Difference between revisions of "Compass"
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* [http://www.submin.com/large/collection/compass/index.htm Compass camera] on [http://www.submin.com/ submin.com] | * [http://www.submin.com/large/collection/compass/index.htm Compass camera] on [http://www.submin.com/ submin.com] | ||
* [http://www.ukcamera.com/classic_cameras/coul1.htm Compass] on ukcamera.com | * [http://www.ukcamera.com/classic_cameras/coul1.htm Compass] on ukcamera.com | ||
| + | * [http://www.butkus.org/chinon/compass_ii/compass_ii.htm Compass II instruction manual] on www.orphancameras.com | ||
<references /> | <references /> | ||
[[Category: C]] | [[Category: C]] | ||
[[Category: 1937]] | [[Category: 1937]] | ||
Revision as of 00:49, 29 May 2009
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| Compass Camera - lens extended By ebayer Old_devil, used by permission.(Image rights) |
The Compass Camera was made by watch-makers Le Coultre et Cie in Switzerland, in c.1937 for London firm Compass Cameras. It was a rectangular aluminium-bodied rangefinder camera, made for 24x36mm exposures on plates. With the lens closed, it was only 30 × 53 × 70mm (1¼x21/8x2¾in) in size, weighing 220g (7¾oz). There was a back available for special 8-exposure films, and later also an 828 roll film back, made by T. A. Cubitt. About 5000 were made before production was prevented by war.[1] The design was by Noel Pemberton-Billing, an airman and Member of Parliament. There were two versions; the Compass II was offered as a free upgrade to original Compass owners[2].
The Compass was extraordinarily well-equipped for such a small package; it had two optical viewfinders, one at a right-angle, a ground glass focusing screen with a folding loupe, a built-in lens cap, three filters, an extinction meter and a spirit level. There was also a rotating fitting for the tripod bush in the base with five click stops allowing for panoramic and stereo pictures. The shutter ran from 4½s-1/500s.
The retractable lens was a 35mm f3.5 Kern anastigmat; shutter speeds from 4.5secs to 1/500.
The Compass was available in a kit, which could include a small, elegant tripod, fitted with a pocket clip, a cable-release, a small leather case or a larger fitted box taking the accessories.
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Compass Camera - by ebayer Old_devil, used by permission.(Image rights) | ||||||||
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| Compass by Rick Soloway |
Links / Sources
- Compass camera on submin.com
- Compass on ukcamera.com
- Compass II instruction manual on www.orphancameras.com
- ↑ Coe, Brian, "Cameras, from Daguerreotypes to Instant Pictures", p.128, Marshall-Cavendish/Nordbok 1978; Coe's drawing shows an example labelled in German; from casual observation, this seems to be unusual, and most are in English, but submin.com shows German and French, as well as the majority English models.
- ↑ Auer, Michel, The Illustrated History of the Camera, from 1939 to the present, Fountain Press, 1975
