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The Braun Paxette
I bought this camera second hand for £17.10s.0d in the photo
shop in Downing Street, Farnham. I had to sell a Hornby ‘O’ gauge train set and
a Pathescope 9.5mm film projector to raise that sort of money. The camera had a
‘Pronto S’ shutter adjustable from 1 second to 1/300 and a 45mm f2·8 lens. The
second ‘viewfinder’ seen here on the left was a primitive exposure meter;
useless because it relied on what one’s own eye could see, so far from being a
reliable guide in variable light conditions. Despite that it served me well for
thousands of exposures until I moved on to something more up to date. I passed it on to my
father who used it until the shutter failed.
Being an engineer he tried to repair it himself and one day while rummaging
in his shed I found a biscuit tin full of springs and gear wheels which was all
that remained of my old Paxette. It looked like a grandfather clock hit by
Mickey Mouse’s hammer in one of those ancient Saturday Morning Pictures
cartoons. An ignominious end for my old friend.
Malcolm Knight
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