Patent Etui

Patent Etui with Carl Zeiss Jena – Tessar (4,5/105mm) Accessories: rollfilm adapter, extinction meter, tripod, film sheet or plate holders

The Patent Etui are extra-slim folding plate cameras, they were manufactured in two sizes 9×12cm and 6.5×9cm by KW Kamera Werkstätten Guthe & Thorsch of Dresden between 1920 and 1938. Although originally designed for glass plates both sizes also accept Rada or Rollex 120 6x9 roll film backs as well as film packs.

The 9x12 cameras were often fitted with an f4.5 135mm Zeiss Tessar initially in a dial-set Compur, and after 1931 in the new rim-set Compur. They were also available with an f4.5 150mm Tessar.

The 6.5x9 cameras were usually fitted with an f4.5 105mm Zeiss Tessar, again in a dial-set Compur, and later in the new rim-set Compur. They were also available with an f4.5 120mm Tessar. Two budget triplet lenses the f4.5 & f6.3 105mm Meyer Gorlitz Anastigmatic Trioplan were also available, the f4.5 in a Compur shutter and the f6.3 in a 3 speed Vario shutter.

The 9x12 Patent Etui weighs 815 gms, and was considerably smaller than its German competitors. In comparison a 4x5 Crown Graphic weighs 2.4 kg.

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A Patent Etui and an Orion Werks 9x12

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Japanese advertisement

In the mid-1920s, the Patent Etui was distributed in Japan by Yamashita Yūjirō Shōten.

Advertisement by Yamashita Yūjirō Shōten in Ars Camera November 1924, showing the Patent Etui (パテント・ヱツヰ・カメラ) and the Thowe plate folder (ソウヱカメラ). (Image rights)

Bibliography

• Ars Camera. Advertisement by Yamashita Yūjirō Shōten in November 1924. No page number.