Longchamp
The Longchamp is a 3x4 pseudo TLR sold by the French distributor Boumsell during World War II. It has a black or brown bakelite body, a meniscus lens and a time & instant shutter (marked Pose and Inst). On the shutter plate it is marked LONGCHAMP, MARQUE DÉPOSÉE and MADE IN FRANCE.
Vial suggests that the Longchamp was made by FAP, the maker of the Norca. As Sylvain Halgand points out, the Longchamp is very similar to some cameras made by the American company Monarch (sold under such names as Flex-Master or Royal Reflex). It is possible that FAP, whose Norca was already a copy of the Argus A, copied them for Boumsell. It is also possible that Boumsell directly bought the bodies to Monarch, despite the "Made in France" marking. The Chicago camera makers were notorious for sticking a a bewildering variety of brands onto their cameras, so this theory seems rather plausible.
In 1947, Boumsell sold the Auteuil, an enhanced version of the Longchamp. Both cameras wear the name of a famous French horse race track.
German, French & Italian Cameras using 127 film | |||
G e r m a n y |
3×4 | rigid | Dreivier | Futuro | Gewirette | Kolibri Parvola | Pupille | Ranca | Reporter | Puck |
folding | Baby Ikonta | Baldi | Dolly | Goldi Gucki | Ingo | Korelle | Makinette Metharette | Perkeo | Vollenda | ||
4x4 | Navax | Paxina Electromatic | Rothlar | ||
4x6.5 | Bella | Billy | Bob | Dolly | Goldi Gucki | Korelle | Panta | Parvola Piccolette | Rio | Ultrix | ||
TLR | see German TLRs | ||
F r a n c e |
3×4 | rigid | Fotobaby | Lynx | Super-Boy |
folding | Derby-Lux | Elax | ||
pseudo TLR | Auteuil | Longchamp | ||
4×4 | rigid | Impera | Marly | Pari-Fex | Rubi-Fex | Top | |
4×6.5 | rigid | Photo-Magic | |
I t a l y |
3x4 | Comet | Comet III | Cometa | Euralux Ibis | Maxima | Piccolo | Tanit | |
4x4 | Comet | Euralux | Ibis | ||
4x6.5 & other | Alfa | Delta | Relex | Rolet | Rondine |
Boumsell Longchamp image by Bernard Faure (Image rights) |
Bibliography
- Vial, Bernard. Histoire des appareils français. Période 1940–1960. Paris: Maeght Éditeur, 1980, re-impressed in 1991. ISBN 2-86941-156-1.
Links
In French:
- Longchamp and other Longchamp on www.collection-appareils.fr by Sylvain Halgand
- Longchamp at Clicclac
- Boumsell cameras at G. Langlois' site, showing a Longchamp