Piccolette

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The Piccolette is range of cameras made by Nettel in Stuttgart and its successor companies Contessa-Nettel and Zeiss Ikon.

pre-World War I Piccolette

The Piccolette was first made by Nettel, the company which became Contessa-Nettel, as a folding-bed camera for 4x6.5 cm exposures on rollfilm, from 1914. This camera was available with various lenses, including Nettel's own Anastigmat or Rapid Aplanat, and Pronto or Compound shutter. It has radial lever focusing on the bed.[1]

post-World War I Piccolette

The Piccolette is best-known as a strut-folding camera for eight 4×6.5 cm exposures on 127 film, made from 1919 by Contessa-Nettel in Stuttgart,[2] and continued by Zeiss-Ikon after the merger in 1926 in which Contessa-Nettel joined to form Zeiss Ikon. Production seems to have eased in 1930.[3]The total production is unclear at this point.[4] The Piccolette is more or less a copy of the Vest Pocket Kodak, and the camera was copied by Konishroku as the Pearlette.

The camera was offered with a range of lens options.

Contessa-Nettel Piccolette 1919-1926

Minor variations in the positioning and shape of the lettering on the front standard have been observed.

The camera was offered with a range of lens and shutter options:

  • Achromat 7.5cm f/11 in Acro shutter
  • Contessa-Nettel Piccar 7.5cm f/11 in Piccar shutter (25, 50, 75, B,T)[5]
  • Contessa-Nettel Nettar Anastigmat 7.5cm f/6.3 in ACG Derval shutter (25, 50, 100, B, T)[6]
  • Meyer Goerlitz Nettar Anastigmat 7.5cm f/6.3 in ACG Derval shutter (25, 50, 100, B, T)[7]
  • Contessa Nettel Doppel Anastigmat Taronar 7.5cm f/5.4 in Compur shutter[8]

Zeiss Ikon 1926-1930

The production of the camera was continued after the merger and offered as model 545/12. At one point the Contessa-Nettel logo was replaced with the Zeiss Ikon logo.[9] As before, the camera was offered with a range of lens options:

  • Achromat 7.5cm f/11 in Acro shutter[10]
  • Contessa-Nettel Piccar 7.5cm f/11 in Piccar shutter[11]
  • Trinastigmat 7.5cm f/6.8 in Derval shutter[12]
  • Nettar 7.5cm f/6.8 in Derval shutter[13]
  • Citonar 7.5cm f/6.3 in Derval shutter[14]
  • Teronar 7.5cm f/5.4 in Compur shutter[15]
  • Zeiss Tessar IIb 7.5cm f/6.3 in Compur shutter[16]
  • Zeiss Tessar Ic 7.5cm f/5.4 in Compur shutter[17]

Piccolette de Luxe

The version with the Tessar lens and turnable brilliant finder and sports finder was made from 1927 to 1930 as the Piccolette de Luxe. (catalogue nº 546/12 ). It has a folding bed in addition to struts, allowing bellows focusing, and perhaps giving a more rigid arrangement of the front standard.

Notes

  1. McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 12th Edition, 2005-2006. USA, Centennial Photo Service, 2004. ISBN 0-931838-40-1 (hardcover). ISBN 0-931838-41-X (softcover). p714 (Nettel), 215 (Contessa-Nettel) and 1057 (Zeiss Ikon).
  2. Contessa-Nettel Piccolette, with an f/4.5 Tessar and dial-set Compur shutter, at Early Photography.
  3. It is no longer included in the 1931 Zeiss Ikon catalog.
  4. Unlike the number on the film carrier, which seems stamped/punched in, the body serial number of the Piccolette was engraved, but in a very fine and shallow fashion. Even limited corrosion seems to have obliterated part or all of the serial number on a great number of cameras. The last three digits of the serial number are repeated and punched into the reinforcement bar of the film carrier. Observed Serial Number Ranges:
    Contessa-Nettel: 183485 Nettar/Derval (coleccionandocamaras); 266759 Achromat/Acro (mrs logic); 275191 Achromat/Acro (David Purcell); 282213 Nettar/Derval (heritagefutures); 328814 Piccar/Piccar (Gerard Vogels); 485135 Tessar/Compur (Early Photography);
    Zeiss Ikon: 661720 Piccar/Piccar (Kimmo Kulovesi);
  5. Flickr
  6. f-stops marked off as 6.3, 9, 12.5, 18, 25, 36 heritagefutures via Flickr
  7. coleccionandocamaras via Flickr
  8. The Camerasite
  9. The camera illustrated in the 1928 catalogue still carries the Contessa-Nettel Symbol: Zeiss Ikon Cameras [Catalogue]. New York, Carl Zeiss Inc, 1928, p. 4.
  10. 1926-1937 Central Camera Catalog
  11. Kimmo Kulovesi)
  12. 1926-1937 Central Camera Catalog
  13. 1926-1937 Central Camera Catalog
  14. 1926-1937 Central Camera Catalog
  15. 1926-1937 Central Camera Catalog
  16. 1926-1937 Central Camera Catalog
  17. 1926-1937 Central Camera Catalog
  18. Piccolette de Luxe at Early Photography.
  19. Virtuelles Museum der Wissenschaft.


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