and the speed dial is mounted over the winding lever, all speeds on one dial. The exposure counter is under a lens by the winder. A red dot by the winder indicates that the shutter is cocked. Still, with the interchangeable viewer, backward compatible.

The prominently top front selenium meter is connected to a match needle in the viewer, where the needle is to be set with the correct speed and F stop combination.

The Automex III did away with the large selenium meter lens, having a small lens where the sync port was on the early models. A switch under the rewind dial activates the battery-supported CdS meter. The battery bay is at the back, by the rewind dial and it takes a firm thumb to unscrew.

The Automex II on my desk is poorly finished, with pitted plating and peeling skin. The meter is dead, though all speeds do work. The design was not Miranda’s strong suit, with an odd front plate over where the selenium meter used to be that looks like a poor man’s Exakta style.