Tenax (folding bed camera)
![]() |
Pocket Tenax with Autofoc and Syntor lens in Compound shutter image by LostBob Photos (Image rights) |
Before its 1926 merger into Zeiss Ikon, the Berlin company C. P. Goerz sold several folding-bed plate cameras under the name Tenax[1] and Pocket Tenax, beginning around 1906. These were part of Goerz's Tenax camera family.
Plate sizes were 6.5×9 cm, 9×12, and 10×15 cm.
Goerz offered a special "Autofoc" feature, a cylindrical mechanism which advanced the lensboard to a standard focus distance automatically when the camera was opened. The "Manufoc" versions of the Tenax lacked this feature[2]. The Taro Tenax folding bed cameras were the budget line of the original Tenax series.
![]() |
9x12 Tenax of 1920 with C.P. Goerz Doppel-Anastigmat Syntor 6,8/130mm lens in Ibso T. B. 1-1/100 sec. shutter. image by Gerard Vogels (Image rights) |
![]() |
Goerz Tenax 6.5x9, predecessor of Zeiss Ikon Tenax image by Dave Dockerill (Image rights) |
Notes
![]() |
Manufok-Tenax scanned by Uwe Kulick (Image rights) |
- ↑ The Tenax model name had been reused by Zeiss Ikon starting in 1938 for unrelated 24×24 mm format 35mm cameras; see Tenax II and Tenax I.
- ↑ 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). Page 357.