Difference between revisions of "Summa Report"
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| + | * Listing for [http://www.christies.com/lotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=691264 Summa Report serial no. 198]] sold at [[http://www.christies.com/ Christie's] in London. Brief details but no picture. | ||
Revision as of 17:07, 14 October 2012
The Summa Report is a rare and unusual press camera, made in about 1954 by Tiranti of Rome.[1] It is one of only three cameras for which Tiranti is known, and Dario Mondonico states that only 100 were made (numbered 101 to 200).[2] It makes 2¼x3¼-inch (6x9 cm) images on 120 film (or plates or film-packs).
The camera has a very unusual structure. Essentially, it comprises two connected view cameras, one above the other; the upper camera is used purely for focusing, while the lower one takes the photograph. Thus the Summa Report has two pairs of lenses; one standard pair and one wide-angle. These are mounted on a rotating turret on the front of the body, which is cast from aluminium. The taking lenses, by Schneider, are a 105 mm f/4.5 Xenar and a 65 mm f/6.8 Angulon. On some examples, the viewing lenses are Reflar lenses of wider aperture (f/4 and f/3.5 respectively), by Officine Galileo; McKeown describes the camera with this specification,[1] and an example with these lenses was offered in an on-line auction.[3] An example was sold at Westlicht, however, with f/4.5 Xenars for both the viewing and taking standard lenses.[4] Each of the taking lenses is mounted in a Synchro-Compur shutter, giving speeds 1 - 1/500 second, plus 'B', and of course flash synchronisation.
The camera has several options for view-finding. The focusing screen may be used; it has a folding hood, which incorporates a loupe for crtitical focusing. There is a system for automatic correction of parallax error, using moving slats to mask the focusing screen differently as the focus distance is changed.[5] When folded down, the hood incorporates an eyepiece to form a direct eye-level viewfinder. Finally there is a folding frame finder, which erects above the camera body; this places the finder a long way above the taking lens, so it must suffer from severe parallax error at close range.
There are handles on each side of the body. Each handle incorporates a thumb-wheel for focusing, and there is a shutter release button on the rear of each handle, also positioned for the thumb.[5] There are dials indicating the focus distance (one dial for the standard and one for the wide-angle lens) on top of the body. The camera has two accessory shoes for mounting flash-bulb holders; each of these can be separately connected by switches on the side-handles.[5]
The camera has an interlock preventing the shutter from releasing when the dark-slide is in place.[5]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 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). p920.
- ↑ Article on Tiranti cameras including the Summa Report, at Dario Mondonico's Mistermondo site; company history, descriptions of the cameras (in Italian), and one picture Summa Report.
- ↑ Summa Report serial no. 0131, offered as Ebay item 190696857389.
- ↑ Summa Report serial no. 0186 sold at the December 2009 Westlicht Photographica Auction in Vienna; several excellent photographs of the camera.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 US Patent 2812698, Camera, filed 1954 and granted 1957 to Flaminio Tiranti; at Espacenet, the Patent search facility of the European Patent Office.
Links
- Listing for Summa Report serial no. 198] sold at [Christie's in London. Brief details but no picture.
