Fotoapparat plastinochnyy Voigtlander Rollfilm Beatrix Voigtar 6,3 (10,5 sm) / Embezet — exhibit F191
Fotoapparat plastinochnyy1920★★★★★
| Catalog index | F191 |
| Brand | Voigtlander |
| Model | Rollfilm Beatrix Voigtar 6,3 (10,5 sm) / Embezet |
| Case | Yes |
| Production year | 1920 |
| Description | This object is a Voigtländer "Beatrix" folding camera from the 1920s–1930s, designed for roll film rather than glass plates. Although the museum record classifies it under "plate cameras," in construction it is a typical member of Voigtländer's roll-film folding family, which replaced the bulkier plate systems for amateur use. Film is loaded on spools, and the image is formed through a lens mounted on an extensible bellows. To set up the camera, the front standard is pulled forward along its rails, the bellows extends, and the camera is ready for use. Structurally, the Beatrix belongs to the generation in which Voigtländer moved from purely plate-oriented models toward mass-market roll-film cameras for amateurs. Compared with earlier models, it uses a somewhat sturdier folding bed and adds a frame finder alongside the brilliant finder . This particular example carries a Voigtar lens of 1:6.3 aperture and 10.5 cm focal length, paired with a Gauthier Embezet central shutter . The Embezet is a two-blade, self-cocking shutter: the same lever both tensions and releases it, with speeds of approximately 1/25, 1/50, and 1/100 second, plus a "T" setting for long exposures . In practice, several points are worth knowing. First, focusing is entirely manual, by means of a distance scale on the lens mount; this model has no rangefinder, despite the "rangefinder" subtype in the record—likely a curatorial clarification. Second, the camera has no double-exposure prevention: after each frame, the film must be advanced by hand while watching the frame numbers through the red window on the back . Over time this window can become light-leaky, so with modern film it should be kept out of direct sunlight. Finally, the Embezet shutter is not synchronized for flash and is not intended for fast action—it is a instrument for deliberate work in good light. |