Electromatic I[]
In 1959 the Braun Paxette electromatic was advertised as the world's first fully automatic 35mm camera. Its selenium meter controlled the aperture and gave a red/green light sufficiency signal in the viewfinder. But other automatic functions were missing. Instead, the focusing of the Ennagon 1:5.6/40mm lens was fixed, and it had only the single shutter speed 1/40 sec. Film speed had to be selected manually to obtain proper exposure by the aperture system.
|
| 1st Paxette electromatic, version with Katagon lens |
Electromatic II[]
The Electromatic II still had a single shutter speed at 1/40 sec, but with an improved lens. It was fitted with an Ultralit 1:2.8/40mm, focussed with a twist/screw action. Markings on the lens show that it can focus down to 1m (3.3 feet), although with only a simple viewfinder the photographer must use a guess focusing technique. At around 2m there is a symbol of a person to indicate portraiture, and at around 4m there is a symbol of a building. As with the Electromatic, the selenium meter gave a red/green light sufficiency signal.
|
| Paxette Electromatic II, with Ultralit f/2.8 lens |
Electromatic III[]
The later version Electromatic III had a better lens and shutter combination, with a good set of selectable speed and aperture settings and coupled meter visible through the finder.
Electromatic IA[]
The Electromatic IA had interchangable lenses.
This generation of the Paxette was unusual in featuring lever-rewind as well as lever advance.
Links[]
- Paxette electromatic, Paxette electromatic I (a) and Paxina electromatic at Chrome Age Cameras [1]
- Instruction Manual at Camera Manuals Online
- on www.collection-appareils.fr by Sylvain Halgand
- Calibrating the focus ring on a Paxette on Jonathan's blog