Carlflex
The Carlflex is a Japanese 6×6cm SLR prototype, certainly made by Carl in 1952–3. It is known from a single example, found by a Japanese collector in the 1980s and featured in an issue of Kurashikku Kamera Senka.[1]
Description
The Carlflex has the same configuration as the Reflex-Korelle. It takes 6×6cm or 4.5×6cm exposures on 120 film. There is a fixed waist-level viewfinder. The viewing hood was missing on the surviving camera, and was replaced by that of a Kowa Six.[1] The name CARLFLEX is engraved in a metal plate screwed to the front.
The film is advanced by a knob at the top left, as seen by the photographer. It has knurls on the side, and is similar to that of the Carl Six. The advance is wholly manual. The back is hinged to the right, and contains two red windows. These are protected by horizontally sliding covers, running under a metal plate marked Carl, 16.E.X. and 12.E.X., the same as on the Carl Six.
The focal-plane shutter gives B, 10–500 speeds. It is wound by turning a knob at the top right, and the mirror is lowered at the same time, resulting in a rather stiff mechanism.[1] The speeds are set on the same knob, by raising its outer part. The release button is at the front, and is pressed towards the user. The mirror and shutter mechanisms were not properly adjusted on the surviving camera: the first curtain was starting its course at the same time as the mirror, and a black portion was appearing on the pictures.[1] This indicates that the prototype was abandoned while it was not yet ready for production. The camera's owner modified the mechanism by uncoupling the mirror from the shutter knob, adding a separate button on the rear to lower the mirror, and properly adjusting the shutter button so that the shutter is fired only after the mirror is fully raised.[1]
The surviving camera was found with no lens at all. It seems that the lens mount is a male thread, partly recessed inside the camera. The film to flange distance is high, and 75mm or 80mm could not be adapted to the camera, so the owner adapted a Meyer Primotar 85mm f/3.5, originally intended for the Primarflex.[1]
Notes
Bibliography
- Okabe Tsuyoshi (岡部毅). "Kārufurekkusu" (カールフレックス, Carlflex). Kamera Rebyū: Kurashikku Kamera Senka (カメラレビュー クラシックカメラ専科) / Camera Review: All about Historical Cameras no.11, March 1988. No ISBN number. Shirarezaru kamera (知られざるカメラ, special issue on unknown cameras). Pp.22–3.
The Carlflex is not listed in Sugiyama or in Kokusan kamera no rekishi.
