Azur
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The Azur are folding 6x9 cm cameras for 120 film, sold by the French distributor Boumsell in around 1948.[1] Advertisements for the camera describe between three and five models,[2] including:[3]
- Azur Standard, with a Nicor meniscus lens and 4-speed shutter
- Azur V, with a Boyer Topaz f/4.5 lens and 4-speed shutter
- Azur B luxe, with a Boyer Topaz f/4.5 coated lens and 4-speed shutter
Collection Appareils shows three models of the Azur, with different lenses and shutters, not corresponding completely with these descriptions (individual model names are not given):
- Triolor 105 mm f/4.5 and unidentified four-speed shutter (1/25 - 1/150 second, plus 'B' and 'T'[4] This camera has black-painted struts, whereas the others have plated struts.
- Roussel Trylor 105 mm f/4.5 and Gitzo R2 shutter with four speeds (1/25 - 1/150 second, plus 'B' and 'T')[5] McKeown shows a camera of the same specification,[6] and one is shown at Gérard Langlois' website with the Trylor, but in an unidentified shutter as above.[7]
- Boyer Topaz 105 mm f/4.5 and unidentified nine-speed shutter (1 - 1/350 second, plus 'B')[8]
The cameras have a brilliant finder mounted on the lens standard, and a folding frame finder on the body. They have Azur embossed in the body leatherette. Unusually, the rollfilm holders are mounted in the door of the film chamber.
Notes
- ↑ Sylvain Halgand's Collection Appareils (cited below) notes similarities between the Azur and the Wirgin Auta.
- ↑ Advertisement for the Azur from Photo-Revue, 1949, referring to five models, but not describing them in detail, at Sylvain Halgand's Collection Appareils.
- ↑ An advertisement previously shown at http://perso.wanadoo.fr/photoptic/1940.htm offered these named models - the site has closed.
- ↑ Azur with Triolor lens and unidentified four-speed shutter at Collection Appareils.
- ↑ Azur with Trylor lens and four-speed Gitzo shutter at Collection Appareils; the page also shows an undated advertisement for the camera with this specification.
- ↑ McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 12th Edition, 2005-2006. USA, Centennial Photo Service, 2004. ISBN 0-931838-40-1 (hardcover). ISBN 0-931838-41-X (softcover). p149.
- ↑ Azur with Trylor lens and unidentified four-speed shutter at Gérard Langlois' site.
- ↑ Azur with Topaz lens and nine-speed shutter at Collection Appareils.
Bibliography
- Vial, Bernard. Histoire des appareils français. Période 1940–1960. Paris: Maeght Éditeur, 1980, re-impressed in 1991. ISBN 2-86941-156-1.