Plavic 9x12

A Plavic 9x12 folding bed camera (c.1930) image by Süleyman Demir (Image rights)

Plavic 9x12 is a 9x12cm folding bed plate film camera, manufactured by Héard & Mallinjod, Lyon, France for Plavic in Lyon. The camera is identical with the Hémax folding bed plate 9x12 camera produced by Héard & Mallinjod from 1923 to the early 1930s.

Specifications

• Model: Hémax 9x12 folding bed plate camera serie 00, (without identification).
• Production: 1923 to early 1930s.
• Lens: Plavic-Anastigmat135mm f/6.3, Aperture range f/6.3-f/32, filter slip-on
• Focusing: Bellows focusing, index and scale on the left-inside of the front cover, Focus range: 1-10m +inf.
• Shutter: Gitzo leaf shutter type B1, with speeds: 1/25, 1/50, 1/100 +T & B.
• Cocking and Shutter release: by the same lever, on front of the lens-shutter barrel; manual shutter cocking and release at the same time, diaphragm opens and closes on single press
• View finders:
  • Waist-level Brilliant finder on top of the lens standard, turning 90 degrees left on its own axis for landscape pictures
  • Sports finder: A big wire sports finder, hinged on the lens standard and used with a folding rear peep sight part, on the left side of the camera
• Bellows: single-extension, vertical shift of the lens standard possible
• Body: metalic, weight 850g

History

Héard & Mallinjod made 6x9cm and 9x12cm folding bed plate cameras in c.1920-28 under the Hémax label. After those dates some Hémax cameras are found under the Plavic label and distributed by Victor Planchon firm, Lyon, France.

Plavic 9x12 folding bed plate camera, c.1930
images by Süleyman Demir (Image rights)

Links

• Sylvain Halgand Collection (in French)
• Hémax Catalogue page 4 (in French)
• Sylvain Halgand Collection (in French)