Chautard Foligraphe

Photos by AS text by AS. Last update 2019-09-24 par Sylvain Halgand.

Manufactured or assembled in France from 1897 to (After) 1902.
Index of rarity in France: Rare (among non-specialized garage sales)
Inventory number: 2967

See the complete technical specifications

Chronology of cameras Chautard

The Foligraphe was patented (No. 252,198 ) in December 4, 1895 by Jean Linder under the name of Polygraph.

One of its peculiarities is the loading mode. The plates holders are secured to the rear of the camera and articulated by a hinge . The retraction of the exposed plate is made by rotating a small lateral lever and turning round a key located at the rear. This key control a screw advancing across the plate holders assembly while the released plate tilts forward , revealing the next plate that is exactly at the focal plane. A series of small figures , visible through a tiny hole, allow to know the number of exposed plates .

The focus adjustment is done through a top knob acting on a rack affixed to the lens. The graduations of the iris diaphragm are not readable when using , which , together with the presence of the number "1" stamped on some parts, suggests that this is a prototype which would not been marketed . According to Jean-Loup Princelle ( which brought together the documentation and sold me the camera ) no other copy would be known in this format.

The shutter is of the guillotine type , he is cocked by a pull on the side and is released either by means of a bulb by the small plunger on side . Another button on the other side allows fort adjustment between six values ??(1 to 6) by means of a brake . A selector on the front near the lens provide selection between instant and time exposures.

The framing is done by two large bright viewfinders, one of them can be transformed into an eye-level viewfinder .