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Cornu Ontoflex N° 3
France Version française
Photos by AS text by Sylvain Halgand. From the collection of Arnaud Saudax. Last update 2024-07-02 par Sylvain Halgand.

Manufactured or assembled in France from 1934 to (Circa) 1940.
Index of rarity in France: Rare (among non-specialized garage sales)
Inventory number: 10623

See the complete technical specifications

Chronology of cameras Cornu 

The Ontoflex cameras are twin-lens reflex (TLR) cameras using 620 film and producing 6 x 9 cm negatives. To facilitate landscape photography, the back rotates 90 degrees.
They were produced during the 1930s.

There were three different series of Ontoflex cameras:

Series 6000: A large camera that directly accepts plate holders and a film adapter similar to those used on plate folding cameras.
Series 7000: The film magazine is now also made by Cornu. The film's sensitive surface aligns with the junction level of the camera.
Series 8000 and above: The film is now placed at the back of the magazine, allowing for a slimmer camera design.

It appears that the Ontoflex numbering is not continuous. It starts at 6000, the first available thousand following the Ontoscope. The second series of Ontoflex begins at 7000, even though fewer than a thousand Ontoflex cameras were produced. Similarly, the third series starts at 8000 and continues regularly, incorporating the few Ontoscope film cameras that had already been produced.

The swiveling back is the subject of patents filed by Gustave Norbert Cornu on March 4, 1933 (FR765541) and February 13, 1935 (FR798215).

The first patent describes a swiveling, but non-interchangeable, magazine.


The second patent describes an interchangeable back, allowing the camera to be used with a frame, a plate magazine, or a film magazine.

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This Ontoflex No. 3 (No. 9147) has a removable back. It has been fitted with pin synchronization and a large focusing knob, likely intended for a photojournalist or a press photographer.

Cornu Ontoflex N° 3





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