Reflex-Korelle

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2587379048_34042747eb.jpg
image by John Kratz (Image rights)
4108877130_7876dd3b17.jpg
With slow speeds dial and self timer;
Burke & James import to US market
image by Andrea Buzzichelli (Image rights)
5442591370_6c46ce21ba.jpg
image by vincentnip (Image rights)

The Reflex-Korelle is a reflex camera made by Franz Kochmann, later Korelle-Werk, Dresden. It is one of the earliest 6×6cm SLRs (it was preceded by the Eichapfel Noviflex by a few months). There were a number of models, with improvements in the design. The Meister-Korelle by VEB WEFO is a postwar development of the Reflex-Korelle, also sold as the Master Reflex.

Copies of the Reflex-Korelle were made in various countries, for example the British Agiflex or the Japanese Reflex Beauty.

General description

The camera takes 6×6cm exposures on 120 film. It has a focal plane shutter with horizontally running cloth curtains. There is a fixed waist-level viewfinder on top, with a matte screen and a magnifier. The viewing hood has an additional folding frame finder at the top. The camera is focused by turning the lens helicoid. It has a fine thread 41mm lens mount.

Evolution

The original Reflex-Korelle was introduced in 1935. Very early cameras were made with B, 1/10 – 1/1000 speeds, but this was quickly changed to B, 1/25 – 1/500.[1] The lens mount is a simple screw thread with 40.5mm diameter.[2]

The Reflex-Korelle II, launched in 1936, has the addition of slow speed dial providing 1/20 to 2sec. and a self-timer.[3] After the introduction of model II, the original model without slow speeds was renamed Reflex-Korelle I.[4]

Some sources say that the two models were modified in 1937 with auto-stop film advance, and renamed Ia and IIa.[5] A simplified Reflex-Korelle B was sold at the same period, with separate shutter winding and film advance, and with no eye-level finder.[6]

A new edition of the Reflex-Korelle II appeared in 1939 with a chrome finished top plate, replacing the IIa.[7] The Reflex-Korelle III, released the same year, has chrome plating on the front plate and viewing hood, redesigned controls and speeds from 2s to 1/1000. It introduced a large-diameter bayonet mount, which was also fitted on some examples of the model II.[8] Korelle-Werk G.H. Brandtmann continued development of the camera during the War, and announced plans for a model (the Elektro-Korelle according to McKeown) incorporating an internal coupled light meter.[9] This camera was never produced.

After World War II, production of the camera was resumed in 1947 by Korelle-Werk, nationalized as VEB WEFO in 1948.[10] The Meister-Korelle is a redesigned model, sold in the USA as the Master Reflex. It has yet another lens mount, with a large diameter screw thread. WEFO was merged into Welta in 1951, and the production of the camera lasted until 1952.[11]

Available lenses

Small thread mount

Incomplete list:

Bayonet mount

For the Reflex-Korelle III.

Incomplete list:

Large 55mm thread mount

For the Meister-Korelle and Master Reflex:

Notes

  1. ↑ McKeown, p.471. The revised version is called the "IA" in Matanle, p.215.
  2. ↑ Matanle, p.215.
  3. ↑ McKeown, p.471. This is called the "IIA" in Matanle, p.215.
  4. ↑ McKeown, p.472.
  5. ↑ McKeown, p.472.
  6. ↑ McKeown, p.472, Matanle, pp.215–6.
  7. ↑ McKeown, p.472.
  8. ↑ McKeown, p.472.
  9. ↑ French Patent 890808A of 1944, by Korelle-Werk G.H. Brandtmann of Germany, for a reflex camera incorporating a lightmeter, at Espacenet, the patent search facility of the European Patent Office.
  10. ↑ Reflex-Korelle (archived) at retrography.com.
  11. ↑ McKeown, p.983.

Bibliography

  • Matanle, Ivor. Collecting and Using Classic SLRs. London: Thames & Hudson, 1996. ISBN 0-500-01726-3. Pp.215–6.
  • 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). Pp.471–2 and 983.

Links

In English:

In French:

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