Arca Swiss
F-Classic Field 4x5 C image by Stacey Hoffman (Image rights) |
Arca Swiss is a French maker of view cameras, based in Besançon, France. The company was founded in Zurich in the 1920s as Alfred Oschwald & Company, an engineering workshop that repaired cameras. Alfred Oschwald helped to design and make the Sinar Norma.[1] His sons, Max and Alfred Jr. formed Gebrüder Oschwald (Oschwald Brothers) in the 1950s. Max had helped his father with their work for Sinar, while Alfred Jr. had worked with Plaubel. Oschwald Brothers was eventually renamed Arca Swiss; but moved to France in the 1990s. Notes at Arca Swiss USA's About us page suggest this was in part for the benefits of being located within the EU, and in part to be close to 'the heart of the European center of micro-techniques';[2] presumably a reference to the École Nationale Supérieure de Mécanique et des Microtechniques, a prestigious engineering college in Besançon.
French | ( | )|
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companies | ||
AFR | Alsaphot | André and Lieutier | Angénieux | Arca Swiss | As de Trèfle | Atoms | Aubertin | Balcar | Bardin | Bauchet | Baudry | Bellieni | Berthiot | Boumsell | Boyer | Bronzavia | Cindo | Cord | Cornu | Coronet | Darlot | Demaria-Lapierre | Derogy | Faller | FAP | Fex | Français | Compagnie Française de Photographie | Gallus | Gaumont | Georges Paris | Girard | Gitzo | Goldstein | Héard & Mallinjod | Hermagis | Idam | Itier | Jousset | Joux | Kafta | Kinax | Kodak Pathé | Krauss | Lumière | Lund | Mackenstein | Manufrance | MAPED | Mazo | MFAP | MIOM | Mollier | Mundus | Olbia | Omega | OPL | Pierrat | Richard | Richard (Jules) | Roussel | Royer | SEM | Secam | SIAP | Soulé | Spirotechnique | Tiranty | Vergne | Zion (France) |
M-line two view camera for film or digital back image by Uwe Kulick (Image rights) |
Cameras
- Arca-Swiss Discovery
- Arca Swiss F-Line
- Arca Swiss M-Line
- Arca Swiss M-Line two
- Arca Swiss Misura
- Arca Swiss R3D
- Arca Swiss Reflex
- Ultra Large Format Camera (prototype at Photokina 2012 )
Notes
- ↑ In a post Sinar History at Large Format Photography Forum it seems that Carl Koch Jr., grandson of Sinar's founder, considered that Oschwald's sons behaved dishonourably if not illegally, using work their father had done for Sinar for their own business.
- ↑ 'About us' at Arca Swiss USA.
Links
- Arca Swiss global ('under construction' as of March 2024)
- A visit to Arca Swiss, by E. Bigler at www.galerie-photo.com (in French)
- Arca Swiss camera line at the Arca shop