Biflex 35
The Biflex 35 is a viewfinder camera for subminiature-format pictures on, curiously, 35mm film.[1][2][3] It makes 11x11 mm images in two rows on unperforated 35mm film, loaded in special cassettes. The film is run through from a supply cassette to an uptake one; 100 exposures can be accommodated on a roll. The cassettes are then reversed, and a further 100 exposures made in a second row. The camera was made from about 1948 by E. Schmid, Feinmechaniches Konstruktions-Werkstätte (Precision engineering construction workshop) of Urdorf, Switzerland.[4]
The camera has a compact, rounded shape, and the film advance knob is set in a dropped end-section of the top, so that it is flush with the top of the body.[1] It was supposedly intended as a spy camera. The lens is either a Biflex-Trivar 2cm f/2.8 or a Meyer Trioplan 20mm f/2.8, which stops down to f/11; the position of the aperture control suggests the camera may have a set of fixed apertures, rather than an iris diaphragm. This lens appears to be fixed-focus, but a close-up lens giving focus at 33cm was available as an accessory.[5] The camera has shutter speeds 1/10 - 1/250 second. It has a reverse-galilean viewfinder. There is a frame counter up to 100 on the top of the camera, incorporating a film speed reminder with settings for 25, 50 and 100 ASA.
The cited example at auction is painted in a gold or tan crackle-finish. Other examples shown on the web may be brown or grey, but this may just be different rendering of the same colour.
The company also produced a projector for slides from the Biflex 35.[5]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Biflex 35 with Trivar lens, in a kit comprising the camera, soft vinyl case, set of red and yellow filters plus close-up lens in a leather case, and lens cap; sold for €3840 at the 36th Leitz Photographica Auction, on 13 June 2020.
- ↑ Biflex 35 with Trioplan lens, sold for €6000 at the 35th Leitz Photographica Auction, on 23 November 2019.
- ↑ 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). p289.
- ↑ Biflex cameras at Submin.com
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Biflex 35 sold with price list of filters and other accessories including a projector, at the 27th Westlicht Photographica Auction, on 13 June 2015.
Links
- Biflex 35 image by André Bessot who also published a book (in French) about this camera.
