Billcliff Field Camera
Billcliff, Joshua
| Name: | Unknown Field Camera |
| Manufacturer: | J. Billcliff |
| Country of Origin: | United Kingdom (Manchester) |
| Construction: | The camera is of good quality, made largely using Spanish mahogany with small dovetail joints. It has tapered square section maroon bellows. It has a rotating back, solid baseboard (with tripod bush) and the unusual feature of the lens board being removed from the uprights in order to fold the camera away. |
| Production Period: | Unknown |
| Plate / Film Size: | Whole plate |
| Lens: | Unmarked f8 lens with iris |
| Shutter: | None |
| Movements: | Rising front, tilting back with swing and rotating back. |
| Dimensions (w x h x l): | |
| Date of this Example: | c1890 |
| Serial Number: | None |
| Availability: |
|
| Inventory Number: | 546 |
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Description
Full plate field camera identified initially as Billcliff by the patent number 13956 that is shown on a small circular badge on the back. This relates to a patent for a rotating back, as fitted to this camera, that was taken out by Billcliff in 1885.
The camera is of good quality, made largely using Spanish mahogany with small dovetail joints. It has tapered square section maroon bellows, which are in fair condition although there are pin-holes at several corners.
The other feature that shows it up as a Billcliff is the use of ebony inlay on the edge as reinforcement, as used on the Chapman "The British" camera.
It has several unusual features. The front lens standard detaches from its uprights when folding the camera.
The camera has a rising front, tilting back and swing. The rotating back is a little stiff, though it does move.
An interesting feature of the camera is that the left hand rail (looking from the back) has a hinged section at the front that swings out sideways, released by a thumbscrew at the front of the camera. This allows the focusing rack to be removed and reversed (while the bellows are detached). Taken in confunction with the tilting back and front, the combination provides a drop-bed arrangement that then allows wide-angle lenses to be used.
The ground glass screen is intact. The camera is equipped with a tripod bush, surrounded by three arced sectors cut out of the baseboard, presumably intended to hold the tripod top in place.
The lens is unmarked.
Camera came complete with one DDS.
Notes
This may be an example of Billcliff's Improved Long Focus camera, but this has as yet to be verified.