This paper presents an analytical solution for steady state flow into a close-ended cylindrical permeameter. The soil medium is considered to be uniform, isotropic, and of infinite thickness. Laplace equation is solved by considering rotational symmetry and by using curvilinear coordinates obtained from conformal mapping. The deduced shape factors, which are compared to approximate relationships obtained from both numerical and physical modelling, and idealizations involving ellipsoidal cavities, are proposed for use in field measurements. It is shown that some of the shape factors obtained are significantly different from published values and show a much higher dependence of the rate of flow on the aspect ratio, than deduced from approximate solutions.