CF Foth & Co.

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CF Foth & Co.
Optical-Mechanical Institute
legal form GmbH (from approx. 1930)
founding 1924
resolution Unknown
Reason for dissolution Unknown
Seat Gdansk , Berlin , ( Biel )
management Carl Friedrich Foth

Foth Derby, 1931
Gallus Derby-Lux, French replica of the Foth Derby with aluminum housing ( Usines Gallus , Courbevoie ; around 1945)

The CF Foth & Co. Optisch-Mechanische Anstalt was founded by Carl Friedrich Foth around 1924 and was a well-known manufacturer of cameras and binoculars . After company relocations with different locations in Danzig (today Gdańsk), Berlin and as CF Foth & Cie in Biel , Switzerland , their track is lost around 1940.

history

In 1924 Carl Friedrich Foth opened the optical-mechanical establishment, grinding shop for precision optics, mechanical workshops in the former Danzig rifle factory , Weidengasse 35/38 . In this workshop he produced binoculars, microscopes , radios and headphones . In the telephone books from 1924–1926 he is also listed as "Manufacturer Carl Foth, Röpergasse 22b in Danzig". An advertisement from 1926 shows the production of radios, headphones and binoculars in Gdansk and Berlin. From 1926 CF Foth & Co can be found in Knesebeckstrasse 111–112 (1926) as well as in Kottbusser Damm 25–26 (1926–1928) in Berlin-Neukölln, where it first operated as a GmbH. Between 1928 and 1932 the address was Gradestrasse 91-107 in Berlin-Britz

From around 1930 Foth cameras were sold worldwide by various distributors . From 1929 to 1933 Carl Foth reported a total of seven developments in camera technology for patent on. Among other things, patents for self-timer were granted on April 24 and December 2, 1931 . Between 1930 and 1932 it was planned to relocate the company as CF Foth & Cie to Biel in the Swiss canton of Bern . An agreement was reached with the city on this. In the end, however, the chronicles of the city of Biel do not report an actual relocation. Instead, the company is registered from 1932 in Berlin-Buchholz , Pankstrasse 1–3. From around 1940 the track of the company disappears at the same time as the Nazi regime switched to war economy . This also affected other camera manufacturers such as Zeiss Ikon , who were only able to produce individual so-called war special series. During the Second World War , the Foth Derby Type 5 was reproduced by the French manufacturer Gallus and sold as Gallus Derby-Lux and from 1947 to 1952 under Derlux.

Cameras and binoculars can still be found in private collections and museums around the world, such as the German Chamber Museum .

Products

Foth cameras were relatively inexpensive and were sold in Europe, the United States , Australia, and Japan from 1926 to about 1940 . Well-known distributors were Peeling & Van Neck Ltd. ( London ), Fotet Camera & Co. (London), A. Maillard (Paris). Burleigh Brooks Inc. ( New York ), Nichizui Bōeki KK ( Tokyo ), Asanuma Shōkai (Tokyo).

  • Foth plate camera 6.5 × 9 cm
  • Foth Mixte, bellows floor folding camera for plates and roll films 6.5 × 9 cm with Foth Anastigmat f / 4.5 (1933–1937)
  • Foth Special, folding floor camera with bellows, 6.0 × 9 cm (1935)
  • Foth Spring, folding floor camera with bellows, 6.0 × 9 cm (1933-36)
  • Foth Tropical Model (1930-35)
  • Foth Flex (types I and II) LTR two-lens reflex camera 6 × 6 cm (from 1930)
  • Foth Derby (Type I): Compact 127 mm roll film camera with bellows lens (from 1930)
  • Foth Derby (types II – V): compact 127 mm roll film camera with bellows lens and self-timer (1932–1939)
  • Foth Derby Delux 127 mm
  • Foth tube camera (from 1930)
  • Foth stereo

For its cameras, Foth produced its own lenses (f 4.5, 3.5 and 2.5) with focal lengths of 50 mm, 75 mm and 105 mm under the name Foth Anastigmat . In addition, it also produced binoculars , opera glasses, magnifying devices . Microscopes and, in the early years, electronics such as headphones and radios .

literature

  • Willi Kerkmann: German cameras 1839–1945 . 3rd, revised. Edition with Erg. Ainring, 2005, ISBN 3-00-015219-9 ( directory ).
  • Günther Kadlubek, Rudolf Hillebrand: Kadlubeks lens catalog . Lindemann, 2000, ISBN 3-89506-195-6 .

Web links

Commons : Foth Cameras  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Weidengasse 35/38 Foth. CF, & Co Opt.- mech. Institution. In: Danzig Adressbuch 1926 p. 749. Scan of the original in the Saxon State Archives in Leipzig , accessed on October 17, 2016 .
  2. ^ Advertisement from CF Foth & Co. In: Danzig address book . 1926 ( photobucket.com [accessed October 17, 2016]).
  3. ^ CF Foth & Co. In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1927, II. Part Sectors = Directory, p. 510. "Foth, CF, & Co GmbH, S59 Cottbusser Damm 25. 26".
  4. ^ CF Foth & Co. In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1929, II. Part Sectors = Directory, p. 574. "Foth, CF, & Co GmbH, Britz Gradestr. 39 ".
  5. ↑ a b Berlin address book business directory . Berlin: Verlag August Scherl Deutsche Adreßbuch-Gesellschaft: 1928, second volume p. 528/1930, second volume p. 580/1931, second volume p. 426/1932, second volume p. 444/1934, first volume p. 579 ; Second volume, p. 405/1935, first volume, p. 579; Second volume, p. 433/1936, second volume p. 448/1937, second volume p. 442/1938, second volume p. 453/1939, second volume p. 435/1940, second volume p. 426
  6. ↑ Patent DE523488A : Photographic automatic shutter with self-timer built into the shutter housing. Registered September 15, 1929 , published April 24, 1931 . Patent DE539746A : Photographic automatic connector with built-in locking the housing supply factory. Registered October 8, 1929 , published April 24, 1931 . Patent DE571691A : automatic connector with pre-drive. Registered June 14, 1931 , published March 3, 1933 . ‌

  7. ^ Carl Foth, manufacturer of photographic apparatus in Berlin; Relocation of business to Biel, 1930–1932. In: Dossier E6351F # 1000/1044 # 952 *. Swiss Federal Archives , accessed on July 17, 2020 (1930–1932).
  8. ^ City of Biel (Ed.): Annual report of the municipal accounting of the city of Biel . 1930, p. 135 ( biel-bienne.ch [PDF; accessed on October 17, 2016]).
  9. ↑ Biel Chronicles. (No longer available online.) City of Biel, archived from the original on June 24, 2016 ; accessed on October 17, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bibliobiel.ch
  10. ↑ CF Foth & Co. In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1933, II. Part Sectors = Directory, p. 446. “Foth, CF, & Co GmbH, Bln-Buchholz Pankstr. 1–3 ".
  11. ↑ Gallux Derlux. Camerasammlung.ch, accessed on October 15, 2016 .
  12. ↑ Kurt Tauber: The Kurt Tauber Collection: Foth plate camera 6.5 × 9 cm. German Camera Museum , accessed on October 15, 2016 .
  13. ↑ Very rare civilian binoculars CF Foth & Co, Danzig. In: Virtual Binoculars Museum. Retrieved October 12, 2016 .
  14. ↑ Hubertus Bendi: CF Foth & Co, Berlin, roll film camera 6X9. In: Hubertus Bendi Camera Museum. Retrieved October 15, 2016 .
  15. ↑ Foth Derby. Camera Museum Reurieth, accessed on October 15, 2016 .
  16. ↑ Foth Derby. Early Photography, accessed October 15, 2016 .
  17. ↑ a b Karen Nakamura: Foth Derby II (early). In: Photoethnography. Retrieved October 15, 2016 .
  18. ↑ Foth (CF Foth & Co.) Derby luxury. Hungarian Museum of Photography, accessed October 15, 2016 .
  19. ↑ Advertising Foth Derby. In: The Australian Women's Weekly. National Library of Australia, June 1, 1935, accessed October 16, 2016 .
  20. ↑ a b Foth: advertising brochure. In: La collection d'appareils photo anciens par Sylvain Halgand. Foth, accessed October 16, 2016 .
  21. ↑ a b Foth: advertising brochure. In: La collection d'appareils photo anciens par Sylvain Halgand. Foth, accessed October 16, 2016 .
  22. ↑ James M. McKeown, C. Joan: McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras 2005-2006 . Centennial Photo Service, 2004, ISBN 0-931838-40-1 , p. 301 .
  23. ↑ a b Foth Derby Timeline. UKCamera, accessed October 16, 2016 .
  24. ↑ Foth Delux Version. (No longer available online.) In: Emtus camera reference work with reference to: Kerkmann 591/1; McKeown 95/96 S-199; Katlubeck. Archived from the original on October 15, 2016 ; accessed on October 15, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.emtus.ch