Carl Braun's cameras

 

One of the favourites in my collection of 35 mm retro cameras is this little Braun Paxette, which was produced in Germany in the 1950s. Paxettes were popular until the 1960s, when they went out of production and were small, well engineered, all mechanical cameras, one of which can easily be cupped inside the palm of  your hand. Their forerunners were larger and called Pax - Peace - an offering of harmony to document the new world emerging from the ruins of the second world war. The fact that the camera firm was based in Nuremberg added significance to the venture.  Many of them work very well seventy years on: its true the viewfinder is very squinty to look through, there's no exposure guide and no range finder patch to help gauge distance, but their heft and quality is still attractive. The flowers on our stove look pleasing, if a bit overexposed.