Plaubel Veriwide 1001960

History

Plaubel & Co. of Frankfurt developed the Veriwide 100 as a specialised complement to the Makina line, targeting architectural, interior, and landscape photographers who needed extreme width in a hand-holdable 120 camera. The Super-Angulon 47/8 was one of the widest corrected lenses available for medium-format use at the time, and pairing it with the large 6x9 negative made the Veriwide 100 a technically unusual instrument.

The fixed-lens design, recessed lens board, and bubble level were deliberately engineered for professional work -- primarily architecture -- rather than general use. Production numbers appear to have been modest; the Veriwide 100 was a specialist tool, not a mainstream product. Precise production dates and discontinuation year are poorly documented.

With the sale of the Plaubel brand to Japanese interests in the 1970s and the subsequent rebirth of the Makina name on folding 6x7 cameras, the Veriwide 100 had no successor. The super-wide 6x9 niche was eventually served by cameras such as the Fuji GSW690 series and, in a more restricted format, the Fuji GW670.

Why It Matters

For architectural photography, landscape panoramics, and interior photography where a very wide field of view and a large negative are simultaneously required, the Veriwide 100 occupies a narrow but important position. The 6x9 negative with a 47mm lens gives a combination of resolution and angle of view that no 35mm camera could approach before the digital era.

The scale-focus design, while limiting at close distances, is not a handicap for the camera's primary uses: architectural exteriors at 5 metres or beyond are safely rendered sharp at the small apertures (f/11 to f/22) typical of such work. The leaf shutter syncs flash at all speeds, useful for fill-flash on overcast location shoots.

The Veriwide 100 is historically significant as one of the few production medium-format cameras to use the Super-Angulon 47mm before that lens became more widely associated with large-format technical cameras. Its recessed-board approach to accommodating a retrofocus-free wide-angle on roll film influenced subsequent designs.

Lenses & Accessories

The lens is fixed and non-interchangeable. Accessories documented or inferred:

• Series filters -- the recessed lens position requires drop-in or series filter holders rather than a standard screw-in ring
• Bubble level -- built into the body; additional accessory levels available for the cold shoe
• External meter -- any clip-on or handheld selenium or CdS meter for exposure determination
• Close-focus supplementary lens -- diopter attachment for distances below the scale-focus minimum; utility limited at f/8

Sample Photographers / Notable Use

• Used by architectural and interior photographers in Europe during the 1960s as a hand-holdable super-wide alternative to technical cameras.
• Collected today as a rare specialist instrument demonstrating the extreme end of the German medium-format engineering tradition.

References

• Camera-Wiki: Plaubel Veriwide