When the Leica was first
marketed in 1925 it was without competition.
It was an entirely new concept, not seen before. Thus it was no surprising that the camera
immediately became a huge success with competing companies struggling to offer
something similar. Soon Zeiss entered
the market with the Contax, as did others, including Kodak with the German made
Retina, but none ever had the success of the Leica.
This success continued after
the interruption of WWII, with the first post war model, the Leica IIIf and
then the incredible M3 which lives on in its basic concept even today with the
Leica M. Of course there were cameras
from competing companies as well, the continuation of the Zeiss Contax as the
main competitor. Kodak too tried to get
a hold on the 35mm rangefinder market with their incredible Ektra, but Leica
remained on top.
This success continued even
far into the new 35mm single lens reflex camera market which rapidly gained
popularity. This brings us to an
interesting concept rom Switzerland, the Alpa Reflex.
Alpa was an offshoot of the
Pignons S.A. company, which made specialty parts (pinions) for Swiss
watches. In the late 1930s, Pignons
invited engineer Jacques Bolsky to design a camera for them. This resulted in
the Alpa-Reflex in the 1940s. As did
most everyone else, he took a close look at the Leica, but also at the emerging
single lens reflex cameras (SLR). As a
company involved in the watchmaking industry, the Alpa camera turned out to be
an incredibly well made piece of equipment, mostly hand made with extremely
tight tolerances.
What set the camera apart
form virtually all cameras at the time is the fact that the camera was a
hybrid, offering rangefinder focusing as well as single lens reflex viewing. A
closer look, especially at the lens, definitely reveals the influence of the
Leica. Because of the very high quality
of the camera, production was low, but quality and prices were high. Even these
days, collectible Alpa cameras can fetch quite high auction prices.
The original Alpa Reflex
Alpa was quite innovative
with other features too. There is an
ongoing question concerning which camera company was first with such
innovations as the quick-return mirror, through-the-lens metering, cells in
prism housings and the bayonet lens mount. Alpa was a contender for being first
with each of these innovations and several others.
Soon after the introduction
of the Alpa Reflex, a new model was introduced.
While the Alpa reflex sported a waist level viewfinder, the new Alpa
Prism Reflex was one of the first SLR cameras with a prism viewfinder, but it
also maintained rangefinder focusing.
Not only did the Apla cameras
stand out because of their very high quality, this continued with their lenses
as well. They did not make their own
lenses, instead they had them made by some of the best lens makers, Angenieux,
Kern, Kinoptik, Schneider, and others.
They were the only company to guarantee optical quality of the lenses
they sold. The Kern Macro Switar lens
was a 50 mm lens at F1.8 or F1.9. It was
an apochromat, and is still highly regarded as one of the best standard lenses
ever offered. Other apochromats offered by Alpa included the 100 mm F2 and 150
mm F2.8 Kinoptik lenses. The company
retained the same lens mount on the Swiss made cameras from 1942 until they
ended production. The back focus of the body was the thinnest of any 35 mm
camera, and as a result, it was possible to make adapters to use lenses
designed for almost any other 35 mm SLR on an Alpa. Adapters offered included Exakta,
M42 (automatic diaphragm and manual), Nikon (auto and manual), Leica R,
T-mount, and Contax.
Just as the combination of
rangefinder and reflex focusing was a definite deviation from the norm, Alpa
continued to be different with follow up models as well. For instance, the initial film winding knob
was replaced with a lever wind, as was the case on other cameras. But instead of using the common counter
clockwise, thumb activated winding lever, Alpa decided to do the opposite. Their winding lever stuck out from the front
of the camera and it was activated by pulling it with the right index
finger. Alpa also continued to use the
camera release via a knob on their lenses which also activated the auto stop
down of the diaphragm, a system apparently taken over from Exacta.
Alpa 9d with 50mm f/1.8 Macro
Switar
The reverse wind lever and
shutter release on the lens are clearly visible
One of the strangest
accessories for the Alpa was without a doubt the motor drive. While everyone would attach the motor to the
bottom of the camera, Alpa decided to put it on the top. The motor attached by being fastened to the
screw fittings normally used to attach a neck strap. Right above the advance lever a pin stuck out
from the motor which, when activated, actually moved the advance lever as it
would normally be done by the index finger.
The shutter release was in the back of the motor which necessitated a
short cable release in front of the motor to be connected to the normal shutter
release on the lenses.
Unfortunately, Alpa did not
have the resources to keep up with the technological advances that the
mainstream camera companies were introducing in the 1970s and sales began to
decline. It is not clear whether the lack of technological
"innovation" was due to lack of money, or actually a choice made by
the company against the automation brought about by other companies.
In 1990 the company could no
longer compete with other manufacturers, especially from outside Europe. The
fatal blow however was delivered by problems within the company. Pignons SA
declares bankruptcy. The last ALPA model produced by Pignons SA was the ALPA
11.
In 1996 Capaul & Weber
from Zurich acquired the world-wide rights to the brand-name ALPA. The new
owners aimed to continue the tradition of quality established with the classic
35-mm ALPA reflex cameras and to enter into the field of medium-format cameras
which resulted in the Alpa 12 camera currently on the market.
As Leica enthusiast we should
be able to understand a certain resistance to market trends. The insistence on doing things their way
brought considerable financial hardships for Leica, especially their less than
lukewarm embrace of digital photography.
Fortunately, with the help of Dr. Andreas Kaufmann, the direction of the
company changed and today Leica is once again one of the major players in the
high end camera market.
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Interesting concept, combining a rangefinder with reflex viewing.
ReplyDeleteWe have a similar concept now with the Leica M (240) which combines rangefinder focusing with focusing on the viewing screen or with the electronic Visoflex.
ReplyDeleteThe Alpa motor drive has to be the most oddball approach ever.
ReplyDeleteHenry David Thoreau probably would have liked the Alpa; its designers definitely listened to a different drummer.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting article. Not sure I agree with Leica being more successful than Zeiss, as their Contax II & III not only featured a longer, more accurate rangefinder than the Barnack Leicas, they also integrated viewing and composition for the standard lens into a single finder, something Leica wouldn't manage until the M3 17 years or so later. All while the Contax had a standard self timer, non rotating external shutter speed dial with all speeds on it, and a shutter impervious to sun damage. They found a lot of success with professional photographers, and with good reason.
ReplyDeleteIt's worth noting that the Alpa bayonet mount did alter. The Reflex and Prisma use one with a smaller bayonet size than the later model Alneas and Reflex models. They're broadly the same but lenses are not interchangeable between old and new Alpas because they don't physically mate up.
Cheers
Brett
Thank you very much for your comments. However, as far as Leica having been more successful, I must stand by that assertion. You correctly pointed out differences or advantages of the Contax, that didn't translate into a higher sales volume for the Contax. At the end, even the Nikon rangefinder cameras generated more sales than the Contax did and both were soon discontinued with the Leica being the only survivor in the field of optical rangefinder cameras.
Delete