Patent Etui
Patent Etui with Carl Zeiss Jena – Tessar (4.5/105mm) Accessories: rollfilm adapter, extinction meter, tripod, film sheet or plate holders. Picture by siimvahur. (Image rights) |
The Patent Etui are extra-slim folding plate cameras, they were manufactured in two sizes 9×12cm and 6.5×9cm by KW Kamera Werkstätten Guthe & Thorsch of Dresden between 1920 and 1938. Although originally designed for glass plates both sizes also accept Rada or Rollex 120 6×9 roll film backs as well as film packs.
The 9×12 Patent Etui weighs 815g, and was considerably smaller than most of its German competitors. In comparison a 4×5in Crown Graphic weighs 2.4kg.
The 9×12 cameras were often fitted with an f/4.5 135mm Zeiss Tessar initially in a dial-set Compur, and after 1931 in the new rim-set Compur. They were also available with an f/4.5 150mm Tessar.
The 6.5×9 cameras were usually fitted with an f/4.5 105mm Zeiss Tessar, again in a dial-set Compur, and later in the new rim-set Compur. They were also available with an f/4.5 120mm Tessar. Two budget triplet lenses the f/4.5 & f/6.3 105mm Meyer Gorlitz Anastigmatic Trioplan were also available, the f/4.5 in a Compur shutter and the f/6.3 in a 3 speed Vario shutter.
A few Patent Etui's were also sold with lenses from a variety of other manufacturers, and there were also some variations of the two basic models, including one with no focus rack adjustment instead having a Schneider Radionar with front cell focussing, and an Ibsor shutter. Not all cameras were fitted with the sports finder.
A Japanese copy of the 6.5×9 model, called the Prince Peerless, was made from 1934.
http://lostlabours.co.uk/Uploads/etui05_sm.jpg | http://lostlabours.co.uk/Uploads/etui01_sm.jpg |
Patent Etui (9×12). (Image rights) |
http://lostlabours.co.uk/Uploads/etui03_sm.jpg |
Patent Etui (9×12) and Orion Werks (9×12). (Image rights) |
Japanese advertisements
Advertisement by Yamashita Yūjirō Shōten in Ars Camera November 1924, showing the Patent Etui (パテント・ヱツヰ・カメラ) and the Thowe plate folder (ソウヱカメラ). (Image rights) | Leaflet by Photo News, November 1938. (Image rights) |
Bibliography
- Ars Camera. Advertisement by Yamashita Yūjirō Shōten in November 1924. No page number.
- Photo News Sha. Leaflet presenting the Rolleicord, Perle, Semi Olympus II and Patent Etui, dated November 1938. Document reproduced in this Flickr set by Rebollo_fr.