Wilca Automatic
The Wilca Automatic is a subminiature camera, for 10x14mm exposures on 16mm film, in special cassettes giving 24 exposures.[1] It was designed by the Swedish Erik Wilkenson in about 1958, but made in Germany from about 1961. Wilca A.B. employed the Apparate & Kamerabau factory to make the camera, shortly before they went bankrupt. The camera has a Wilcalux Filtra 16mm f/2 lens and Prontor shutter. The shutter is synchronised for flash, with a PC socket on the back of the camera; there is no accessory shoe, however. The camera has a galilean viewfinder with frame lines. It has lever film advance, with a frame counter by the lever. It has a selenium meter, which shows its readout in a dial on the top. There is a single exposure adjustment - a knurled wheel exposed at the bottom of the camera - which adjusts the shutter and aperture together (in a 'program').[2] The set exposure is also shown in the meter dial, allowing match-needle metering. Martin Kohler states that the lightmeter reads the film speed automatically by notches on the cassettes. He also states that film development was only possible by sending the exposed film to Sweden, which contributed to poor sales of the camera.[3]
McKeown states that only about 200 copies of the camera were made.[1]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 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)., p999.
- ↑ German Patent 1802048 of 1959, Photographische Kamera Mit Belichtungsmesser, granted to Erik Alvar Wilkenson, at Espacenet, the patent search facility of the European Patent Office.
- ↑ AKA history at Martin Kohler's 3d-historisch.de (in German)
Links
- Wilca Automatic serial no. 600115, offered for sale at the 40th Leitz Photographica Auction, in June 2022. Several pictures of the camera, apparently a dealer's display model, offered with a stand.
- Wilca Automatic at submin.com
