瑞士MICHEL,Tauben相机A型号,A901号 约1936年

Swiss MICHEL Pigeon Camera A-Model No. A901, c.1936
Hand-made by Christian Adrian Michel in Switzerland.Size 44 x 38 x 57 mm (without mounting plate), weight 70 g, for 16 mm film. Timer scale: 0 up to 1 hours 10 minutes, exposure time scale: variable 1/300 to 1/500 sec., 3 winding spindles, F=2,5 anastigmatic lens rotated through 90 degrees, with rubberized cloth bellows, 6–7 negatives of panoramic format 10 x 36 mm, at approx. 30 sec. intervals, focal plane shutter, clockwork motor for up to 70 minutes delayed first exposure, 2 internal film spools, mounting plate with original elastic straps, stamps on top plate: Swiss cross/PAT.ANG. (Patent angemeldet = patent applied for), stamps on top and baseplate: 901. Original paper label with manuscript inscription "altes Objektiv / lange Bilder / kontrolliert / Bovard" (old lens / long photographs / controlled / Bovard).
The whitish particles on the alloy-metal indicate that no restoration work has been carried out. During the years, the rubberized cloth bellows has stiffened. Therefore, this camera is sold "as it is" without any guarantee on the mechanics. Along with this camera the buyer receives: Photocopies
of French and German instruction booklets, photocopy of Swiss patent no. 192864 (with detailed technical drawings).
Provenance: Michel family, thence to a private collector. Christian Adrian Michel (6. January 1912, Biel, 27. March 1980, Walde) constructed his pigeon cameras in the 1930s at Walde in Switzerland. His company Adrian Michel was in the watch production business. He handmade
only a few sample pigeon cameras, to demonstrate to prospective clients. He contacted A. Schild S.A. concerning formal manufacture, but this was never carried out. The former employee Franz Bühlmann confirmed that fewer than ten cameras in total were made. On 3. February 1936 Michel applied for a Swiss patent, which was granted (no. 192864) on 15. September 1937. Subsequent patents were obtained: German patent no. 656666, French patent no. 803039, and Belgian patent no. 419488. Until 2002 this pigeon camera was totally unknown to photo-historical experts, to the pigeon communities, and to ex-officers of the Swiss army's homing pigeon unit (disbanded in 1995). The Musée Suisse de L'appareil Photographique in Vevey, Switzerland, launched an exhibition on the Michel pigeon camera on 21. February 2007, showing the archival material that the Michel family had donated to them. An exhibition catalogue "Des Pigeons Photographes?" was published:
http://www.cameramuseum.ch/fr/N2308/catalogue.html ?M=2309
Only very few examples of this camera are known to have survived. The Camera Museum in Vevey houses one A- and one B-model, plus one prototype: http://www.cameramuseum.ch/fr/N2289/.html An A-model was sold at Christie's South Kensington on 6. June 2007:
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?int ObjectID=4917606
The Michel camera is technically more advanced than the camera designed 1903 (and marketed from 1912 onwards) by Dr. Julius Neubronner of Kronberg, Germany. The Michel camera is constructed like a watch (see the blueprint): indeed world-renowned Swiss watch making expertise went into it. The father of Adrian Michel had founded 1898 the watch producing company Michel S.A. in Grenchen, Switzerland, which was taken over by the Swatch group in 1984. Adrian's mother founded 1925 another watch company in Walde, which Adrian himself ran from 1935 onwards. Interestingly, this specific camera A901 has embossed on the top plate the Swiss cross with "PAT.ANG.", referring to the Swiss patent. As it says "PAT.ANG." (Patent angemeldet = patent applied for) like the one sold at Christie's on 6. June 2007, it must have been made prior to when the Swiss Patent was granted (15. September 1937). The label indicates that this specific camera A901 was supplied to Michel's patent agent F. Ch. Bovard of Bern. – (3/–)