Bencini Rolet

Photos by Sylvain Halgand text by Sylvain Halgand. From the collection of Sylvain Halgand. Last update 2023-12-07 par Sylvain Halgand.

Manufactured or assembled in Italy from 1946 to 1949.
Index of rarity in France: Infrequent (among non-specialized garage sales)
Inventory number: 80

See the complete technical specifications

Chronology of cameras Bencini

After the war, Bencini resumed the construction of cameras, abandoning box and folding designs to focus on compact ones. The first was the Rolet, with a 4 x 6 cm format. While already entirely metallic, it is not molded like its successors. Very thin, you need to extend the lens located at the end of a tube to achieve the focal length. Very rudimentary, this model would be replaced by the Relex, not due to an improvement in performance but due to a change in the manufacturing process, as Bencini shifted to die-cast metal.

On the lens tube, a very small distance scale is visible.

Is the confusion that arises when pronouncing the name of this camera in French also present in Italian? Could a bilingual person shed light on this matter, so we can resolve the uncertainty about the Italian manufacturer's intention to maintain the ambiguity? Furthermore, what ambiguity is there, given that the Rolet looks as much like a Rollei as a 2CV resembles a Rolls Camargue?

Interesting links or bibliography :

Sur Camera-wiki.org, suggested by Sylvain Halgand

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