Kibitz
The Kibitz[1] is a strut-folding plate camera, made by Nettel Camerawerk from about 1905 (when the company was still called Camerawerk Sontheim), until about 1912.[2] It is similar to the Sonnet, introduced a few years later, except that whereas the Sonnet has a wooden body, the Kibitz is metal-bodied. The camera has a simple folding bed on which the front standard runs out. The struts give a focusing mechanism, with a scale on the side of the body, with the end of one strut acting as the pointer.
The camera was made in several plate sizes; 6 or 6.5x9 cm, 3¼x4¼ inch (quarter plate), 9x12 cm and 10x15 cm.[2].
The lenses for the camera include Nettel's own Anastigmats[3] and Rapid Aplanats, Meyer Euryplans and Carl Zeiss Tessars, with Ibso or Compound shutters.
Few examples are seen (the model was made for only a few years). The example sold by Rahn has a folding wire frame finder.[3] McKeown shows one with a folding Newton finder on the body, and states that some examples have a brilliant finder instead.
Notes
- ↑ The name (sometimes as 'Kiebitz') in German or Yiddish can mean lapwing (presumably, like the English 'peewit', it imitates the lapwing's call); but a Kibitzer is also an onlooker or unhelpful chatterer.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 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). p713. McKeown lists 9x14 cm as the largest size, not 10x15, but this size is mentioned in the advertisement reproduced in the article on Nettel.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 6.5x9 cm Kibitz with Nettel Anastigmat and three-speed pneumatic shutter, sold at an auction in May 2007 by Rahn AG (archived). Formerly it did show a rather poor photograph, which was much clearer when enlarged.
Links
- Nettel Kibitz as shown in the June 9, 2007 auction of Auction Team Breker, Koln, Germany.
