1954 Alpa Model 7
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- Опубликовано: 22 ноя 2024
- Shooting with an Alpa Model 7, one of the quirkiest cameras ever made. I'll run through the features of the camera, take it out shooting, show the results, and also talk a little about the camera's original designer, Jacques Bolsey.
Many images of Jacques Bolsey shown in this video are hosted on the amazing site:
www.bogopolsky...
I encourage all viewers to visit that site to find out more details about Jacques Bolsey's story.
If you would like to support my channel in a material way, buying me a roll or two of film is always greatly appreciated: buymeacoffee.c...
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I held one in a camera store as a kid. It had a macro switar lens that focused very close. An experience I will never forget.
That's such a great memory! Thanks for sharing.
Nice video on the legendary Alpa. A few points I wish you covered: the lens-bayonet or threaded, the shutter-vertical or horizontal, cloth or metal, the mirror, auto return or not, the sound of the shutter, and the camera back-hinged or otherwise. Thanks again for showcasing your Alpa 7.
Thanks for your comments. I'm thinking I'll probably need to do a "Part 2" for this video someday, as there are a number of things I still could talk about!
Thanks a lot for this review. As a kid in the 50s I drooled over this camera in the catalogs knowing there was no likelihood of me ever owning one. Wonderful to see it and it’s idiosyncrasies.
I love hearing from others who also have loved these cameras for a long time. Thank you for your comment!
Great review. Almost bought a model 7 in the Army with the Schneider lens for $125 in '63. They are wonderful cameras. Thanks.
Yes, they are such fun cameras!
Of course the Swiss would come up with a camera this complex and beautiful
@@spookisghostly4619 Haha yes exactly!
Beautiful camera, real craftsmanship.
Very nice channel, I have several Alpa’s, and two 7’s.
The range finder only works in the vertical position, but of course you can then turn the camera horizontal before taking the photo.
@@macbookdieter Glad to hear there are others out there shooting with these cameras!
I really enjoy it when you go over the history of these great old cameras. Keep these videos comings.
Thank you! I always worry about possibly going into too much detail in the history sections. Thank you for the feedback; glad you enjoyed it!
I had one in the 60’s which I used in microscopy because of the way the eyepiece was located, for ordinary use it was used like a waist level viewfinder camera, similar to the Edixaflex with it’s removable pentaprism, which I still own.
That's fantastic to hear from someone who used these cameras back when they were new. The Edixaflex is also a very interesting camera!
Awesome video. Definitely an oddball. My only oddball is an Agfa Ambi Silette. It has a remarkable 50mm lens, super image fidelity. I bought it from Certo 6 fully serviced.
Excellent presentation.
I have always been fascinated by Alpa cameras. Thank you for the video. I really enjoyed it.
Thank you for your feedback, I appreciate it!
Well now, that is an oddball camera. I had no idea the designer also started the Bolsey camera company as well. Great information.
Thanks 📸!
Yes, Mr. Bolsey also invented many other things that I couldn't fit into this video! A true mechanical genius.
Wow! Another interesting camera and back story. Well done.
Thank you! I really appreciate the feedback! I hope to have another video coming soon.
Very interesting. Certainly a unique, and oddball, camera. I remember Alpa cameras from the 1960s, and they were all odd designs, and I suspect never sold as well as the German and especially Japanese SLRs. But they had a reputation for being very well made, and heavy. Thanks!
I love oddball cameras, I have a few but nothing as interesting as this camera, nice to see it, cheers
I have owned both an Alpa 9d and a 10d. Wonderful camera with fantastic optics! Thanks for this review!
Awesome! Those are two very nice cameras.
Alyssa Bolsey (Jacques' great-granddaughter) made a terrific short film about the man-"Beyond The Bolex". Worth checking out.
@@brettrogers8482 Yes! I have seen that movie and I actually mention it briefly in my Bolsey Model C video. It is an excellent film.
I remember being told once that the Alpa cameras were initially designed for use atop microscopes and that could help explain the quirky placement of some of the controls.
Alpa did offer a wide range of accessories for scientific uses, including microscope attachments and document copy stands. The 45 degree prism finder allows the user to easily look into the viewfinder even when the camera is pointed straight down for these uses.
Some truth in that. Whilst not designed exclusively for microscopic imaging-scientific users were always a more important market to Pignons, proportionately, than the major manufacturers. The offset finder eyepiece is ideally placed when the camera is on a copy stand or microscope. That said-it's not without value for general photography, either. I photograph classic cars occasionally and at shows you're often using a lower viewpoint to obscure background objects with your subject. And was at the local botanical gardens photographing some tulips a couple of weeks ago. In each of these scenarios, the offset reflex eyepiece is definitely a plus for landscape orientated images. Of course, the flip side is that when making portrait orientated images, you have to adjust your head angle to the subject, which is certainly less intuitive than using a conventional finder.
The shutter release button is on the front is to facilitate stopping down the aperture prior to releasing the shutter and has nothing to do with stability. Probably just some marketing guys explanation because he did not understand how the camera functioned. This same mechanism was also used by several German manufactures of the time.
This was great. Subbed. Looking forward to watching this channel grow.
Thank you! I appreciate the feedback and the sub.
Nice video.
Fantastic review. I love the infinite variety that camera designers seemed to show in the mid 20th century. It’s amazing the features that got combined, like that SLR and rangefinder viewing system. BTW, which do you prefer and why? Thanks for an enjoyable video. Keep them coming!
I also love the wide variety of different solutions that designers came up with to solve the basic "focus and expose" problem. It's interesting to have both the SLR and rangefinder in the same camera. I find that I tend to use the SLR viewing for horizontal shots and the rangefinder for vertical shots. The 45 degree SLR viewer is really nice in horizontal shots--better than standard straight through viewing--but is almost impossible to use with vertical shots. Probably I just need a little more practice!
It seems that other brands where also kinda quirky at that time.. I have three different variants of Exakta VX cameras two pre war and one post .. They where backwards lol. Also the reason I thought of those cameras was because you did not mention this but I assume the large shutter button is connected to the lens just like my Exakta ... The nice thing about these was they allowed you to set the aperture to what ever you wanted.. When you advanced the camera and looked into the view finder you would see strait threw the lens wide open.. The reason for the button located on the lens was about half way pressed just before that button presses the cameras button hidden under it , It stops down the lens to the setting you set the aperture to.. I LOVE this feature and you have no idea how many times shooting these 70+ year old cameras where I have opened up the lens to focus and then forgot to close it back down lol. Great video and thank you very much for posting such an informative historical piece of history in photography ..
Yes, you're exactly right, the shutter button has an extension that's attached to the lens, just like an Exakta. Good catch! This was an early method of providing automatic full aperture focusing on SLR cameras, as you say. That's really cool that you have three variants of the Exakta VX cameras! I would like to add an Exakta VX to my collection someday. Thanks for your comments!
@@oddballcamera Topcon also used a lens mount (you could mount Exakta lenses on the Topcon RE and Super DM with some restrictions) derived from the Exakta mount. Lovely lenses to go with it, too.
Revisionist. Exakta were first to make a 35mm SLR. A decent one, anyway. It was impossible for them to be "backwards"-nobody had made one previously. Logically, it could therefore be argued that everyone who followed was "backwards".
@@brettrogers8482 Good logic :)
thank you for very nice explain very unusual camera and history. One think I don't understand how he can use name Alpa which already was using long time before the same name in Czech for herbal product.
Good question! I think that in many countries you can use the same name as an existing product if the product type is completely unrelated.
Have you ever done a piece on Compas Cameras made in France? The oddest of the odd.
Ah, interesting, I have not heard of that camera before. I'll have to look that up! Thanks for the tip.
My model 7 is a bit older than yours (serial N 30857) but it doesn't look as good as yours. A "fun" fact you forgot to mention is the camera's got a "wink" mirror , a bit weird if you're used to modern instant return mirrors. Anyway thanks for putting the model 7 in the spotlight, gonna take mine out of the drawer and have a good look at it, i wonder wich lenses will couple with the rangefinder.
Yes! There were a few other odd features that I failed to mention, including the "wink" mirror. That's really cool that you've got an older copy. Does your Model 7 have the rewind knob that can be pulled up so that the rewind fork retracts inside the camera and allows the use of the Agfa Karat/Rapid cassettes?
Yes it does. On another note, there used to be a lot of early alpa's and prototypes in our local photography museum, but since it has moved to its new location they mainly go for exhibits of photographs and the camera display has been seriously shrunk, reaso why i don't visit so often anymore.@@oddballcamera
@@rickdeckard4434Interesting; which museum is that?
As English is not my native language i'll try to explain it to the best of my abilities: the (wink)mirror is operated by pushing the shutterbutton in a way the further you press the shutterbutton the further the mirror moves upwards untill the point it is completely up and out of the way of the light path, then the shutter opens (and closes) after wich you can release the shutter button, the mirror then will return to its starting position at the speed you relax your finger or wire release off the shutter button. There is no spring action moving the mirror up or down. @HunterBarner
Rick gave a great explanation. I will also add that Alpa started providing instant return mirrors on the "c" models. You could also send them your non-"c" model to have it updated to the "c" specs if you desired.
Slightly resembles the Soviet Start camera with the odd placement of the shutter button.
2 things before you waste your money! Read all you can! Next find who/anywhere can service/repair it!
Yes, this is great advice whenever buying a used camera, especially a very old one, and especially if you are hoping to actually use it and not just display it. Thanks!
fix your audio. It jumps all over the place in level.
Really don't need the heavy wind noise.
I know, it is driving me crazy also. My audio sounds perfect when I generate my video files, but then when I upload them to RUclips for some reason the audio levels fluctuate terribly. I can't figure out why that is happening. If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them.
WTF is talking as I write!
This is my first viewing of one of your videos. So well done - I think you’ve really done your historical research well and your appreciation for the meticulous engineering is quite evident. Happy to be a new subscriber!
Thank you for your feedback, I really appreciate it!