PROXIMA 1 is one of two beamlines at SOLEIL for measurements in macromolecular crystallography (together with PROXIMA 2, currently under construction). PROXIMA 1, operational since March 2008, delivers an intense, parallel and tunable X-ray beam for measurements at high resolution or from large unit cell dimension crystals. The beamline is equipped with a large surface area detector (ADSC Q315r), a 3 circle "kappa" geometry goniostat, with a sample changing robot (ACTOR) to be installed in 2010. The beamline optics permits a range of focussing conditions which can then be adapted to the sample being studied (for example beam focus at sample or detector).