Chinon Bellami

One of the best comedy films of all time is the overlooked 1941, by Steven Spielberg, available on Prime, with a host of comics not assembled since It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (Guess I reveal my age). 1941 is a string of over-the-top spectacles, with John Belushi immortalized as Captain Wild Bill Kelso in scenes never to be forgotten. One of the many catchphrases of the movie is by Toshiro Mifune, playing a Japanese submarine commander, trying to pull a full-size 1940s radio through the hatch, muttering, ‘We have to make these things smaller’.

This is the motive of this page.

The holly grail of the miniature camera was double-headed: to get the camera smaller while adding features. The early cameras made for the public used #120 film format, offering 4.5x6cm postcard size and up, good for contact print. Many cameras in that format were named “vest pocket”; I guess early-century gentlemen wore wide-fitting garments. The next stage was the #127 cameras, smaller images of 4x4cm or 4.5x6cm sideways, yet usable for contact printing. In the early 1900s, the 35 mm film format was introduced for stills, and Leitz made it famous, prompting the industry to align behind it. While the image format had shrunk, the camera body size remained the same as in previous generations. No major changes had happened till the post-war years, when the newly minted middle class discovered hobby photography, and manufacturers followed suit. As the decades passed, new compact SLR cameras came to market, but the physical size of cameras remained stable. Some manufacturers had ventured into offering miniature cameras, but the product was a blend of a smallish body with a full-size lens assembly. As technology progressed, more miniature cameras were offered, but none were targeted at entry-level users in either price or ease of use. In 1966, Rollei presented a new breed of miniature, the 35 line, that had everything a photographer could wish for, in the footprint of a cigarette pack. Still, the user needed deep pockets and knowledge of the basics. In the mid-1970s, Zeiss/Voigtlander offered similar-sized models, the VF line. In 1978, Minox was almost there with the 35 GL Prototype, just before Olympus introduced the first XA camera, which set a standard in size, ease of use, and a palatable price.

So, once technology and optics had matured, other camera makers had joined the platform. Such were Ricoh, Kiev, Chinon, Miranda, Voigtlander and the famed Minox line, to name just a few.

Most miniature cameras had retractable lenses, perhaps to keep the focal length within a usable range while keeping costs down, much as the generations prior Klapp cameras. Taking it a step further, all retractable lenses had an integral front cover, usually hinged, with a few sliding covers. While they look neat, the covers need delicate hands, as a wrong touch may break them.

Another issue with miniature cameras is the size of the physical controls. Borrowing from the motor trade, the steering wheel mounted levers and the dashboard controls in a full-size SUV are about the same size as in a subcompact.   Not so in the camera universe. On a full-size camera, all controls are easy to grip, but in the late miniature models described here, it takes a solid fingernail to change a setting.  I can live with it, not so a well-manicured, long nail.

As said above, the hinged front cover is vulnerable, let alone a pair. As such, only a few models have adopted the barn-door style. What comes to mind are the conventionally bodied, larger Voigtlander Vitessa models, where the door build and mechanism are much more elaborate. Another miniature barn-door camera is the Petri CF-35, a rarely seen model.  There was also a Rollei barn-door camera, but it did not pass the prototype stage. I guess they knew the perils of such a build and killed it before it hurt their reputation.

The Chinon Bellamy on my bench is the only miniature camera in commercial distribution with a double-door lens cover. I don’t have sales figures, but I don’t think it has gained many followers. The Olympus XA had four generations and was seen everywhere, with a solid build and simple operation. Further, the Olympus brand carried a better reputation, and Chinon’s strong suit was quietly making cameras for other brands. The current-day collectors/users market is also biased towards the XA, with a price surge in the last decade that has since subsided. The Bellamy was lagging much behind in both sales numbers and price.

The Bellami was sold by Foto Quelle in Germany as Revue 35 CC, perhaps as they could not rebrand the sought-after XA.

The Bellami came in two flavours: the standard black model, either with or without the horse-and-cart insignia, and an anniversary model, dressed in red with a gold inscription. The annivarsery model fetches twice as much in the collector’s market. A second-generation Bellami was the Belamy AF, a different camera issued a decade later that dropped one L from its name and one door, leaving a single door at the front.  As with the Bellami, the Belami AF was sold by Foto Quelle under Revue AF 35 mini. The Bellami name was revived by modern-day Chinon as a digital cine camera.

There are miles upon miles of online articles about the Bellami, so I will point out the basics.

• The camera is tiny, just the width of two film bays plus the image mask. It is ultralight, 230gr / 8oz, and easily fits in a pocket.
• It is fully automatic, with fixed aperture and varying shutter speed. The only way to override the shutter speed is to change the ASA value.
• Battery insertion may be confusing; there is a mark ‘+’ or ‘–‘ in the battery socket. Note that it shows the battery pole down.
• The shutter will click without a battery, not sure at what speed.
• Trigger half-press will illuminate the top checklight green or red, good or underexposure. The circuit is cut when the winder is pushed back.
• To open the front doors, pull the winder lever back. To close, push it flush with the body. For the detail-oriented, the lever winder base is marked with ‘C’ and ‘O’ accordingly.
• To close the front doors, close the right (looking from the back) first.
• Focusing dial is behind the front flaps, takes agile fingers.
• The only other setting is the film speed, difficult to reach, hidden under the winder’s tip at the fold-back position.
• A dedicated flash gun is side-mounted, secured via a hard-to-use wheel at the front of it, under the lens. It has three settings: off, auto and daylight sync, which I guess is fill.
• I have two Bellamies; the flash guns are dead on both.

For the collector, it is a neat addition for the shelf. I would not put high hopes on it as a shooter due to its limitations. They are freely available on eBay, where asking prices vary widely. As with the XA, get one with the original flash attached. A good place to find these cameras is Buyee, as long as you decipher the descriptions and familiarize yourself with the Japanese sellers’ terms. Buyee can be slow at times; have patience.