Foldette
The Foldette is a folding camera for 9x12cm plates, made by the Parisian camera-maker Mazo at around the turn of the 20th century. The camera is of an interesting design. The front section is like any of the numerous falling-plate detective cameras of the period, but because of its unusual construction, the Foldette is not a falling-plate camera, but uses single plate holders. It is the back of the camera that folds. The back board, carrying the ground-glass screen and accepting plate holders, is attached to the front by a bellows rather than a rigid box. The board can be slid forward, the bellows going into the front section, and the top and bottom boards then fold up.
The camera has a lens with helical focusing and an iris diaphragm, and a multi-speed rotary shutter. The lens could be an f/6 'extra-rapid orthoscope', Mazo's own Anastigmat or a Zeiss Anastigmat.[1] There are separate brilliant finders for horizontal and vertical orientation, and a bubble level for each orientation.
Notes
Links
- Foldette sold at the 7th Westlicht Photographica Auction, May 2005.
