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Ambrosio Ambrosio
France Version française
Photos by Arnaud Saudax text by Arnaud Saudax. From the collection of Arnaud Saudax. Last update 2023-10-31 par Sylvain Halgand.

Manufactured or assembled in Italy from 1905 to (After) 1905.
Index of rarity in France: Rare (among non-specialized garage sales)
Inventory number: 10196

See the complete technical specifications

Chronology of cameras Ambrosio 

The Ambrosio camera might not have much to capture attention, except for being arguably the first camera to use 35mm film ever commercialized. However, it's not often mentioned in photographic history.

In an interview with Michel Simon in "Reporter Objectif" No. 26 from October 1974:

[...] I meet d'Ambrosio, the Italian Méliès, and I ask him (I was bothering everyone with this!): Do you know who invented the Leica? Well, it's me. I tell him my little story. He listens to me, laughing, but says nothing. The next day, he brings me a camera he had made in 1905. Not designed, but made! With two speeds, three apertures...
And he explained to me: since I improvised a lot and had a script girl who forgot to note down half the details, I needed an advanced notebook for my editing. So, I thought of using cinema film and photographing my scenes. [...]
Every day, d'Ambrosio would photograph his scenes. In the evening, he would develop the film and print the photos. The next day, he knew exactly what he had done the previous day and what edits to make.
Of the ten cameras he had built, he kept three for himself. He had given the other seven to friends: none of them used it. It's too small... It needs to be enlarged... Which proves that an invention must come at the right time.
No one talks about d'Ambrosio today. However, he had made the first fantasy films long before the Americans. [...]

The camera body is cast aluminum, with an oxidized silver brass front. The lens is removable and is a 50mm Zeiss-Krauss Anastigmat with an iris diaphragm. The front-arming guillotine shutter has only one speed, bulb and instantaneous.

The camera is designed for 100 frames of 30 x 45 mm on unperforated cine film, with a feeler counter. (At that time, film manufacturers left it to the user to perforate their films according to their preferred perforation, Lumière or Edison.) A very original device controls the film advance. A mini punch cuts a small hole just at the edge of the image in the middle of the film. During film advancement, a small spring-loaded piston fits into the hole and blocks the advance.

Another known camera bears the inscription "Ambrosio Torino," number 14, and has a Reichert lens.

Ambrosio Ambrosio Survolez l'image
The ring is used for film advancement.


Ambrosio Ambrosio
Back photo: Between the two latches closing the back, on the left is the punch and on the right is the piston blocking the advance.
Ambrosio Ambrosio
The counter is visible, graduated up to 100. It is a sensor that rests on the supply spool.


Cameras from Ebay France (Ambrosio) (Uploaded each 3 hours)