Alpa

Alpa is the brand name of successive generations of high-quality 35mm SLR cameras made by the Swiss manufacturer Pignons S.A.

The original design was called the Bolca Reflex and had been made by Jacques Bogopolsky, who was already the father of the Bolex movie camera (see Bolsey). The rights were bought by Pignons in 1942, which gave the camera the Alpa name.

Alpas were very expensive hand-made cameras, made of the best materials, with many variants that could be produced on special order. The company ceased camera production in 1990 and bankruptcy proceedings were initiated.

The Alpa trademark was purchased by new owners Capaul & Weber in 1996. Later that year, the Alpa name was revived for a prototype of a new, premium-level medium format camera, the Alpa 12. Production models of the 12WA, and 12/SWA (with built-in perspective control) followed in 1998. All of these cameras had a modular design that accepts a variety of superb wide-angle lenses from Rodenstock, Carl Zeiss, and Schneider.

The Alpa was a line of premium 35mm cameras made in Switzerland. It was of an unusually solid construction, and featured a cast metal body with figured surfaces. Controls were very simple, consisting of only a film-advance lever, and a shutter-speed indicator. Lenses were labeled "Kern-Switar." The standard lens for the Alpa 10d was a macro 50mm lens, unusual for its time.

External link

• Alpa Reflex Series D at Collection Even
• Alpa Cameras at www.collection-appareils.fr

• Alpa English instruction manuals at Orphancameras.com

• Alpa 6B at Au fil des Images (in French)