Calypso (camera)
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The self-contained amphibious underwater Calypso 35mm film camera was conceived by the marine explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1910—1997), designed by Jean de Wouters and manufactured by Atoms in France. It was distributed by La Spirotechnique in Paris from 1960. The camera operates down to 200 feet / 60 meter below sea level. The Calypso was sometimes advertised as the “CALYPSO-PHOT”. Nikon took over production and sold it from 1963 as the Nikonos, which subsequently became a well-known series of underwater cameras.
The Calypso is equally suitable for water and air environment photography. It consists of two black enamelled cast alloy body parts; the one with all the internal parts is lowered into the outer shell. They are locked together when the interchangeable lens is mounted on the camera, and sealed by Vaseline greased O-rings to form a watertight unit. At the top, the Calypso has a built-in optical viewfinder for the 35mm standard lens, and an accessory shoe on the top for separate viewfinders to suit various purposes. The body is covered in a grey sealskin imitation. Two carrying strap attachments doubles as opening levers to be hooked under the top protrusions either side and forced downwards to lift the top out when no lens is mounted on the camera.
The most unusual feature is the combined wind-on and shutter release lever. It swings out forward 65 degrees and is operated by the index finger. In the stowed-away position, the shutter is cocked and the film wound on ready for the next picture. A small rocking lever in front of the accessory shoe serves as a shutter-release lock at this stage, it is disengaged by sliding it to the left-hand side. Depressing the lever releases the shutter and it relocates to the 65 degrees standoff position. Depressing the lever again cocks the shutter and winds on the film. At the camera base is a special flash sync connector protected by coin-operated O-ring sealed aluminium plug, as well as an automatic resetting frame counter, visible behind a glass window. No tripod socket is provided. A small rewind knob at the left-hand top is extended for easy access and to engage the film transport mechanism. No rewind release facility is required; a function that was later added to the Nikonos and marked R on the shutter-speed dial.
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