View source for Suevia

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The '''Suevia'''<ref>The name presumably refers to Schwaben, a region of south-western Germany, named for the Suebi, an ancient group of Germanic peoples.</ref> is a single-extension folding camera for 6.5x9 cm plates and film-packs, made by [[Contessa-Nettel]] from 1919-26. Notes at ''Pacific Rim Camera'' state that production of the camera ceased upon the merger to form Zeiss Ikon, though existing stock was branded for Zeiss Ikon, and sold.<ref name=PRC>[https://www.pacificrimcamera.com/pp/zisueviash.htm Notes on the Suevia] at [http://www.pacificrimcamera.com Pacific Rim Camera], where there is also the whole [https://www.pacificrimcamera.com/rl/01620/01620.pdf 1927 Zeiss Ikon catalogue] (260-MB pdf, in German, but with Czech prices) with the Suevia on p19.</ref> It has a wooden body with black leather covering, and is vertically oriented (that is, arranged to take portrait-format photographs most conveniently). The lens standard simply pulls forward to focus, with a scale on the left side of the bed (and of course, ground-glass focusing could be used). Earlier examples of the camera have a single, central knob to pull the lens carriage; later ones have two.<ref>All the catalogue entries reproduced at ''Camaras sin Fronteras'' from 1925 onward show illustrations of the camera with two knobs on the lens carriage.</ref> Despite the modest specification of the camera, it has front rise and shift, according to a contemporary catalogue.<ref>[http://www.collection-appareils.fr/x/html/appareil-3415-Contessa-Nettel_Suevia.html Pages from the 'Omnium-Photo' Catalogue] showing the Suevia and other cameras, at Sylvain Halgand's [http://www.collection-appareils.fr/carrousel/html/index.php Collection Appareils].</ref>
The camera has a brilliant finder that rotates for horizontal or vertical pictures. 

As most folding cameras, the Suevia is seen with several different lenses. At any time, the camera was offered with an f/11 periscopic lens, an f/6.3 anastigmat or double-anastigmat, and in some catalogues an f/6.8 alternative too:

* f/11 Periskop or Periskop Alpha: ''Camaras sin Fronteras'' shows an example with the simplest lens, an f/11 Periskop (though not named as such on the bezel) and a [[Gauthier]] Peri everset shutter.<ref name=CSF>[http://www.camarassinfronteras.com/contessa_nettel_suevia_0/contessa_nettel_suevia_0.html Suevia] (notes in Spanish, many pictures of the camera, and reproductions of several catalogue pages) at Danial Sanchez Torres' [http://www.camarassinfronteras.com Camaras sin Fronteras].</ref> It has a single knob on the lens carriage. Another example seen at Ebay has an f/11 Periskop Alpha and [[Derval]] everset shutter (the shutter seen on almost all examples), and again a single knob on the lens carriage.<ref>Camera offered for sale at Ebay, August 2013 (item 111024646785).</ref>
* f/6.8 Nettar anastigmat: McKeown only lists the Suevia with a 10.5 cm f/6.3 Nettar anastigmat and a Derval [[everset]] shutter with speeds 1/25-1/100 second, plus 'B' and 'T', as on the example pictured here.<ref>{{McKeown12}} p216.</ref>
* f/6.8 Trinastigmat: this is listed in a 1927-8 English-language catalogue reproduced at ''Camaras sin Fronteras''.<ref name=CSF/>
* f/6.3 Nettar: offered in the same catalogue; the Periskop is also listed.
* f/6.3 Novar anastigmat: this is offered (as the only alternative to the f/11 Periskop) in a 1927 German Zeiss Ikon catalogue entry reproduced at ''Camaras sin Fronteras''. A 1929 catalogue also offers only these two lenses.<ref name=CSF/>
* f/6.3 Citonar double-anastigmat: an example has been seen with a 10.5 cm f/6.3 Citonar double-anastigmat;<ref>Camera offered for sale at the ''LeicaShop'' web-shop operated by Westlicht Photographica Auction.</ref> that camera also has a single central knob at the front of the lens carriage instead of the two knobs on the example pictured here, and there is a screw-clamp to control the front rise, unlike the example pictured here. The Citonar and Nettar, either with a Derval shutter, are the only lenses offered in a 1925 catalogue entry reproduced at ''Camaras sin Fronteras''.<ref name=CSF/>


==Notes==
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[[Category: German 6.5x9 folding]]
[[Category: Contessa-Nettel]]
[[Category: S]]
[[Category:1919]]