Angénieux Alpar 50mm f/2.9
Angénieux · Alpa · 1944
Also known as: Angénieux Alpar 50mm f/2.9 · Angenieux Alpar 50mm · Angénieux Alpar · Angenieux Alpar 5cm f2.9 · P. Angénieux Alpar 1:2.9 f=50mm · Alpar 2.9/50
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpar 50mm f/2.9, collapsible | Alpa | 1944–1952 | — | Unpublished |
- Formula and element count unknown: no source reached gives them, and the entry leaves the fields empty rather than guess a triplet.
- Alpa Reflex I bodies were also sold with the faster Alitar 50mm f/1.8, which has its own page.
How to tell them apart
- Collapsible — the only Alpa lens that retracts
- P. Angénieux Paris engraving, Alpar name; the 1948 Reflex sold with it in America
- Alpar 50mm f/2.9, collapsible: The standard lens of the Alpa Reflex I and II: collapsible into the body, which is only safe with the mirror raised (camera-wiki). Listed in a 1947 advertisement beside the rest of Angénieux's Alpa range.
Specifications
- Aperture range
- f/2.9
- Years manufactured
- 1944–1952
- Country
- France
What reviewers say
No reviews aggregated yet — this family is still in the research queue. Written one? We'd love to index it.
History
Before Kern, there was Angénieux. Pierre Angénieux’s firm at Saint-Héand supplied the first Alpa Reflex with its standard lens in 1944: the Alpar 50mm f/2.9, a collapsible lens that retracts into the body for carrying — only when the mirror is up, as the instruction book warns, because the mirror is in the way otherwise. It was still the standard offering in the 1947 catalogue and the lens on Mike Eckman’s 1948 Series E camera, which was sold new with it for $269.50 in the United States. Kern’s Switar replaced it at the top of the range in 1951.
No optical formula, element count or production figure for the Alpar has been found; Angénieux’s records of its still-camera lenses are thin, and the reviewing literature mentions the lens only as the one that came on the camera. Eckman’s Reflex review is the extended account of shooting one.
This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.
Example photos
Sample photo wanted — shot with a Angénieux Alpar 50mm f/2.9? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
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