Arca Swiss Reflex

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Diagram from Swiss Patent 387436 Note the focusing screen, angled slightly backward. (Image rights)

Arca Swiss Reflex cameras are medium- and large-format SLR cameras, made by Gebrüder Oschwald (later renamed Arca Swiss) from about 1960 until some time in the '70s. They exist in two sizes, for 2¼x3¼-inch (6x9cm) and for 4x5-inch film. The body of the camera is a metal box containing the mirror and reflex viewing screen, and in some cameras a focal-plane shutter; this seems to have been replaced with an electrically-activated leaf shutter in the lens at some time.

In most examples seen, the rear body and the front standard are mounted separately on a substantial monorail, so the camera is a hybrid between a box-form SLR and a monorail camera. In this it resembles the Plaubel Pecoflex, except that the mounting of the rear body allows some movements (apparently tilt, swing and rise), whereas the Pecoflex has movements only on the front standard.

Not all examples are mounted on a monorail, however. At least in later cameras this appears to have been an option. A US dealer's catalogue of 1968 shows four models: 'ORB-23' and 'ORB-45' are the 6x9cm and 4x5-inch cameras, on a monorail; 'RH-23' and 'RH-45' are the cameras without. Without the monorail, the camera still has the rear body mounted in a yoke allowing vertical travel, and the front is racked out with a focusing knob on the right, just in front of the body (and the camera operates just like a Makiflex, instead of a Pecoflex).

Relevant patents

All at Espacenet, the patent search facility of the European Patent Office:

• Swiss Patent 387436 Photographische Spiegelreflexkamera (Reflex camera) filed July 1960 and granted January 1965 to Max Oschwald and Gebrüder Oschwald, describing the overall design of the camera. The patent states that the camera may have a focal-plane shutter; it also allows for the reflex housing being detachable from the rear of the bellows, allowing the use of a conventional view-camera back (and conversely allows for the production of a reflex housing as an accessory for existing monorail cameras).
• Swiss Patent 432229 Einrichtung zum Betrachten einer Mattscheibe einer Photokamera (Device for viewing the focusing screen of a camera), filed February 1966 and granted March 1967 to Gebrüder Oschwald, describing a viewfinder hood exchangeable for the standard folding hood around the reflex ground glass. It is a totally-enclosed hood, with an eyepiece lens on a short tube at the top, which can swivel in one plane. The eyepiece can be set straight on to the screen to let the user view it from directly above (if the camera is low enough that this is convenient) or it can be swiveled to an angle, in which case a mirror is automatically swung into place so the eyepiece views the screen through it, allowing the screen to be conveniently viewed when the camera is mounted at near shoulder height on a tripod.
• Swiss Patent 441985 Photographische Mattscheibenkamera mit einem Zentralverschluss und einer verstellbaren Irisblende (View camera with a central shutter and adjustable iris diaphragm), filed May 1966 and granted August 1967 to Max Oschwald and Gebrüder Oschwald, describing a housing in which a commercially-available lens mounted in a shutter may be set. It is in a recessed board, but with a linkage to relay the aperture control to the side of the board for ease of use, and has controls that simplify the combination of opening the shutter and iris for focusing, and afterward closing the shutter,stopping down and cocking the shutter for exposure. It also has an electromagnetic device to allow the use of an electric cable release.

Examples

• 4x5-inch Reflex monorail camera, focal-plane shutter with speeds 1/10 - 1/500 second, with 13.5cm f/4.5 and 21cm f/4.5 Congo lenses and many accessories: three different bellows, alternate/extension rails, a sliding back, roll-film back, magnifying finder hood and compendium hood. Body in pale-green hammer-finish paint, and with red bellows. Sold at LP Foto Auktioner in April 2018.
• 6x9cm Reflex without monorail, focal-plane shutter again 1/10 - 1/500 second. Later style with black paint and leatherette. Cable-socket on the base for electric shutter. Sold by LP Foto Auktioner in April 2013.
• 4x5-inch Reflex without monorail, dated c1965 by the auctioneer, sold at the 9th Westlicht Auction, in May 2006.