Lockdown #3 - day thirty-five.

A new camera for the collection...

There's a bit of a story behind this camera. Last October before the lockdown I was invited to have a look at some old cameras that a lady was hoping to sell on, mainly to clear a bit of space... There were several quite old full plate and half plate cameras, all I guessed over 100 years old but sadly not particularly valuable. I gave my opinion as to their value and in due course they were sent to auction.

This particular half plate camera caught my eye and at the time I told the owner that it was a camera I'd like to have in my collection...

To cut the story short I watched the auction and won the camera for less than half the sum I thought its would make.

If you're interested it's a Thornton Pickard Antrincham half plate mahogany field camera with brass bound corners, a Cooke Aviar Series II f/4.5 178mm (7 inch) lens, roller-blind shutter and three plate holders, all in the original but tatty maker's case. 

The shutter is working and the bellows are light-tight and the camera is lovely. They made things to last in those days...

My plan is to overhaul the camera, sacrifice one of the plate holders by converting it to 5 x 4 inch film and make some images using an antique camera, shutter and lens...

We'll see how that comes out...