Cornu Ontobloc After I was done with the FAP Norca, an obscure French camera, I picked up the one next to it on the shelf, the equally obscure Cornu Ontobloc. I say ‘obscure’ because there is very little information about the brand, as if it had landed on Earth and then taken off after a brief visit. Online and in-print...

FAP Norca C mt French industry made cameras since the mid-1800s, when this art was much the domain of a few mad scientists. It looks as if this local had developed in isolation from the industry leaders, the Germans. Looking at the camera concepts at the time shows a clear division between the countries: as the Germans moved into compacts,...