The c1922 Sept courtesy of John Wade
Toronto. Like the Ansco Memo, the French camera called the Sept, uses 35mm cine film. A 1920’s camera, it is spring-wound and uses a 5m length of cine film in a unique cartridge.
Originally an Italian design, it was made in Paris by Andre Debrie and sported the name “Sept” for good reason. Sept is French for number seven and the small, heavy camera performed seven different functions (some functions needed special accessories).
Two of the functions are a singe shot ‘still’ camera and a movie camera. Exposures used a single movie frame of the 35mm film or what was later called half frame. (after the Leica took off)
I actually saw a Sept some years ago owned by a member. Today, many sites (like John Wade or Camera-wiki) cover the unusual little camera. In fact, the image used at left is courtesy of the John Wade site.
The camera came on market a couple of years earlier than the famous Leica which used two ‘movie’ frames per exposure, hence the use of half frame for a traditional movie frame.
Now-a-days most digital cameras sport both ‘still’ and video (movie) functions so the younger folk don’t see just what a big deal it was for a single camera in the 1920s to offer both stills and movies.
