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CORONET - Ambassador et variante "Outspan" (1955)

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Ambassador - 1955


Outspan (variant Ambassador) - 1955

The Ambassador is a solid box camera made of two parts of different natures.
The main body is made of bakelite and groups together all the key parts of the camera :
bulletLens,
bulletShutter offering two speeds (instant and T),
bulletTwo very bright finders.
Probably in order to avoid untimely reflections, these finders can be closed up with hinged chromed covers.

The other part is built in a sheet metal covered with black leatherette. It is equiped with a film advance wheel, a red window on the back to control film exposure and a handle.

These two parts are linked together using an ingenious and very efficient locking mechanism, similar to snap fasteners.

Ergonomics is as always with box cameras... reduced to the minimum. A shutter release is located on the right bottom. In the middle, a lever activates a green filter. A second lever located above the previous one is used to select  the speed T.

This camera was marketed during 1955. It used a film 120 giving 6 x 9 cm negatives.

As the Goldy and many other cameras, the box Ambassador has been used for advertising. If you are lucky, you may discover this interesting variant "Outspan". This one is strictly identical to the regular Ambassafor except : the sheet metal part which is not covered with leather but has a crinkle finish and the serigraphy of its front plate is green instead of black.

Origin of the word Outspan dates back to 1690 when English, Boers, French huguenots, Irishs and Dutches arrived in South Africa. As the country was unsafe, these pioneers had developed habit to line up their carts in a circle in order to better protect their area during bivouac. In Dutch, to bivouac is said "uitspan". The pidgin used by all these people coming from multiple countries changed that word in "outspan". 

Oranges were very abundant in this land and became a common food during bivouacs. As a matter of fact, "outspan" became synonym of orange and later, the name of a famous South African company.

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