Compass

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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 small rectangular aluminium-bodied rangefinder camera, made for 24x36mm exposures on plates. There was also an 828 roll film back available. It had two optical viewfinders, one at a right-angle, a ground glass focusing screen with a folding loupe, a built-in lens cap, filters, an extinction meter and a spirit level. There was also a rotating fitting in the base allowing for panoramic and stereo pictures.

Lens was a 35mm f3.5 anastigmat; shutter speeds from 4.5secs to 1/500.

The user manual is printed in an eccentric manner; the covers are sized to match the camera, with rounded corners, and each page is folded into quarters to fit into the covers. This means that each page has a diamond-shaped hole in the middle.

Links / Sources

• Compass camera on submin.com
• Manuals on submin.com
• Compass on ukcamera.com