Eugen Ising Pucky I Flex Camera

 

Sticking with box cameras, this post will be looking at a flex camera, the Eugen Ising Pucky I Flex Camera. A beautiful German made, twin lensed, art deco camera that is just striking to look at.

Now first, as with all cameras on this online museum, I will begin with the history of the manufacturing company. This camera was made by the Metallwarenfabrik Eugen Ising Photographic company. There is surprisingly almost no information about this company, strange considering the Pucky cameras seem to be relatively well known. The designs certainly caught the eye of the Bolsey Corporation in America, who used the Ising Pucky design for their Bolsey-Flex Camera (Theo 2021).

I found one website that has some information, but even they struggled and their information on Ising is speculation and observations. The first thing that they point out, that I also noticed is that the Ising company made a lot of tripods, such as the “Original German WWII Optics & Machinegun Sand Color Tripod” leading Camera Artisan Antonio, to believe that the Ising company started out making camera accessories in the 1920s. It also seems that according to SmallRig (2024), Ising still makes Tripods and possibly other camera accessories.

Original German WWII Optics and Machinegun Sand Colour Tripod.
Image Source: https://www.ima-usa.com/products/original-german-wwii-optics-machinegun-sand-color-tripod-by-eugen-ising-waffenamt-marked?variant=31869328162885

It could be that they started out only making the accessories, then went into making cameras around the 1940s-1950s (Camera-Wiki). But as Camera Artisan Antonio writes: “The Puck was probably the company's highest-end model, as its other well-known models were very basic and probably sold for very little. By the 1950s, Japan was replacing Germany's dominance of the camera industry, so it is plausible that the market simply dried up…” forcing them to go bankrupt or just exclusively just focus on the accessories. Or another possibility could be that like other companies after the war that “it is likely that Germany's weak post-war economy contributed to its demise...” (Camera Artisan Antonio).

Other information I could find was that Ising made other equipment, such as studio lamps. An example of this is the “Nr. 6 SPOTLIGHT / STUDIO LAMP” where it should be noted that it shows that the Ising company first used the logo MEI, logo that is in the same style as the ISING logo used on the camera (Auctionet 2024). It was probably changed for marketing purposes. Ising was probably easier to remember and recognise than “Metallwarenfabrik Eugen Ising” which the MEI stood for.

MEI Studio Lamp. Image Source: https://images.auctionet.com/thumbs/hd_item_2805433_d9fcd7c0de.jpg

MEI logo on Studio Lamp. Image Source: https://images.auctionet.com/thumbs/hd_item_2805433_7c343f048f.jpg

Other information about Ising that I could find is that as the name of the company (Metallwarenfabrik Eugen Ising) suggests, that it was founded by a Eugen Ising.

 

And that, as mentioned, the company “developed some sort of relationship with an American distributor as one of their models, the Ising Pucky, was rebranded and sold as the Bolsey Bolseyflex and the Sears Tower 120 Flash…” (Camera Artisan Antonio). And it is easy to see the resemblance to the Pucky I.

Bolseyflex. Image Source: https://mikeeckman.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Bolsey-Flex-3.jpg

 

Sears Tower 120 Flash. Image Source: https://collectiblend.com/Cameras/images/Sears-Roebuck-Tower-120-Flash-(early,-Ising-Pucky-I).jpg

Other information is that it seems the Ising company had two camera series: Isis and Puck (or Pucky) going as far back as 1948 (CollectiBlend 2024) up until 1954 when it appears the company disappeared (Camera Artisan Antonio).

And that is all I could find. This is part of the few cameras I had trouble finding the history of the company. The others being the Utility company in the The Utility Falcon Model F, the Sinpo company in the Sinpo PQ-3 Point and Shoot Film Camera and the New Taiwan Photographic Corp in the Sounex YN-9000 Re-usable Camera.

Now let’s have a look at the camera itself. Before the the Pucky, there was the Puck (1948), which seems to be the first camera from Ising and used 127 film (Eckman 2020), making it a mini-cam (see he The Utility Falcon Model F for more information).

Ising Puck camera. Image Source: https://mikeeckman.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Puck1-1024x678.jpg

 Then by the 1950s up until 1954, the Pucky cameras were released. The first was the Pucky (CollectiBlend 2024), which looks and possibly works the same as the Pucky I, except the fixed lens on the Pucky can’t be adjusted or has a focal length setting. The Pucky also doesn’t seem to have a PC flash connector pin at the bottom. The Pucky I also has a more improved model called the Pucky Ia, which is the same as the Pucky one, except it has two PC flash connectors. 

Ising Pucky. Image Source: https://collectiblend.com/Cameras/images/Ising-Pucky.jpg

Ising Pucky Ia. Image Source: https://i.ebayimg.com/thumbs/images/g/bD0AAOSwav1kQUIr/s-l1200.jpg

Now for a look at the camera itself. This camera, unlike the Puck, which is a bakelite camera (see The Utility Falcon Model F for more information) according to Yemenis (2013), the Pucky I is made from aluminum and is a box type camera released between 1950-1954 (Žeravica 2024).   

And now starting with the front.

First is the lens.

It is hard to tell precisely what type of lens this is. It looks like a meniscus lens (see KODAK Pocket Instamatic 10 Camera), but if we look at the Bolseyflex camera, which as mentioned is based off of the Ising Pucky I and Ia, the lenses should be similar (if not exact because both cameras have the same max f/stop of 7.7 and focal length of 8cm), so according to Eckman (2020), the Bolsey-flex and (by extension) the Pucky I lens is a  “80mm f/7.7 uncoated unknown elements (probably a doublet as the images are much sharper than a meniscus).”

Now to just explain what a doublet lens is. According to Sinoptix:

“A doublet lens is an assembly of two lenses of different material cemented together. Every optical material is subject to chromatic dispersion, defined by their Vd value. This chromatic dispersion will cause scattering of a signal at different wavelengths. The objective of manufacturing a doublet lens is two use to “complementary” dispersing material to compensate the chromatic dispersion and have a resulting doublet lens with identical focusing power on its whole wavelength range. These lenses are also called: achromatic lens, meaning lens with no chromatic dispersion, achromatic doublet is also a common name.”

Now above the lens is the settings for the focus which ranges from 5, 10, 20 feet to infinity. To choose a focus setting, the lens is twisted, which causes it to extent or retract from the body as the user moves the red indicator onto the desired number. But the setting of the focus is basically a guessing game, because the viewfinder, above the lens, “will not reflect the set focus distance…” (Eckman 2020).

Now on the left side of the lens is the f/stop settings, which can be set between 7.7, 11 and 16.

On the right side is the shutter speed setting. It has two settings just like the Kodak Brownie Model 1 Camera, with the I setting the speed at (if we compare it to the Bolsey-Flex) should have a speed somewhere around 1/50 of a second. And because it is a TLR camera it uses a leaf shutter (Photography Project 2024).

Now for the viewfinder. The viewfinder is similar to a brilliant finder (see Kodak Brownie Model 1 Camera), some might say that this camera being a TLR (twin lens reflex), that it isn’t, but this is wrong. For the Pucky I isn’t a real TLR camera, but rather a Pseudo-TLR/Flex camera, meaning that it looks like a TLR, but doesn’t work like one.

For one a TLR uses ground glass, whereas a brilliant finder doesn’t and second, as mentioned, when the user changes the focus, the viewfinder doesn’t show (or reflect) what the lens is seeing, thus making it unknown if the image or object is in focus. Now with a real TLR, when the lens focus is changed, the focus of the view finder also changes in focus, thus showing a more accurate reflection of what the lens is seeing (Camera-Wiki). So in other words: “this is a Psuedo TLR camera, the top lens does nothing more than frame the photo in the camera. There is no focusing capability when looking through the viewfinder…” (Cuny 2021).

So with that this camera has a brilliant finder, like the Kodak Brownie Model 1 Camera and the Agfa Billy Record 7.7 Pocket Camera.

Under the lens is the PC flash connector, where an external flash is connected. Unlike a shoe plate this is an “electrical connector used in photography to synchronize the shutter to the flash…” (Wikipedia).

On top of the camera…

Is the cover for the brilliant finder, that when removed shows the well… brilliant finder. This is where the user looks through to aim the camera. As said it is fixed and can’t change focus, but it is at least above the lens, making it more accurate than the Kodak Brownie Model 1 Camera, the Agfa Billy Record 7.7 Pocket Camera and even the KODAK Pocket Instamatic 10 Camera!

Next to the brilliant finder is the shutter release, which has a thread that can be used to connect a remote cable release.

On the left side is the film advance knob that moves the film to the next frame. The knob also helps prevent any accidental double exposure, by preventing the user from pressing the shutter after a picture is taken with a locking system. The only way to use the shutter again after pressing it is to advance the film to the next frame using the knob.

 

On the other side is the lock that keeps the film compartment closed. 

Then on the back…

Is the film compartment cover. On this cover is a red window used to see what number frame of the film the user is on. This also has a cover that is moved upwards.

Then there is the film compartment.

This camera, like the Kodak Brownie Model 1 Camera, uses 120 film and shoots 6x6, but unlike the Brownie Model 1, the film holder doesn’t need to (and can’t) be removed.

Please see the Agfa Clack Film camera for information on 120 film.

Lastly, which is another win over the Brownie Model 1, is that this camera has a tripod socket underneath (which makes sense seeing that Ising is known for its tripods) for a stable and hands free shoot.

This camera was quite tricky. It is strange to come across a camera that is seemingly well known and yet also unknown. But this camera is still one of the most eye catching and pleasing to look at. The colour and style gives of a fantastic art deco look, but I should mention that this camera came in many different colours as well.

Thank you for making it to the end and as always I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did researching it.  

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List of sources:

Auctionet. 2024. 2805433. SPOTLIGHT / STUDIO LAMP, Weichstrahler, Metallwarenfabrik Eugen Ising, Bergneustadt Germany, first half of the 20th century. https://auctionet.com/en/2805433-stralkastare-studiolampa-weichstrahler-metallwarenfabrik-eugen-ising-bergneustadt-tyskland-1900-talets-forsta-halft/images

Camera-wiki. Ising. http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Ising#:~:text=The%20German%20manufacturer%20Eugen%20Ising,late%201940s%20and%20early%201950s.

Camera-wiki. Pseudo TLR. http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Pseudo_TLR#:~:text=For%20a%20list%20of%20pseudo,to%20resemble%20a%20TLR%20camera.&text=Hidden%20category:,Image%20by%20Dirk%20HR%20Spennemann

Camera Artisan Antonio. Ising. https://camarastensyantonio.weebly.com/ising.html

ColectiBlend. 2024. Ising Cameras. https://collectiblend.com/Cameras/Ising/

Cuny, D. 2021. Bolsey-Flex Trio Camera. https://www.dancuny.com/camera-collecting-blog/2021/5/24/bolsey-flex-trio-camera

Eckman, M. 2020. Bolsey-Flex (1954). https://mikeeckman.com/2020/04/bolsey-flex-1954/

Eckman, M. 2020. Ising Puck (1948). https://mikeeckman.com/2020/10/ising-puck-1948/

IMA. 2023. Original German WWII Optics & Machinegun Sand Color Tripod by Eugen Ising - Waffenamt Marked. https://www.ima-usa.com/products/original-german-wwii-optics-machinegun-sand-color-tripod-by-eugen-ising-waffenamt-marked?variant=31869328162885

Sinoptix. Doublet lens: a complete guide. https://sinoptix.eu/doublet-lens-complete-guide/#:~:text=A%20doublet%20lens%20is%20a,a%20signal%20at%20different%20wavelengths.

SmallRig. 2024. Tripod selections. https://www.smallrig.com/tag/ising-bergneustadt-tripod

Theo. 2021. Bolseyflex – Not much flex. https://photothinking.com/2021-02-19-bolseyflex-not-much-flex/

Wikipedia. Prontor-Compur. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prontor-Compur#:~:text=A%20Prontor%2DCompur%20connection%20(also,the%20shutter%20to%20the%20flash.

Yemenis, T. 2016. THE ANXIOUS JOURNEY - Cityscapes with a Box Camera. https://photovisionproject.blogspot.com/2016/10/cityscapes-with-box-camera.html

Žeravica. 2024. Ising Pucky I. https://www.muzejzeravica.org/en/item/2077