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The retractable lens was a 35mm f3.5 Kern anastigmat; shutter speeds from 4.5secs to 1/500. |
The retractable lens was a 35mm f3.5 Kern anastigmat; shutter speeds from 4.5secs to 1/500. |
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| + | The Compass was available in a kit, which could include a small, elegant tripod, fitted with a pocket clip, a cable-release, a small leather case or a larger fitted box taking the accessories. |
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| ⚫ | Some examples of the user manual seem to be printed in an eccentric manner; the covers are sized to match the camera, with rounded corners, and each page is folded into quarters to fit into the covers. This means that each page has a diamond-shaped hole in the middle.<ref>[http://www.submin.com/large/manuals/compass/ Manuals] on submin.com</ref> |
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=== Links / Sources === |
=== Links / Sources === |
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Revision as of 00:15, 7 June 2008
The Compass Camera was made by watch-makers Le Coultre et Cie in Switzerland, in c.1937 for London firm Compass Cameras. It was a rectangular aluminium-bodied rangefinder camera, made for 24x36mm exposures on plates. With the lens closed, it was only 30 × 53 × 70mm in size. There was a back available for special 8-exposure films, and later also an 828 roll film back, made by T. A. Cubitt. About 5000 were made before production was prevented by war.[1]
The Compass was extraordinarily well-equipped for such a small package; it had two optical viewfinders, one at a right-angle, a ground glass focusing screen with a folding loupe, a built-in lens cap, three filters, an extinction meter and a spirit level. There was also a rotating fitting for the tripod bush in the base with five click stops allowing for panoramic and stereo pictures.
The retractable lens was a 35mm f3.5 Kern anastigmat; shutter speeds from 4.5secs to 1/500.
The Compass was available in a kit, which could include a small, elegant tripod, fitted with a pocket clip, a cable-release, a small leather case or a larger fitted box taking the accessories.
Some examples of the user manual seem to be printed in an eccentric manner; the covers are sized to match the camera, with rounded corners, and each page is folded into quarters to fit into the covers. This means that each page has a diamond-shaped hole in the middle.[2]
Links / Sources
- Compass camera on submin.com
- Compass on ukcamera.com
- ↑ Coe, Brian, "Cameras, from Daguerreotypes to Instant Pictures", p.128, Marshall-Cavendish/Nordbok 1978; Coe's drawing shows an example labelled in German; from casual observation, this seems to be unusual, and most are in English, but submin.com shows German and French, as well as the majority English models.
- ↑ Manuals on submin.com