Debrie Sept

The Sept camera came to fame by Debrie, an early cine camera maker in France. Debrie was active from the early 1900s, with late models still showing in the 1960s. The name still exists as a supplier of other photography-related products, likely in cooperation with the historical Pathe. The company offered a line of professional and amateur cine cameras, most models under the Parvo name. It should be noted that the amateur cine market did not really exist in the period mentioned,

The Sept camera concept was born under the Autocinephot name in Italy in the early 1900s, with the first model using a hand crank and later improved with a spring-loaded mechanism. It enjoyed meagre sales, likely as, at that time, the Italians were obsessed with a more paramount invention, the Espresso machine. Debrie took it over and kept selling it in Italy under the original name and in France and the US under Debrie’s name. According to Camera Wiki, the initial price was USD 225, which, per inflation tables, is about USD 3,500 today. Looking from a different angle, a pack of cigarettes in 1920 was US$0.15; today, it is US$15. A hundred folds, meaning the 1920s buying power of US$225, would be 22,500 today. It seems steep, which is probably why the price dropped to less than half.

As legend has it, the name Sept, French for seven, hints at the functions the camera offered: cine and stills camera out of the box, and with optional accessories, light source, and perhaps a different lens, could perform as a slide/cine projector, enlarger, and slide transfer. These options amount to six, so a sequential camera function is mentioned, which I fail to see the significance of.

Two models were made, with further sub-models. The early, AKA Sept I, had a square motor housing, and the Sept II had a rounded top motor housing, allowing for larger capacity rolls. Judging from online images, some sub-models slightly differ from the unit on my desk, with different lens mounts and back accessory ports. See note at the end. The early square housing model contained 150 exposures. Later, the roundtop housing carried 250 exposures. It is not a great capacity compared to the 8mm cine camera, which is now very obsolete and shoots 16 frames per second, with a total spool lasting four minutes.

Compared to the available cine cameras of the time, the Septs were compact enough to be used in movie making and by newsreel photographers. Sept used 35mm perforated cine format film before it was made famous by the first Leica.

There are English and French versions, which would have been a pain to produce as the wording is embedded/punched in the body. Lenses were sourced from different suppliers, as the articles linked below mentioned.

Researching for this camera, I first looked into Les Appareils Photographiques Francais, a coffee table format book, not a word about it. Other print I have refer to it on the fly only. Some detailed online sources are mentioned below, with many others offering brief information where I picked up tidbits to complete the picture.

Researching cameras, I see it as Juliette said: ‘a rose by any other name would smell as good. Cameras come in sizes and styles, but at the basics, they ‘smell as good’, all the same.

Not so with the Sept.

The first step is reading the manual. There are two English versions online, by good ol’ Butkus and by Pacific Rim Camera. Thanks to both. A French version is on cinematographers. The two English versions differ in content; neither is clear and explanatory. I can’t comment on the French version; apologies to my Québécoise neighbours. The manual is very detailed. However, as the camera is in its own class, it becomes cryptic. Further, the terms used in the manual are archaic and may take some mental conversion to current terms. It seems that some items were dropped in transition, as it refers to items that are not referenced elsewhere. It refers to the shutter assembly as a Maltese Cross. I searched high and low, but I am still unsure what it is. Further, the manual refers to a single and double string, the same ambiguous information, am not sure what it means.

Taking the camera off the shelf, I was surprised at how heavy it is, which brought the memory of a summer 1984 family trip to Disney World, where, for the first couple of days, I lugged around a ‘compact’ VHS movie camera and an AE-1P with an oversized zoom lens. I promptly freed myself from both on account of having no photos. The cellphone shooters don’t appreciate how easy their life is.

According to the manuals, the camera was sold in the US by Wyko Projector Corp and Sept Cinema Camera distributors, both in New York. The logo is stylized ‘7’ embedded within a silhouette of a person with a chicken head, or it is my old eyesight.

Cameras of that generation were made of wood skeleton, a shutter assembly and bellows. Here, it is all metal, weighed and styled accordingly. The camera on my bench is over a hundred years old, and it looks like it was on the shelf for about that period. It still had a roll of film inside, and all mechanical parts were stiff. As mentioned above, it does not look or behave like any other camera. It is a unique exemplar that is not frequently available, so I had to take extra precautions so it would not die on the resuscitation table.

General

• The camera consists of two sections: the heavy body and the clockwork assembly, which is even heavier, 870gr and 950gr, respectively, or about 4lbs altogether.
• Neither part can be used on its own.
• The serial number is embossed on the camera body’s nameplate but just scratched on the spring assembly, probably married on the assembly line.
• To separate the body parts or to ‘liberate’ as the manual calls it, there are three thumb screws on the spring assembly. Once unscrewed, the two sections come apart. In my case, the spring was probably tensioned since the camera’s birth, so it came unwound with great pomp and circumstance. I think I heard a sigh of relief.
• A square adapter connects the two parts.
• Reattaching the two sections requires realigning the square adapter pin on the spring module with the socket on the camera body. Two fixed guide pins keep those parts away till a correct alignment. It takes patience and perhaps pliers to turn the square pin to match the socket.
• The cartridges are larger than the modern 35mm, and there is a different mounting, so current cartridges cannot be used.
• The film moves from cartridge to cartridge, so there is no rewind mechanism.

The spring assembly:

• The said three thumb screws at the three corners.
• The shutter speed selector is below the winder. It is marked
  • C, cinema photography / Continu, cine
  • P, pose, like T in later cameras.
  • I, instantaneous/ Instantane, one shutter actuation., about 1/50.
• To select, pull the button and turn.
• To wind the spring, turn the large thumb key counterclockwise. The manual says from right to left; perhaps users were short on wristwatches.
• If you need to release the spring while loaded with film, the manual suggests removing four screws (13); only (13) is the winder. There are no four screws, three only, so I assume this note was carried forward from the early/square model where there were (?) four screws connecting the two sections.
• A flat screwdriver slot below the winder adjusts frame speeds on cine mode. Marked ‘normal’ and ‘rapid’. It is not mentioned in the user manual.

The camera body

• To open the hinged back, push the latch slider by the lens side until you see ‘open’ under it. In my experience, it is difficult on the fingers. It’s still the same after cleaning.
• Open the cover by pulling on the mushroom tub by the slider. Note the hinge is on the latch’s antipode.
• Inside, there are two bays for the cartridges. The right, higher bay takes the loaded, and the other the take-off cartridge.
• Over the film path is a hinged frame with a curved guide following. This is in lieu of a pressure plate, as the body is made to allow for light through when used as an enlarger/magic lantern.
• On the inside of the side door, a serrated disk is accessible at the sides. The exterior of this disk shows as a frame counter. Decide which fingernail you want to sacrifice and set the disk to zero.
• Close the back cover.
• Both film cartridges have a protruding pin.
• On close, the two thumb keys on the side door outside marked ‘open’ and “closed’ (sic) will set an indentation over the said pins to secure it.
• The front lens assembly has an outer ring and a cylinder within it. The outer ring is for focusing and is supported by two finger tabs. Don’t turn it further than the marking, as the helix will end, and the lens will pop out; there is no limiter. The cylinder within is the aperture setting, from 3.5 to 32. Markings on both are tiny and faint. The distance dial is marked from 4 (ft?) to infinity. The lens is 3.5/50. I guess it is made for easy removal to allow quick lens change.
• The viewer is on the top, with a box camera reflex style.
• A front viewer element slides out for direct viewing. A matching rear frame hinges out from the back of the body.
• On top and bottom are recessed sliders, shifted by a fingernail hostile tab. The sliders expose slots to take film strips when the camera is used as an enlarger or magic lantern. See the last images below.

To shoot

• In cine mode, press the trigger and push it toward the lens side until it locks.
• In P mode, the shutter will keep open till the trigger is released, as in B mode.
• In I mode, press the trigger and release, about 1/50.

Other

• The manual also suggests lubricating the “Maltese Cross”; I guess it means the shutter assembly. Instructions are to “turn the indicator to ‘Time’ exposure” and open the camera. Assume ‘time’ is ‘P’ setting.
• In the back wall, opposite the lens, is a large, 36mm / 1.25” threaded cover. Removing it exposes the film frame. In other models I see online and in the manual, there is a slider in place of this cover. It may be where a light source is attached if used per the options above.