Xyz
The Xyz is a subminiature camera made in France in the 1920s or '30s,[1] by Lançart of Paris.[2][3] It uses 16mm film,[2][3] with backing paper, and makes exposures 12x15mm.
The body of the camera is metal, with bright silver-coloured plating (perhaps nickel). It has a very rectangular form, with the width, depth and height roughly 25:25:50mm. It is essentially a box camera, and the film-holding part pulls out at the back as in many standard-sized box cameras. There is a red-window for frame numbers. The film winder, on the right side, is an octagonal knob in some examples, and a rather crude rectangular bar in others. There is also a small hexagon-headed fitting, presumably the end of the supply spool holder.
The shutter offers only 'I' and 'B' ('P' for Pose).[4]. The selector lever is at the bottom-left of the front plate, and the shutter release itself at the bottom right. There are four fixed stops, however, with a selector above the lens. Four different lenses were offered: an f/7.7 Roussel 'Xyzor' achromat; a 21mm f/4.5 Hermagis 'Major' anastigmat;[5] a 20mm f/3. Boyer 'Topaz' anastigmat; and a 19mm f/3.5 Roussel 'Kymor' anastigmat. The aperture scale is the same for all the lenses (the numbers are moulded or stamped into the camera body). It is not clear how this aperture control works (if the largest stop is f/5.1, what good is an f/3.5 lens; and conversely, if the lens is an f/7.7, what good are stops f/5.1 and f/6.6).
There is a folding Newton finder on the top.
Notes
- ↑ Collectiblend dates the camera to c1935; notes at Submin.com say the mid-20s.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Notes on the Xyz at Collection Appareils spell the maker with a cedilla, and a post about the camera at their forum includes pictures of a box of film, which uses the cedilla.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 An undated advertisement reproduced in an Ebay listing gives Lançart's address as 41 bvd Hausmann. It boasts that Gevaert made 'Xyz'-size film for the camera.
- ↑ The notes at Submin.com state that 'I' is about 1/25 second.
- ↑ Xyz with f/4.5 Hermagis Major lens, sold by Christie's in March 2007.
