Durst Automatica
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image by Dirk HR Spennemann (Image rights) |
The Automatica is a 35mm viewfinder camera, made by Durst SA of Bolzano, Italy, from 1956 until 1963. The lens is a coated Schneider Durst Radionar 45 mm f/2.8 in a special Prontor SVS shutter. This has speeds 1 - 1/300 second, plus 'B', and an automatic setting, allowing the shutter speed to be controlled by the selenium meter via a part-electronic, part-pneumatic mechanism,[1] giving a very early instance of aperture priority automatic exposure. This is the same mechanism used by Agfa in the Automatic 66, although there are some differences; for example, on the Automatica, the film speed is set on the shutter body, whereas in the Agfa camera this setting is on the meter in the camera's top housing.
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image by Geoff Harrisson (Image rights) |
Notes
- ↑ German patent DE 923525 (C), lodged 1952 and granted 1954 to Julius & Gilbert Durst; at Espacenet, the Patent search facility of the European Patent Office.
Links
- Additional views of this camera by Dirk HR Spennemann
- Short article with photos by Geoff Harrisson
- Automatica Durst at Italian Cameras 1946-1964 (in Italian)