Until the complete data migration, the previous website, www.alpa.ch, will remain in place. We are working continuously to complete and expand this website and allow you to have the first impression of our new website. By the end of November 2020, we plan the completion of this site. Please note that this site represents "Work in Progress," and you visit the site "on your own risk". Any data, such as price quotations, are therefore not binding.

Instead of waiting till the last image is migrated and the last page filled, we offer you a preview of the all new ALPA web presence which features now the domain alpa.swiss.

ALPA offers a worldwide dealer network. Customers benefit from having a local dealer, as distances are short and he can often help very quickly in case of problems. For this reason, we forward customer inquiries from countries with dealer representation to them.

If ALPA does not have a local dealer in your country, it is possible to buy directly from ALPA. Many customers from European countries without representation take advantage of the low airfares and visit us by appointment at our headquarters in Zurich. We also take the necessary time during visits to arrange your optimal equipment with you.

Other Than The Others - A Chat On The Whys and Whereofs

After more than 45 years of concentrating on 35-mm reflex cameras, the ALPA brand name vanished from the scene. After a gap of eight years, the ALPA 12 appeared with a completely new concept of camera design. The new ALPA brand has since established itself securely at the top of its chosen field. The revived company is run by Ursula Capaul, Thomas Weber and André Oldani.

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WHERE DID THE MOTIVATION COME FROM TO REVIVE THE ALPA BRAND?
Ursula Capaul: From joy and interest in any form of technology and from the extraordinary reputation of the ALPA brand that had been neglected for years.

‍WHAT WAS YOUR AIM REGARDING YOUR PRODUCT?
Thomas Weber: We wanted to achieve a maximum of satisfaction from the manufactured objects, from the design as well as from the manufacturing process. Characteristic for this: may there possibly be another manufacturer of cameras who recommends a book like “The Craftsman” by Richard Sennett? ALPA does so.

‍HAVE THE PRODUCTS TURNED OUT THE WAY YOU IMAGINED THEY WOULD?
André Oldani: Indeed they have. Anyone can see this when looking at an ALPA and, when touching one, feel it.

Weber: In the early days we occasionally heard remarks that we were making a camera that was much too precise and that no film could ever be made to lie sufficiently flat to justify such precision. But as soon as the first digital backs appeared with their absolutely flat sensor areas the picture changed. Suddenly, demands for precision were made that we had long before already fulfilled.

‍THE ALPA ISN’T CHEAP.
Capaul: Indeed it isn’t. The ALPA is for those who can tell the difference between price and value.

‍WHAT PRECISELY DO YOU MEAN BY “VALUE”?
Oldani: For many photographic tasks, the material that is manufactured for the mass market is sufficient. But then there are a number of applications that need a different basis with a higher precision and improved harmonization between the elements. Wherever the higher demands appear, there is the ALPA territory.

Weber: Technical quality in photography depends on a whole chain of components, and it is the weakest link in the chain that determines the quality level of the entire system. This means, for example, that the best lens in the world is not worth much if the filter used, the helical mount, the lens board, the camera body or the back do not come up to the same standard.

Capaul: It happens frequently that people think a lens with the same brand and model designation must bring the same performance on another camera. Not so! It is always the chain of components mentioned earlier that, as a whole, determines the quality of the result. A Schneider Apo-Digitar XL 5,6/35mm need not produce the same end-results as the same lens on another camera.

‍DIFFERENT ALPA MODELS HAVE DIFFERENT OUTSIDE SHAPES, AND YET THERE IS A VISIBLE INNER CONNECTION. HOW CAN THIS BE?
Oldani: At ALPA, form follows function, that is the basic principle to which need to be added the personal preferences of our users and the ideas of the engineers. It is in this interplay of wishes and ideas that our products develop, which in turn ensures that there is a formal relationship between our models.

‍THOSE WHO BUY SUCH A SOLID, LONG-LIVED PRODUCT AS THE ALPA WILL WANT TO KNOW IF THERE ARE STILL SPARE PARTS MANY YEARS FROM NOW.
Weber: ALPA Capaul & Weber looks back on an uninterrupted success story that has now lasted more than twenty years. This makes it at least probable that we will continue in this way.

Oldani: Whoever looks at the recent history of the camera industry will see that within a short period of time many very famous brands have vanished. Other traditional manufacturers had to be “revived” or are in intensive care, facing an uncertain future. As far as we at ALPA are concerned, we have every reason to be optimistic. We think we are on the right way.

Capaul: In this connection I must pay our very first customer a compliment because in 1998 this question was asked much more often than it is now. After a brief inspection of the first ALPA, Raymond Depardon of Magnum/Paris said: “I have waited for years for just this camera – I am ordering one right now.” Today he is working with several ALPAs.

We Are Toolmakers - For More Than 20 Years

The beginning of the ALPA story reaches all the way back to the time of World War II. The first ALPA camera had been on the market for several years, but it was not until the 19th of February 1946 that the Swiss manufacturers Pignons SA, Ballaigues, registered the brand. In the following years, ALPA and their 35mm cameras became legendary. The production of these cameras reached its climax between 1960 and 1970.

In the 1980s, the boom stopped. Switzerland’s industry was hit by the vast economic globalisation. A lot of Swiss manufacturers faced financial and technical difficulty and some were even forced to close their doors. Among them, despite their outstanding products, was Pignons SA. The ALPA 11 remained their last camera.

50 years after the registration through Pignons SA, Ursula Capaul and Thomas Weber bought the brand on the 29th of February 1996. They revived and repositioned it as a modular medium format platform, adopting the qualities of the earlier ALPA-Generations, like their outstanding precision, their quality and their function-oriented design. The new ALPA of Switzerland was born alongside the new ALPA 12 camera.

Since then, another two decades have passed. In 2016, ALPA celebrated 20 years of medium format with the ALPA 12 platform - as well as 70 years of existence. It was a year of reminiscing, it reminded us of the untold stories about ALPA from all these years.

Today, ALPA is one of the last manufacturers of cameras in Switzerland, and an outstanding manufacturer in the global market. ALPA cameras are precision tools, made with passion and skilled craftsmanship for a small group of connoisseurs. Much like musical instruments, these tools require the practised fingers and the careful eye of a master. ALPA's photographers do not require automatic functions or a constant stream of new models. We simply provide the same that all good manufacturers of tools and instruments do – we provide the best possible quality in design, material and an open ear to all the wishes of our customers.

Things Are Simple At The Top

“... I am passionate about this camera and it never leaves my sight.  I have finally found the camera for me. All else pales...”
“... One cannot overestimate the power of quality. I thought originally that I didn’t need ALPA. I was wrong...”
“... The camera’s feel is almost impossible to explain to anyone who has not handled it – the ALPA simply exudes quality. Everything about it is as well made as it can possibly be, but there is more than that; it is touched by magic...”

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For as long as anyone can remember, ALPA has been known to perfectionists of photographic technology as one of the world’s top names. The reputation is now based on six camera models, all engineered to the highest supportable degree of mechanical precision. Their versatility and the reduction to the essentials attracts all those photographers who wish to leave the world of compromise behind them when they choose their instruments, who search for unhindered access to their creativity.

As simple as possible is as good as possible. That is the principle and ALPA is the result. All six models of the ALPA form a common, modular platform that ensures full compatibility. Part of the concept are integrated lenses from 23 to 250 mm focal length, adapters for digital backs, and directly attachable roll-film backs up to 6x9 as well as an extensive range of accessories. Part of the concept is the full compatibility of all ALPA models with the very first ALPA 12 of 1998. Such compatibility will also be retained in future. Nothing in the ALPA platform is arbitrary, nothing is accidental, nothing is superfluous. All is subordinated to the motive “only the best endures”.

‍Precision and quality
Connoisseurs and experts have always known the decisive importance of mechanical precision and optical quality. Developments during the past few years have made many more aware of the decisive value of precision and accuracy. It is above all the digital backs that demand a minimum in tolerances and a maximum in optical performance if their potential is to be fully exploited. With more than 60 Megapixels, sensors up to 40 x 54 mm (40.4 x 53.9 mm) at 6.0 µm pixel size – here is where the chaff is rapidly separated from the wheat: the tiniest mechanical inaccuracy, the most minor shortcoming in performance of lenses can turn into distortions, lateral color aberration and other errors. It is here that the ALPA platform is confirmed in the clearest way possible: uncompromising orientation in construction and highest possible precision in execution, only the best lenses and those exclusively adjusted optimally on the collimator by the manufacturers (Schneider-Kreuznach in Bad Kreuznach and Linos/Rodenstock in Munich). Only thus can constant quality at the highest level be developed. That ALPA cameras also look good and have won many a design price merely confirms the old saying “true beauty comes from within”.

‍Which model for what purpose?
Those who like or need the technical quality of a high-end digital back or of a grown-up roll-film format up to 6x9, but who must travel light and work expeditiously, those are the very people who most appreciate the ALPA 12 TC, the ALPA 12 WA and the ALPA 12 SWA. They are the ALPA cameras that are easy-to-handle not just with light-weight lenses, but that can also remain within the ever-tighter limits for traveling bags. Ergonomically formed handgrips and the silky-smooth, instant shutter release contribute to the superior quality of your freehand shots. Where complex camera settings such as shift (perspective control) simultaneously in both directions with tilt/swing (zone of sharpness control) from tripod are used but where free-handed photography is also required, the ALPA 12 MAX can offer a particularly flexible solution. Where work is done almost entirely on tripod, the ALPA 12 XY comes into its own by adding the capability of shift movements limited only by the sizes of the image circles of the lenses available. The ALPA 12 MAX and the ALPA 12 XY offer the possibilities of digital stitching, without the slightest movement of the lens during shifting. This is needed to avoid a change of perspective and is a characteristic indispensable to avoid unwanted stereoscopic effects. The sixth ALPA model also needs to be mentioned here: the ALPA 12 METRIC is used in digital photogrammetry, i.e. for photographic computer-supported measuring for cartography and many other scientific and industrial applications.

‍In praise of simplicity
Why do we lay so much stress here on the uncompromising orientation of all ALPA products towards the greatest possible simplicity? We think that there is a direct connection between limiting oneself to the essentials – and the reliability of a camera. We also think that there is a growing general weariness with the missing transparency, the limited control, the patronizingly automated picture-taking – and above all with the arbitrary nature of the results. We think that there are enough photographers out there who are not meekly inclined to tolerate this situation, but who are trying to escape from it with the help of their photographic knowledge and skills – and possibly with an ALPA.

ALPA Capaul & Weber Ltd. does not repair products of the defunct Pignons SA. Soon we will publish here a complete list of actual repair shops and where to source further information about the 35 mm ALPA.

We have a dedicated page with a timeline of the ALPA history. This includes the era of 35mm Alpa from the foundation of Pignons SA to bankruptcy and the revival of the brand as a medium format camera under Capaul & Weber from 1996.

ALPA History

We offer our customers the possibility to present their image galleries and portfolios on our website for many years. It is essential to us that we can show a broad cross-section of viewpoints and interpretations. We consider it a matter of honor that the photographers use ALPA equipment for their photographs shown here and do not violate third parties' rights. We also consider it a matter of dignity that the contents meet a certain ethical standard and that the viewer's criticism follows common sense. We reserve the right not to publish inadequate content.

We invite our esteemed users to apply for representation on our website.

The official top-level country code top-level domain (TLD) for Switzerland is still ".ch." The CH corresponds to the ISO standard and stands for "Confoederatio Helvetica," Latin for Swiss Confederation.

ICANN approved the ".swiss" TLD on 16 October 2014, and from September 2015, the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM), which is in charge of the TLD, started to allocate .swiss domains. This TLD is necessarily linked to a Swiss trademark/company and cannot be registered freely.

ALPA has owned the corresponding .swiss domain since the beginning and now uses it for its web presence. The ending .swiss indicates a Swiss company/brand unmistakably and is more memorable than the official ".ch," which is often confused with China.

The previous alpa.ch address will get redirected to alpa.swiss as soon as the migration has been completed.

Wood is an entirely natural material, and anyone who has ever touched aluminum at very low temperatures will immediately know why ALPA uses this warm, natural material for handgrips. Besides, our wood merely looks stunning. Each pair is CNC-machined from a single block of wood and is therefore absolutely individual. When you visit ALPA in Zurich, you will be able to choose your handgrips personally.

The wood for our hand-grips comes from certified sources and can be traced back to its origin. The hand-grips are oiled or varnished. These components are also environmentally friendly and skin-friendly. It is therefore a completely natural product

ALPA cameras are manufactured exclusively in Switzerland. All aluminum and wood elements are milled "from the solid". ALPA produces in small batches and therefore ALPA products are never mass-produced.

Center Filters are lens- or lens-rage specifically calculated high-end filters. They compensate for lens-type inherent falloff / vignetting towards the edges.

Long barrel lenses feature a lens tube optimized for infinity. The lens is attached to the ALPA body, and the back focal length is maintained.

Photographers who want to use Scheimpflug's extension of focus can choose lenses in a short barrel version. These lens tubes are shortened by 17, 34, or 51 mm and allow a tilt/swing adapter. The shortening is "filled up" with tilt/swing and/or multi-function adapters.

The short-barrel lenses also serve another purpose. When extreme movements (shift, rise/fall) of longer focal lengths are required, the body may vignette and restrict the lens's light path. As a countermeasure, the multi-function adapters (minimum 17 mm, better 34 mm) are mounted between the digital back and the back of the camera.

Currently, all our medium format lenses are manufactured by Qioptiq/Rodenstock. Historically, ALPA lenses have also been manufactured by Schneider Kreuznach and Carl Zeiss.

The current lens series carries the brand names ALPAGON, ALPAR, and Macro SWITAR. Together with the typical "gold ring", they guarantee the ALPA quality.

Lenses manufactured by Schneider Kreuznach were mainly branded HELVETAR. The ALPA Apo-SWITAR 5.6/36 mm was a Schneider lens, too.

As a reminiscence to the famous Macro Switar lenses from Kern Aarau for 35mm cameras, we now carry a Macro SWITAR (Rodenstock) and the Cine SWITARE for moving image.

ALPA cooperates with the acknowledged best manufacturers of large format lenses. The large image circle of ALPA lenses places enormous demands on the optical calculation, adjustment, and mounting. ALPA is the only camera manufacturer that has its lenses completely mounted and tuned by the lens manufacturer. The lenses consist of a tube, helical mount, shutter or aperture mount, and the lens itself. Each lens undergoes a "real world" photographic test at ALPA. We do not rely on automatic measurements but examine each lens for its performance at infinity at a distance of over 5000 m.

ALPA products are quality products manufactured with minimum tolerances. The standard is 1-2/100 mm deviation. However, ALPA cannot influence the sensor position of digital backs. However, a correct back focal length is essential for a reliable infinity adjustment.

To correct any deviations from the norm, ALPA introduced shimable adapters in 2004. Each adapter can be optimized in the range of +/- 3/10 mm in 1/100 mm steps utilizing shims supplied with the unit.

Another advantage of this system is that professional users with several digital backs will appreciate it: Since deviations can often occur from back to back, these errors are elegantly corrected with an optimized adapter for each digital back.

ALPA offers the individual adjustment of your adapters when you visit us in Zurich.

Operating digital backs on any ALPA is usually possible without problems. You only need to know the type of adaptation of your digital back. ALPA offers digital adapters for Hasselblad V, Hasselblad H, Phaser One XF (formerly Mamiya 645 AFD), Contax 645, and Sinar Hy6/Leaf AFi. These adapters are all adjustable.

Depending on the type of back together with Copal shutters, it is also helpful to choose an ALPA Sync Solution. This add-on allows a "one-shot" operation since the Sync Release takes care of waking up the back (limited with IQ4 series). Backs that operate only in an "always-on" mode need a sync cable from the lens's flash contact to the back.

If the back has an "Electronic Shutter" mode, the exposure is triggered directly via the back. ALPA also offers cable solutions for individual backs that allow for exposure directly from the live mode.

Currently, film backs are available for the formats 6x9 and 6x7. ALPA/Linhof film cassettes can only use type 120 film. ALPA also offers adapters for Mamiya RB and Horseman. These adapters allow using the backs of the Mamiya RB (6x4.5 to 6x8) on the ALPA. We recommend the motorized versions for its higher precision and the ability to use 120 and 220 type of rollfilm. These backs and film cassettes from Horseman (Arca) are mostly available on the second-hand market.

Historically, ALPA also carries cassettes in 6x6 format and the ALPA-specific formats 44x66 mm and 36x72 mm. The background was the image circle of the Carl Zeiss Biogon with 80 mm. ALPA was the only manufacturer who could offer this lens as an interchangeable lens due to its precision. Both ALPA special formats meet these requirements for aspect ratios of 2:3 and 1:2 within the 80 mm image circle.

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Sample of the ALPA 44 x 66 mm Format

The characteristics of this format and how to recognize it: Look at the semicircular recesses in the edges.