french DEHEL

[ruben_blaedel]

Does anyone have knowledge about a folding camera 6 x 4,5 called

DEHEL made in france - Shutter times from b,15,10,25,50,100 to 250

The lens is a demaria-lapierre-anastigmat "manar" 1:3,5 f 75 m/m.

F stobs from 3,5 - 22

In front small square holes with engraved clair, brilliant, sombre,

gris - in the whole the recomende f stop for a given shutterspeed at

the for diferent weather types.

when and by whom was it made - is it for 120 film or 620? - is it any

good for photography

[gene m]

Made by Demaria. There are three Dehels and they all take 120 film. Are you sure it's a 6x4.5 ? I can only find 6x6 and 6x9 Dehels.

[mark_b4]

There are some pictures taken with a Dehel 6 x 4.5mm on the link listed below.

The site seems hard to navigate. Click on 'My Collection' and you

should be able to locate the page.

Based on those examples the lens seems pretty sharp. I think all the Dehel folders

(pre war and post war) had unit focusing and uncoated lenses. A number of the

folders were sold in the US. They were marketed in the US as Monte Carlo brand cameras.

The same company later made a line of cameras called Telka. The Telka II

is supposed to be pretty amazing. That 6x9 model had a coated lens and a coupled

rangefinder, but they seem pretty pricy on the rare occasions when the show up on

the auction site.

 

http://www.mgroleau.ca/photo/frame.html

[mark_b4]

I have to correct something. The Telka III is the 6x9 model with the coupled

rangefinder and coated lens. Not the Telka II.

[winfried_buechsenschuetz1]

I think I have a certain knowledge (and a certain collection) of french cameras. I have never heard of any french 6x6 folder - they made a couple of 6x6 TLRs, but all folders have 6x9 or 6x4.5 format. I think the Dehel you mentioned is the only folder for 6x4.5 format. There was a post-war relaunch called Telka XX (if I remember it correctly).

 

Of course the pre-war Dehel (the name is an acronym for DeMaria-Lapierre, the french have a 'mute' h, so Dehel is spoken actually like De-El) models had uncoated lenses. Some of the post-war ones had coated lenses (some french manufacturers listed cameras with coated and uncoated lenses for different prices in their catalogues). All those 6x4.5 and 6x9 folders (except the Telka III, see below) have the Manar Anastigmat lens. I once had two cameras with that lens and they are definitively inferior to three-element lenses like the Zeiss Novar or Meyer Trioplan. The 6x4.5 folder is a close imitation of the Zeiss Ikonta A520, but I surely would prefer the original.

 

Different from the better known french Kinax cameras all Dehel/Telka cameras accept 120 film.

 

The Telka III is an exception, its f/3.5 95mm Sagittar lens is one of the sharpest lenses I have encountered on a 6x9 folder (despite its wider angle of view due to the relatively short focal length). Originally it came with a test negative showing the customer the actual sharpness of that lens. The rangefinder works well and you can operate all controls on the lens barrel with your right index finger without loosing hold of the camera body. Mine was not in good condition when I bought it (broken shutter, worn bellows, faded rangefinder mirror, missing parts in the double exposure latch) but now it is up and running.

 

BTW the Telka III was not the only 6x9 coupled rangefinder, there was the strangely designed Royer Teleroy, too (and the Drepy GT with uncoupled rangefinder). But the Telka III is easier to find, they occur on ebay from time from time and you can see one or two at each major camera show in France.

[robert_mounier]

Have a look on this site :

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/photoptic/DemariaLapierre.htm

 

I have a Telka II 4.5x6 format with the Manar anastigmat, I agree that this lens is largely inferior at the Novar or Trioplan

[winfried_buechsenschuetz1]

PS. Like most folding cameras the Dehel/Telka cameras all had front element focussing lenses. Only exception was the Telka III.

[mark_b4]

Thanks for the information and corrections. I have a small collection

of French cameras ( a couple of Pontiac's and some Kinax folders), but

I've been finding it hard obtain detailed information.

[winfried_buechsenschuetz1]

There is quite a lot of information available on the web and elsewhere but mostly in french. J.H. Pont's book '100 appareils legendairs' (100 legendary cameras) has not been translated in other languages yet.

 

BTW, I think the Kinax cameras can easily compete with the german Ikontas, and the Pontiac BlocMetal45 is probably the most elegant 6x9 folder ever made.

[davecollopy]

I have a 6x9 Dehel w/ 90mm 3.5 Manar, helical unit focusing. I can't testify to the quality of this triplet as the shutter has always been jammed. On a side note, the uncoated glass looks very peculiar to me, different from anything I've seen out of Germany or the US.