Bencini Comet / Koroll

Online information about Bencini feels like time travel. Sources state different, sometimes contradicting activity and model dates. Antonio Bencini seemed engaged with everything camera in Italy in the early 20^th century. He was involved with FIAMMA and Filma before branching independently with ICAF, later named CMF.

From his work, it seems that Bencini liked acronyms, classical music, and astronomy. His venture names were acronyms, the cameras made were variations of the same motif as his paisano’s Corelli’s La Folia Variations, and he had a particular interest in comets. Much like Ferrania, another entry-level camera maker of that time, Bencini cameras were simple, cheap, and repetitive. Perhaps this is the reason Ferrania kept buying him out of his ventures. Early cameras were plain box models with three (?) klapp models; then, post-war, he began making no frills, simple metal-bodied viewfinder cameras.

In 1965, after running out of all possible basic Comet and Koroll variants, the company ventured into Instamatic-type cameras, which lasted for about a decade. In about 1973, a line of pocket cameras in #110 format came along, which also lasted a decade. At about the same time, the company introduced another Comet camera line, reshaped, and made of plastic instead of the legacy aluminum casting. The Swan Song was a 1978 line of fully featured compact 35mm cameras, still comets, this time named Comet Electronic or Comet Automatic. The last model of the final series is said to survive till the mid-1980s, although they are hardly ever seen for sale. Bencini also sold some cine cameras; I suspect they were rebrands.

The Bencini cameras are not attractive to collectors, evident in the low price they may fetch if bought. Very few models bring in over $100, not for being groundbreaking but for being rare, attracting specialized collectors. An exception is the interesting Comet III, which I reviewed earlier.

The Comet, Relex and Koroll were sold in the UK by Boots, assuming in other markets as well, as did the Comet III, or an early Comet found labelled Scheinsstern.

An anecdote is that Bencini named two early models after his kids, Gabriella and Roberto: Gabry and Roby. The Fascist National government did not like it, as the vowel ‘Y’ is not available in the Italian Alphabet, so the models were christened again as Gabri and Robi.

I began my journey to Benciniland with a list of over 90 models on my database and four cameras on my desk. The list was promptly trimmed for duplicates. To venture deeper, there is ample online data. See the links in the specs table below.

Conversely, the printed guides were not kind to Bencini. Kadlubek and McKeown offer information on just a handful of models, as does the Made In Italy book.

So, for the good of the people, I added two tables below: a summary of the classic Bencini models and a complete list of all Bencini off my database.

Cameras in review

There are four Bencinoi cameras on my desk, two Korolls and two Comets. It looks as if Bencini fired the designer once production commenced, as they are all chips off the same block. It seems that all the designer had was a carpenter’s square, which he used in which direction.

All four bodies are made of cast metal, nicely chrome finished, and well stood the burden of time, not pitted or showing corrosion, which is more than I can say about other cameras of better lineage made in that time. Skins are a different issue. All four had either peeling skins or parts thereof missing. At the time, they made glue out of horses’ bones, so perhaps there weren’t enough dead ones, or Bencini tried a new glue composition. All four shutters click nicely, considering they are self-cocked, spring-loaded simple mechanisms with speeds of either B or 50; ir should be expected. The focusing thread on three was stuck; assume the lubricant had dried up. It needed some attention through force and a shot of lighter fluid. Speed selector on all is simple: either a lever or an arm selecting between the two speeds. All models have a flash connector. The back cover opens via a slider lock on the side. On the Comet II, the slider lock pulls up; the slider pulls down on the rest. Wonder why.

The Comet models using the #127 format were the earliest, with the last of the series introduced in 1953. The shape is innocent of design aspirations: a rectangular body with a superimposed viewer hunch. On top two pull-up knobs, allowing to install/remove the feed and take off spools. The larger knob is the one to use, and the smaller is just for looks. A punched steel base supports a cold shoe mount. A threaded trigger completes the top.

The Comet S has a fixed lens barrel, and the Comet II, which came out three years later, has a retractable lens. Here, the lens has to extend for the trigger arm to engage with the trigger mechanism. The backs have two red lens windows, and unlike German or US models, they are not covered against penetrating light.

The #120 format sisters, the Koroll 24 and 24 S, look as if the earlier models were blown to size; same design, but heftier., larger in all directions. Both offer the same speeds, whereas a younger sister, the Koroll II of 1961, has four speeds, from B to 100. The pop-up knob holding the feeding spool is no longer, so there is only one knob to bother with. The Koroll 24 S has two aperture settings, 9 & 16, and the speed selector lever differs from the rest. See pictures. Else is similar to the #127 format Comet models. The viewer window remained tiny throughout the models.

Bencini classic camera models summary

Bencini cameras complete model list

Model	Year	Type	Format	image link
Comet 226 XL	1979	Instamatic type	126
Universal 444	1976	Cine
Akrom I	1953	Viewfinder	127
Argo	1938	Klapp	120
Automatic 600	1965	Instamatic type	126
Boots Comet 404-x	1982	Instamatic type	126
Boots Comet Super 8		Cine	Super 8
Comet Unimatic 600	1965	Instamatic type	126
Comet	1948	Viewfinder	127
Comet 235	1975	Viewfinder	35mm
Comet II	1951	Viewfinder	127
Comet III	1953	Viewfinder	127
Comet NK 135	1965	Viewfinder	35mm
Comet Rapid	1970	Instamatic type	Rapid
Comet S	1950	Viewfinder	127
Cometa	1960	Viewfinder	127
Comet 8		Cine	N/A
Comet 44	1961	Viewfinder	127
Comet Unimatic 88		Instamatic type	126
Comet 600 XL	1968	Instamatic type	126
Comet 335 Bluestar	1974	Viewfinder	35mm
Comet 404 X	1970	Instamatic type	126
Comet 200	1978	Instamatic type	126
Comet 455 X	1978	Instamatic type	126
Comet 635 Electronic	1978	Viewfinder	35mm
Comet 800 XL	1979	Instamatic type	126
Comet Unimatic 200	1972	Instamatic type	126
Comet 118 S	1979	Pocket	110
Comet 210	1978	Pocket	110
Comet 310	1977	Pocket	110
Comet 218	1977	Pocket	110
Comet 318	1976	Pocket	110
Comet 418	1977	Pocket	110
Comet 35	1955	Viewfinder	35mm
Comet 535	1981	Viewfinder	35mm
Comet 36	1970	Viewfinder	35mm
Comet 400	1970	Instamatic type	126
Comet 100	1948	Viewfinder	126
Comet 555 X	1968	Instamatic type	126
Comet 326 XL	1968	Instamatic type	126
Comet 555 XL	1968	Instamatic type	126
Comet 455 XL	1968	Instamatic type	126
Comet 218 S	1973	Pocket	110
Comet 318 S	1973	Pocket	110
Comet 418 S	1973	Pocket	110
Comet 435 Electronic	1982	Viewfinder	35mm
Comet K 35	1973	Viewfinder	35mm
Comet NK 135 Automatic / Electronic	1978	Viewfinder	35mm
Comet 200 X	1978	Instamatic type	126
Comet Unimatic 800	1965	Instamatic type	126
Comet II S	1950	Viewfinder	127
Comet 126x	1982	Instamatic type	126
Cinepresa		Cine	Super 8
Comet 505 X	1968	Instamatic type	126
Delta	1940	Klapp	120
Deko	1945	Klapp	120
Etna	1940	Klapp	120
Erno	1949	Klapp	120
Eno		Eye level direct
Gabri	1937	Box	127
Gabri Luxus	1938	Box	127
Gabro	1937	Box	120
Koroll	1951	Viewfinder	120
Koroll 24	1953	Viewfinder	120
Koroll 24 S	1953	Viewfinder	120
Koroll 35	1958	Viewfinder	35mm
Koroll II	1961	Viewfinder	127
Koroll III	1960	Viewfinder	120
Koroll S	1953	Viewfinder	120
KS 2	1950	Viewfinder	127
KS 2 red	1950	Viewfinder	127
Kin		Viewfinder	127
Korolette	1960	Viewfinder	35mm
Koroll Marine	1979	Underwater	35mm
Minicomet	1963	Eye level direct	127
Personal Reporter	1985	Eye level direct	35mm half
Personal 35	1978	Viewfinder	35mm
Relex S	1949	Viewfinder	127
Rolet	1946	Viewfinder	127
Robi	1938	Box	127