53John Wade discoversatwinlenscamerathat’snotwhatitseems
Primarette/
Planovista
IF A CAMERAhastwolenses,
there’s a good chance thatit’s
either a stereo cameraor a twin
lens re ex (TLR). This oneis
neither. It’s true that itstwo
BLAST FROM THE PAST
LAUNCHED c.1930
PRICE AT LAUNCH £15 15s(£15.75)
GUIDE PRICE NOW £300-500
Tech Talk
lenses are arranged one
above the other, the
lower lens for shooting
and the upper lens for viewing,
just like a TLR. But it doesn’t
have a mirror to re ect the view
from the upper lens onto a
screen on top of the body.
Instead, the image is projected
onto a ground-glass screen at the
back, where it is viewed
upside down, like an old-time
plate camera. It’s a bit like
having two cameras,
one above the other.The panel that supports the
two lenses unfolds from the body
on two sets of bellows, one for
each lens, moving backwards and
forwards for focusing via a knob
on the top. As the focus is
adjusted, distances are indicated
on a needle moving across a
scale between the lenses, while
the top lens moves up and down
to compensate for parallax.
The Compur shutter offers
speeds of 1-1/300sec, and the
camera came with a choice of
f/3.5 Trioplan, f/3.8 Tessar, or
f/2.7 Mayer Macroplasmat
lenses. The shutter release is a
sprung lever on the side of the
body, to shoot eight 4x6.5cm
images on 127 lm.
This unusual camera
has two names because
it was originally made by
Curt Bentzin and sold
as the Primarette, before
being sold under its new
name by the London-based
German rm Planovista Seeing
Camera Company. Few were sold,
which means it’s rare today.What’s good Folds into a at,
pocketable package; still
usable with 127 lm available
on the internet; unusual design
makes it very collectable.What’s bad View nder image
is upside down; old bellows
might leak light; rarity
makes it rather
expensive.The Primarette twin lens camera,
also known as the PlanovistaView from the back, showing
the focusing screen under its hoodThe camera in its
folded position