I recently got an Altissa Altix-N (along with some accessories from the same era) from eBay. I had no idea what this cam was about but I like the fact that it has full manual controls, a 15-blade prime lens, and most of all, it was really cheap. I got it for less than 6 Euros + shipping from Germany.

I got the cam and boy it was heavy. The whole thing was made of glass and metal, and the leather case was crackly old. Overall, the condition of the camera was very good. Some brassing here and there, but the controls, glass, seals etc. were in great condition.

Anyway, I couldn’t get the back open to load film for like two days. I had to ask Mr. Google for help and it directed me to a great site called “Retrography” by Simon Simonsen (http://www.retrography.com). I dropped him an email and he promptly provided me great details on how to load film, change lenses, and other intricate info that’ll allow me to start shooting (thanks again, Simon).

So for my contribution, I’m giving other new Altix N owners some basic illustrations on how to get this baby working.

To load film:

1. Flip the cam to reveal the knob where the tripod thread is located.

Turn the knob counter-clockwise until you feel little to no resistance – the knob is captive, it will not come off.

3. Once loose, gently slide the whole back off the camera.

4. You’ll see the back has a wedge that acts as a pressure plate, while the cam itself has a film pressure plate that keeps the film on-plane.

5. Insert your 35mm film into the film chamber, since the base comes off, there’s no need to pull the winding tab out when inserting a roll.

6. Pull the leader of your film and pull enough (about 3 inches) of the film and insert it into the slit of the feeding spool. Use your finger to lightly keep the film in place. As with any film load, make sure that the feeding sprockets line up to the film guide slots.

Note: I strongly suggest you do this with the camera securely in your hand or place the camera face-down on the table, you can drop the camera rather easily since it’s very front-heavy. Ask me how I know this. I managed to bend the hinge of the pressure plate, when that happens, the film will crease and wrinkle, good thing it was an easy fix.

7. Flip the metal plate back into place and slide the back into place. This metal plate pretty much guarantees that your film will not be loosely loaded.

8. Slide the cover back and turn the knob until it’s tight. Cock the winding lever and shoot a couple of shots. If you did it right, every time you wind the lever, the rewind knob will turn as well. If it’s not turning, your film leader wasn’t loaded correctly.

Some user tips:

The Altix-N is fully manual without any metering assistance, so you have to know your shutter/aperture calculations by heart. It’s a challenge, but trust me, it’s not the difficult to get a decent exposure. Proper focus will probably be harder to achieve than exposure accuracy if the subject isn’t static, much like any manual focus cameras.

Almost everything is controlled on the lens mount and lens area. The aperture, shutter speed, and focus are all situated near or on the lens, hence the seemingly overwhelming number of markings around the lens.

The tip of the lens (near the front element) contains the aperture ring (f/2.9 to f/22). The roughly knurled focus ring is right behind it with metric and feet markings (black and red, respectively), the DOF scale is right next to the two distance markers.

You’ll find the biggest knob – the lens bayonet mount release knob right after the DOF scale. Lastly, you’ll see the shutter speed control ring – a thin, ridged ring with a red dot. Shutter adjustment is step-less from 1/250 to 1 second + Bulb, which is very handy.

To remove the lens, just turn the large knob counter-clockwise (facing the camera) and the lens will come off easily. Best to grab onto the lens before doing this.

As you get more familiar with the camera, you’ll find that placing these three controls one after another is actually quite intuitive. Choose your shutter speed, estimate the distance, then select your aperture.

Expect your forefinger and thumb to develop callouses as the controls are pretty rough, but despite its age, they turn with reassuring tightness and tactile feel.

Other intricacies:

1) The ASA/DIN knob does nothing. It merely serves as a reminder to the user what film you’ve loaded. The Altix-N has no meter, so film speed means nothing to the camera. Having no meter, you don’t need any batteries to get the Altix-N going as well.

2) The film counter doesn’t advance automatically, you have to manually nudge the exposure count to remind yourself how many shots you’ve taken. I personally just ignore it and shoot until I’ve reached the last frame.

3) I love the sliding film back instead of the more common, pressure plate/hinged back of more modern cameras for one reason. There’s no need for any foam seals. No seal deterioration = no light leaks. I’m surprised how simple the solution is instead of relying on foam and spring pressure to keep the back tightly sealed.

My baseline for manual focus distance estimation would be my arm’s length, which is roughly 2.5ft, I get pretty accurate focus regardless of what manual focus camera/lens I’m using (such as my M42 lenses on my EOS10D, my scale-focusing Konica C35V, Yashica Electro35 GSN, and Fujica ST-701 cameras) using this technique.

Anyway, here are some shots I’ve taken with my first roll. I based all my exposure estimates using the Sunny-16 rule and most of the shots came out decent. As I’ve said, you’ll probably struggle with focus distance more than exposure, it’s best to familiarize yourself how far the common distances are when shooting manual focus cams.

If you want a cheap, reliable, and well-designed camera, try the Altix-N. You should be able to find a lot of them from European (especially German) eBay sites. I got mine for Euros 5.90 only.

I love this camera and I find myself using it quite often due to its heavy-duty construction and full manual controls. The lack of any indicators for focus and metering allowed me to completely rely on my focusing and metering skills which helps me shoot a lot faster and make decisions ahead of time. While my focus hit-rate is lower with the Altix compared to my other manual-focus cameras with focus indicators, this camera is just a joy to shoot with. It’s really a wonderful camera – too bad it has no rings for me to attach a carrying strap to… Germans.

Go try one