tessina Automatic 35mm + leather case | Subminiature camera

You are bidding on a vintage Tessina SubMiniature Camera Automatic 35 mm, with a brown leather case, Swiss Made. With inscription 'Patents are pending.' What a wonderful little collector's camera. In good condition — Nice collectible camera.

Description


The Tessina (officially created by Arnold Siegrist) is a high-quality 35mm camera patented by Austrian chemical engineer Dr. Rudolph Steineck in Lugano Switzerland, manufactured by Siegrist in Grenchen Switzerland. It was introduced in 1957 and distributed by Steineck's company Concava S.A and remained in production up to 1996.

The Tessina takes 14x21 mm pictures on standard 35 mm film (loaded into a special cassette), making it one of the few subminiature cameras to use the format.

It is a very small (2.5x2x1 inch) twin-lens reflex, with two 25 mm f/2.8 Tessinon lenses, one for taking the picture, and the other for viewing on a tiny ground-glass focusing screen on top of the camera.

A 45° mirror is employed to bend incoming light onto the film, which lies along the bottom of the camera rather than the back to save space.

Apertures are continuously variable down to f/22, and shutter speeds range from 1/2 to 1/500, and B.

Tessina is hand-assembled from more than two hundred precision parts. It contains ruby bearings like a Swiss watch to reduce friction. Each camera is designed for 100,000 pictures.


Specifications

35 mm (standard) film (needs loader)
Frame size: 14 x 21 mm
Dimensions: 25 x 68 x 53 mm (2.5 x 2 x 1 inches)
Twin Lens Reflex
Main lense and viewer: 25 mm f/2.8 Tessinon
Viewer: ground-glass on top of the camera
Aperture: variable down to f/22
Shutter speed: 1/2 to 1/500 sec, plus B
Film advance: spring-loaded clockwork (5 - 8 exposures)

Colour/finish

Brushed, painted or anodized aluminium
Black (aluminium)
All black
Red
Gold


History


The Tessina is the smallest miniature camera with standard 35 mm film ever built. It is even smaller than the compact Minox 35 and can be worn on the wrist, just like a watch. The camera was patented by Austrian chemical engineer Dr. Rudolph Steineck in Lugano (Switzerland) and was manufactured by Siegrist in Grenchen (Switzerland). The camera was introduced in 1957 and was distributed by Concava SA, Steineck's company in Lugano. It remained in production until 1996.

The camera is extremely compact and measures just 65 x 50 x 20 mm, only slightly larger than a matchbox and small enough for virtually any type of concealment like a pack of cigarettes or a women's handbag. It could also be worn on the wrist, as shown further down this page, by using the optional wrist bracket with leather straps.

The camera was available in a variety of colours, such as red, gold and black, but the most common version was chrome (aluminium). Gold is arguably the rarest colour, but as it is rather shiny, it is less suitable for inconspicious work.

At the back of the camera are four attachment notches, allowing the camera to be attached to a chain assembly or a leather wrist band. A spring-loaded stub acts as a lock and prevents the camera from falling off the wrist mount. The wrist band was available in brown and black leather.

The Tessina has two 25 mm f/2.8 lenses: one for taking the picture and one for the viewer and projects the image onto a standard 35 mm frame (14 x 21 mm) by means of an internal 45° mirror. The camera accepts standard 35 mm film, but uses a different - smaller - film cassettte with less exposures in order to save space. In the past, pre-loaded film cartridges were available for the camera, such as Adox KB 14, 17 and 21, Kodak Tri-X black/white film, and various colour films. Production of these proprietary format has stopped a long time ago (see below).

The Tessina has always been a special camera. At the time it was - and still is today - the smallest Twin Lens Reflex camera in the world. The camera remained in production until 1996 and was only stopped because of the increasing manufacturing costs. The price of the bare camera in 1996 was approx. EUR 1000. For an excellent and far more complete description of the camera (in the German language), please refer to Peter Lausch's pages about the Tessina.


Concealments


As the Tessina was so small, it was suitable for inconspicuous photography and could be hidden in a variety of ways. It could easily be incorporated into a piece of furniture or a lady's handbag. Although the Minox subminiature cameras were smaller, they were less suitable for observations.

One of the most popular ways to hide a Tessina camera: inside a normal pack of cigarettes. When the viewfinder and the flashlight socket are removed, the camera fits nicely inside a standard cigarette pack, leaving room for some fake cigarette tips.

It was also possible to operate the Tessina from within the cigarette case. This was done by drilling tiny little holes in the side of the case, enough to allow the camera lens to 'see through it'. It allowed a spy to smoke a cigarette, whilst at the same time photograph a person.

The camera was also very popular for observations during the Cold War with the Stasi, the secret police of the former DDR (East-Germany). They developed a variety of manners to hide the Tessina in handbags, cigarette packs, etc. Although the Tessina was larger than the Russian Robot and the F-21 (Ayaks), two other clockwork cameras, they preferred the Tessina because of its smaller size. It was louder than the F-21, but could be modified by installing nylon gears to reduce the noise. In addition, Concava made a fully silent version of the Tessina as well.

Another popular disguise was the use of a wrist bracket. A spy could then walk around with the camera hidden in the sleeve of his coat, just like if it was a large watch. The wrist mount consisted of a metal bracket and two leather straps. The metal bracket could be fitted to the four stubs at the bottom of the camera, with a spring-loaded stub to lock the camera in place.


Loading the camera


Before the Tessina can be used, it needs to be loaded with black and white or colour film first. In the past, suitable film cartridges were made by various manufacturers, including Kodak and Adox, but such films are no longer in production. Tessina cartridges can be loaded with standard 35 mm film however, using a special Tessina film loader, or manually in a fully darkened room.

The camera can easily be opened by sliding the rigged knob at the side towards the O-position (Open). The rear panel can then be removed.

On one side is a take-up spool that cannot be removed. The film must be wound back into the film cartridge on the other side, before opening the camera. The film cartridge can be removed after pulling out the R-wheel all the way.

At the center is the actual 'dark room'. A 45° mirror projects the image from the lens at the front of the camera onto the horizontal film.
Tessina camera with the back panel removed

In order to use a Tessina camera today, standard 35 mm film can be cut to the desired length and loaded into the camera using a dark room. Alternatively, the special (rare) film loader can be used to do this in full daylight [5]. Depending on the thickness of the film, a maximum of 44 cm film, suitable for 24 exposures, is allowed. When using thicker black and white film, the maximum film length is approx. 38 cm, which is suitable for 18 exposures.


Models

Tessina Automatic 35 mm Minimum focus range: 30.5 cm (12 inches)
Tessina 35 Minimum focus range: 23 cm (9 inches)
Tessina L Minimum focus range: 23 cm (9 inches)


See pictures for cosmetic. All the pictures are from the object itself. What you see is what you will receive. The camera itself has not been tested by myself.
Please could you use the reference number 'CAM035' in all our communications.

For your information, I will be selling about a hundred subminiature cameras from my collection in the coming months. So, if you are a collector, follow my account so you can keep up with my other items for sale in the upcoming months. Thank you for bidding.