Nizo S 800 Braun Super 8 Filmkamera
Braun, a German consumer products company that is now owned by Gillette, was once known for the excellent design quality of their products. The brand produced design icons such as the “Snow White‘s coffin” (Braun SK5 “Schneewittchensarg”) under Dieter Rams as chief designer. The product portfolio included high-fidelity audio and record players, electric shavers, mixers, pocket calculators, slide projectors, and Super 8 film cameras.
Braun made the move into the field of film cameras by acquiring the company of Georg Niezoldi and Georg Krämer, Nizo. Founded in 1925, they started with an amateur 35 mm movie camera with clockwork drive, and just a year later they brought Europe‘s first 16 mm camera with built-in clockwork to the market. But the company wasn‘t able to keep up with the changes in technology and production techniques used by the competitors. In 1962 Nizo was facing bankruptcy, but luckily, Braun saved Nizo by acquiring the company.
Under the new direction, the rather baroque appearance of Nizo‘s Allmat 2 camera was transformed into a more ergonomic and clean design – the Nizo FA 3. The FA 3 was Nizo‘s last clockwork camera, designed by Dieter Rams, Richard Fischer, and Robert Oberheim.
What began with the FA 3 became a huge success with Nizo‘s Super 8 cameras. In 1965, the Nizo S 8 was presented, designed by Robert Oberheim. Its successor, the 1968 Nizo S 80 was acquired for the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. For almost two decades, the design of the various cameras basically stayed the same: the clean geometric shape consisted of the main housing made of matte-polished anodized aluminum, the lens, and a black plastic handgrip. The Nizo S 800 of the early 1970s was the first Nizo that was also available in black.
But once again, Nizo wasn‘t able to cope with technological change. In 1980, Nizo is sold to the competitor Bauer, and in 1982, the factory was closed.
The camera on these pages is a Nizo S 800, once the top model of the brand. The camera is still fully functional and will be used by VernissageTV for the coverage of selected events.
Sources: Nizo by Lutz Auhage and Jürgen Lossau; Wikipedia (de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braun_(Elektrogeräte)#Braun_Nizo, 27.7.2013); Nizo S 800 Manual.
Braun, a German consumer products company that is now owned by Gillette, was once known for the excellent design quality of their products. The brand produced design icons such as the “Snow White‘s coffin” (Braun SK5 “Schneewittchensarg”) under Dieter Rams as chief designer. The product portfolio included high-fidelity audio and record players, electric shavers, mixers, pocket calculators, slide projectors, and Super 8 film cameras.
Braun made the move into the field of film cameras by acquiring the company of Georg Niezoldi and Georg Krämer, Nizo. Founded in 1925, they started with an amateur 35 mm movie camera with clockwork drive, and just a year later they brought Europe‘s first 16 mm camera with built-in clockwork to the market. But the company wasn‘t able to keep up with the changes in technology and production techniques used by the competitors. In 1962 Nizo was facing bankruptcy, but luckily, Braun saved Nizo by acquiring the company.
Under the new direction, the rather baroque appearance of Nizo‘s Allmat 2 camera was transformed into a more ergonomic and clean design – the Nizo FA 3. The FA 3 was Nizo‘s last clockwork camera, designed by Dieter Rams, Richard Fischer, and Robert Oberheim.
What began with the FA 3 became a huge success with Nizo‘s Super 8 cameras. In 1965, the Nizo S 8 was presented, designed by Robert Oberheim. Its successor, the 1968 Nizo S 80 was acquired for the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. For almost two decades, the design of the various cameras basically stayed the same: the clean geometric shape consisted of the main housing made of matte-polished anodized aluminum, the lens, and a black plastic handgrip. The Nizo S 800 of the early 1970s was the first Nizo that was also available in black.
But once again, Nizo wasn‘t able to cope with technological change. In 1980, Nizo is sold to the competitor Bauer, and in 1982, the factory was closed.
The camera on these pages is a Nizo S 800, once the top model of the brand. The camera is still fully functional and will be used by VernissageTV for the coverage of selected events.
Sources: Nizo by Lutz Auhage and Jürgen Lossau; Wikipedia (de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braun_(Elektrogeräte)#Braun_Nizo, 27.7.2013); Nizo S 800 Manual.
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