Camera Shots

Another Ensign, this time an 820, takes 6x9 or 6x6 frames on 120 or 620 film. The title refers to the fact that I fitted it with a Schneider Xenar lens in a Compur shutter, which came from a very tired Kodak Vollenda, and replaced the damaged Ensar shutter and lens originally fitted. The result is quite good, but I don't use it much, - again, nowhere for a rangefinder !! Canon Ixus 960is

1950's Ensign Selfix 16-20, Model II. A very nice 6x4.5 folder, and made in England ! This version has an f4.5/75mm Ross Xpres lens - a Tessar clone, and a folding Albada viewfinder. Takes 16 frames on 120 (or 620!) film. High quality of construction and finish, but spoilt by having no accessory shoe for a rangefinder, and the front cannot be closed with a filter mounted - how stupid !! There were other versions of this camera, with triplet lens and conventional viewfinder, and also a version with a coupled rangefinder, but these last are rare, and thus quite expensive. Ensign was the trademark of a wide range of cameras made by the Houghton Butcher company in London, one of the earliest camera makers in England, but despite several mergers in post war years, they finally ceased production in 1961. Canon Ixus 960is Camera-Wiki article: camera-wiki.org/wiki/Houghton_and_Ensign

It is strange that France, which played such an important role in the development of photography, should have produced so few notable makes of cameras - but on reflection, I suppose one could say exactly the same of the British! Almost all French made medium format folding cameras were 6x9, there were a few 6x4.5, but I can think of no 6x6 French folders, although I'm sure there must have been some! This is a 6x9, a Kinax Junior, made by Société Industrielle de Photographie et d'Optique, Paris & Montreuil sous Bois, I think, in 1953. Well made and well finished, this version shared the same body as the more highly specified models, but has only a modest f6.3/100mm triplet lens in a simple 4 speed shutter, 1/10th to 1/150th + B. It uses 620 film, which is why I have only ever taken a few rolls of film with it, and the lens has a strange 29mm diameter mount for push on filters and hood, so I had to machine up a little adapter ring to allow the more normal 32mm fittings to be used. The camera is like new, seems to have been hardly ever used, and now I have sorted converting 120 to 620 without re-spooling, I will put another roll through it, but the f6,3 is a bit limiting, as is the top speed of 1/150th, so I'm not optimistic - really, just a Shelf Queen! Mamiya RB67, 645 back, f3.5/65mm Mamiya Sekor lens. Foma 100 in divided D23, 7+5 mins stand @21C, scanned @1200dpi on Epson V500.

My reply to Robert Warren yesterday, about the Kodak Reflex and Mamiyaflex, prompted me to post this picture of them together, - about the only thing in common is that they are both TLR's ! The Mamiyaflex has interchangeable lenses and rack focussing, and can get to within a few of inches of the subject, whereas the KR2 can only focus down to about 3 feet - 1 metre, much like a Rollie or Yashica TLR. It's much smaller than the Mamiya, and is more intuitive to use, and far lighter, a mere 980g compared to the Mamiya's hefty 1.55kg with the 80mm lenses, and as time passes, it matters! That said, I used various C Series Mamiyas over a long time, they are almost indestructable, about the only film camera to survive, long term, on converted trawlers in the North Atlantic, where we both spent many happy(?) years! That's all behind me now, and I can spend my days pottering about with interesting old beasts like the Kodak Reflex II ;-) Taken with a Canon Ixus 960is @ 80 ISO equivalent.

Here's a pic of the old lady! Made from die-cast aluminium with plated brass fittings, this really was near the all time top of Kodak's medium format product range, perhaps only the Medalist, and the German made Regent, exceeded it. As well as the fresnel screen, it has automatic film spacing which works without fault, and the 80mm lenses are hard coated Anastons - not Tessar variants, but a Dialyt design of four equally spaced elements about a central diaphragm, and unusually, both the taking and viewing lenses are of identical construction. The shutter is a Flash Kodamatic with M & X options, 1/2 to 1/300th plus B&T, and the apertures are from f3.5 to f22, and are click-stopped. It is shown with a Kodak Series VI filter adapter, and a home made lens hood which does not mask the viewing lens. Just a shade lighter than a non-metered Rollieflex, it was designed to allow only the wretched 620 film size to be used, and no conversion to 120 is possible without drastic alteration, but I've recently made a simple set up to machine the diameters and end faces of 120 films in the lathe, making them externally the same as 620, and avoiding the need to re-wind the films on to 620 spools, so I might use it more now. Taken with a Canon Ixus 960is @ 80 iso equivalent.