Concava Tessina1957

History

Concava introduced the Tessina at a moment when the European subminiature market was dominated by Minox from West Germany. Where Minox used a proprietary 9.5mm film format, Concava chose standard 35mm stock loaded into a small proprietary cartridge, giving users a path to commercial film even as they sacrificed some frame size. The spring motor was both a practical feature - allowing rapid sequential exposures without taking the camera away from eye or wrist - and a selling point that distinguished the Tessina from the manually advanced Minox.

The camera was offered in several color variants including chrome, black, and gold, and could be accessorized with a wristwatch mounting strap, a prism finder for eye-level use, and an exposure meter that clipped to the body. The Tessina L, a later variant, added a CdS light meter. Production at Concava was artisanal in scale, and the camera remained in the catalog at low volumes for an unusually long time relative to the subminiature market's general collapse in the 1970s.

Why It Matters

The Tessina occupies a narrow category: genuinely Swiss-made precision instruments in a market dominated by Japanese and German manufacturers. Its build quality is consistently described by collectors as exceptional, with close tolerances and a feel that justifies its position above most Japanese subminiatures. The wristwatch mounting accessory gave the camera a cultural resonance as a literal spy gadget that manufacturers like Minolta and Steky could not match with comparably sized products. The twin-lens periscope layout, allowing truly concealed shooting at waist level, made the Tessina useful in documentary contexts where a raised camera would change subject behavior.

References

• Camera-Wiki: Tessina
• Wikipedia: Tessina

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