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


La Collection d'Appareils Photo 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 ahows 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

  1. Sylvain Halgand's Collection d'Appareils (cited below) notes similarities between the Azur and the Wirgin Auta.
  2. Advertisement for the Azur from Photo-Revue, 1949, referring to five models, but not describing them in detail, at Sylvain Halgand's www.collection-appareils.fr.
  3. An advertisement previously shown at http://perso.wanadoo.fr/photoptic/1940.htm offered these named models - the site has closed.
  4. Azur with Triolor lens and unidentified four-speed shutter at Collection d'Appareils.
  5. Azur with Trylor lens and four-speed Gitzo shutter at Collection d'Appareils; the page also shows an undated advertisement for the camera with this specification.
  6. 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.
  7. Azur with Trylor lens and unidentified four-speed shutter at Gérard Langlois' site.
  8. Azur with Topaz lens and nine-speed shutter at Collection d'Appareils.


Bibliography

  • Vial, Bernard. Histoire des appareils français. Période 1940–1960. Paris: Maeght Éditeur, 1980, re-impressed in 1991. ISBN 2-86941-156-1.

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