France contributed to the SLR history first with the very special Alsaflex of 1952, and in the PP SLR history from 1958 through Rene Royers Savoyflex. The first model featured a leaf shutter fixed Berthiot
lens and a rapid return mirror. The RRM returned mechanically with the return of the shutter realease button, and could mean that the subject, as seen through the lens, was blacked a bit longer than on the IRM cameras, where the finder was ready instantly
after the shutter was shut. Many cameras claiming IRM were really RRMs. The first Savoyflex was followed by the Automatic in 1959, among the first to introduce an automatic diaphragm. However, their system was not functioning well, and was no break-through
for the company.The SITO organization, which was the official name behind Royer, kept on producing Savoyflex until 1963.