Bolsey Jubilee

Bolsey Jubilee

by Karen Nakamura

Overview and Personal Comments

Released in 1955, the Bolsey Jubilee is related to the Bolsey B2 and later C22. The Jubilee was in production for only one year until 1956 when the Bolsey Corporation went backrupt. The Jubilee is the most sophisticated and well designed of the Bolsey cameras (this isn't saying much). Nonetheless, it's a very nice, very cute little camera. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.

Apparently while the B2/C22 were made in the U.S.A., there's a rumor Jubilee was produced by a German company under spec from Bolsey. On the outside, there is no indication of place of manufacture. The shutter apparently is marked "Made in Germany" in the inside (you have to take it apart). Inside the film compartment is "Obex," which was Bolsey's manufacturer in Long Island, NY. I still have to get to the bottom of this.

Like the Leica III series of the same period, the Bolsey Jubilee has a separate viewfinder and split-image rangefinder. A year later, Bolsey Corporation added a beautiful but uselessly small twin-lens reflex to the C22 model. Unfortunately, the domestically made Bolsey couldn't compete either against the German and Japanese imports which were starting to become more popular, or against the domestic competition from Polaroid and Kodak. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.

Interesting Features

The Jubilee has a much more refined wind mechanism than the B2/C22. Unlike those cameras, everything is internal. The wind knob winds the film, increments the film counter, energizes the shutter, and disengages the double-exposure prevention mechanism. Doing all 4 at the same time was an innovation in those days. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.

The "Gauthier" shutter is apparently the same as the Wollensacks on the B2/C22. You can set the shutter speed from a blazing 1/200 sec to a miserly 1/10 sec. Sorry, this really isn't the most flexible of cameras if you want to take it both in and outdoors.

The Steinheil Anastigmat 45mm f/2.8 lens isn't too bad for its day and is an improvement on Wollensak f/3.2 lenses on the B2/C22. At least it's (single) coated. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.

Like the B2 it was based on, the Jubilee features the amazing Set-o-Matic flash control feature. This adjust the aperture based on the guidenumber of the film and the distance to the object. This simple feature rivals the most sophisticated E-TTL metering of current SLRs.

The other quirk that the Jubilee shares with the B2/C22 is the chromed pressure plate. While this is fine for negative film which has an anti-reflective backing, it causes double-images with slide film. Either paint it matt black or only use negative (print) film in this camera.

Unfortunately, most of this camera was made of aluminium, which tends to oxidize black. So it looks a bit ugly, but with some elbow grease, it cleans up quite well. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.

Technical Details

About Bolsey (Obex Camera)

Jacque Bolsky first started designing cameras in 1923 in Switzerland. The first unit was the Cinegraph Bol. He followed with the Bolec which was later renamed the Bolex. Then he designed the Bolca which became the Bolsey Reflex and then was sold to a Swisscompany to become the Alpa. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.

There's some argument over Bolsky's real name. Some have him as Ukranian and his real name as Bogopolsky.

Bolsey emigrated to the U.S. after the war, changed his name to Bolsey, and started designing cameras around the Wollensack lens/shutter. He wanted affordable, well made cameras. The Bolsey Model B and Model C's accomplished those goals handily. The first were made by Pignons SA (Alpa) but the later ones were made by the Obex Corporation of NY. Unfortunately the imports from Japan and Germany were too much for him and he closed his factory doors in 1956.

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