Tessina Automatic 35 made in Switzerland by Siegrist. Circa 1970's. Rare BLACK model. Serial #63523. Model Tessina Automatic 35. Unique compact miniature precision 35mm film camera with a built-in spring motor drive. Camera was CLA'D best as possibel for a vintage camera in 2020.
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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, 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. The film is advanced via a clockwork master spring built into the takeup spool, with a pullout winder like the crown on a wristwatch. Each winding can last up to 8 exposures. Tessina is hand assembled from more than two hundred precision parts, it contains ruby bearing like SWISS WATCH to reduce friction, each camera is designed for 100,000 pictures. Three models have been produced: Tessina Automatic 35mm, Tessina 35 and Tessina L; available were a variety of color/finish combinations that included brushed, painted or anodized aluminium, black and aluminium, all black, gold and red.
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This Tessina 35 is the one with the scarce BLACK finish. This Tessina 35 is in Ex+ or 8.5 of 10 condition. No dings or dents. Overall nice clean condition with only a few wear marks on the front sliding lens cover. The film winding in the Tessina 35 runs on a spring wind up. This Tessina has been tested, and it works. This Tessina camera was CLA'D best as possible in 2020. This collectible vintage black Tessina Automatic 35 includes the camera with waist level viewfinder and 1(one) film cassette inside, instruction manual, leather case, and 2(two) additional Tessina film cassettes with canisters. This Tessina 35 collectible 35mm film subminiature camera set sells with no reserve at price of $695. I have LOT more Tessina Cameras and Tessina Accessories, Gami-16 Cameras, Lenses and Accessories, Minox spy Cameras, Rollei-16 and Vintage and Rare collectible cameras in my eBay Store, and on my web page.