Cyclope
The Cyclope is a French 6×9 camera made by Alsaphot. It was designed by Lucien Dodin and has an unusual configuration, with a rigid body and a folded light path, the rays emerging from the lens being reflected by two mirrors before hitting the film. The purpose of this construction is to make a rigid camera with a standard 105mm lens without being too thick. Two Japanese cameras announced in 1952, the 4.5×6 Tomy and the 6×6 Rich-Ray-6, have a comparable system, maybe influenced by the Cyclope. However the latter's design is more radical: the film runs along the front of the body and the lens is offset to the top, looking like an eye above the top plate, hence the camera's name.
The back does not open but the bottom plate is removable together with the film holders, picture frame and pressure plate. The bottom is locked by a key on the center, and also supports the tripod screw and the film advance key. Film advance is controlled via a red window, located on the front of the body and protected by a sliding cover. Opposite this cover is a plate with the ALSAPHOT logo. The name CYCLOPE is engraved in red below the shutter housing, on a metal plate hold by four screws, to access the bottom mirror. There is a tubular finder at the left of the lens, and the rest of the top plate is smooth.
The Cyclope was announced in 1949 and released in 1950[1]. It was first sold in a version equipped with a Saphir 105/4.5 lens by Boyer and a Prontor II shutter to 1/175, for FF18,000, and later in a version with a better finition, a Saphir 105/3.5 lens and a Prontor SV shutter to 1/250, for FF30,000.[2] 1,800 examples were made of the Cyclope f:4.5 and 200 of the f:3.5.[3]
Notes
- ↑ Dates: Cyclope history in the Fex-Indo website (web archive dated Oct 12, 2004). Vial says 1951.
- ↑ Prices: Cyclope history in the Fex-Indo website (web archive dated Oct 12, 2004).
- ↑ Vial, p. 88, citing Dodin himself.
Bibliography
- Vial, Bernard. Histoire des appareils français. Période 1940–1960. Paris: Maeght Éditeur, 1980, re-impressed in 1991. ISBN 2-86941-156-1. P. 88.
Links
In English:
- Westlicht Auction website: Cyclope f:4.5 (auction 7, lot 698) and Cyclope f:3.5 (auction 9, lot 784)
In French:
- Cyclope history at the Fex-Indo website, currently offline (the links point to the web archive version dated Oct 12, 2004)
- Cyclope 3.5, Cyclope 4.5, both together, Cyclope Topaz, Topaz lens, Alsaphot logo, plate engraved Dodin: big pictures among other Camera Collection Wallpapers
- Cyclope f:4.5 in the collection of the Musée Français de la Photographie in Bièvres
- Cyclope f:4.5 at ClicClac (Jacques Charrat's collection)
- Alsaphot page at Gérard Langlois' site, with a link to a picture of the Cyclope f:4.5