Antique & Vintage Photographic Equipment

Heag VI Camera

Ernemann AG

Name: Heag VI
Manufacturer: Heinrich Ernemann AG
Country of Origin: Germany
Construction: Leather covering over a wooden body. Lens standard draws out on a track fixed to the baseboard; double extension bellows with rack and pinion acting on inner rail. Reflecting viewfinder sighted on baseboard.
Focal plane shutter built into camera, with Bausch & Lomb shutter on the front standard. Maroon chamfered bellows. Ground glass focussing.
Production Period: 1903 - 1925

 

Model / Variant: Double Shutter Camera
Plate / Film Size: 9 x 12cm plate
Lens: Beck Symmetrical f/8
Shutter: Bausch & Lomb T, B, I (1 - 1/100) & focal plane shutter
Movements: Rising front
Dimensions (w x h x l): 16 x 11.5 x 9 cm (closed)
Date of this Example: TBD
Serial Number: Serial 94009 stamped inside the fold down back
Availability:
  • Common [ ]
  • Uncommon [x]
  • Hard to Find [ ]
  • Scarce [ ]
Inventory Number: 479

 

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Description

The camera is unmarked and has been identified as an Ernemann Heag VI from photographs in McKeown. The early model Head VI was often referred to in English ads as the "Double Shutter Camera". Since this version is fitted with a Beck lens and has a scale in yards, this would seem to fit the description.

The operation of the focal plane shutter is not clear and there is no obvious way of identifying the speed. The format is also different to those pictured in McKeown for this camera (but is the same as that shown on the Velo Clapp a few pages later).

This example of the Ernemann Heag VI camera is in very good condition, with very clean maroon bellows.

The camera is complete with its original velvet lined leather case, designed to take the camera and DDS.

Notes

Kodak Artex Advert
Kodak Artex Advert

The first thumbnail image is taken from a 1907 Kodak Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus and Materials, a substantial book detailing all products available through Kodak Ltd., London. (Click on the thumbnail to open a larger image in a new window). It quite clearly shows the same Double Shutter camera, albeit that is has a different type of Focal Plane shutter and is marketed under the Kodak name of "Artex". It is also apparent that the diagram is a mirror reversal of the actual camera layout!

It is also interesting to note that under the pricing section, it offers the option of the camera with FP shutter only or both shutters.

The Artex Model A above it is another Ernemann camera - the Velo Klapp camera. Note that the FP shutter shown on this model does match that used on my Double Shutter camera. The Kodak advertisements do not give nay further information about the FP shutter.

1907 Ernemann Advert
1907 Ernemann Advert

The same drawings appear in an advert by Chas. Zimmerman & Co in the 1907 BJPA (pp1542-3), shown in the second thumbnail image. (Click on the thumbnail to open a larger image in a new window). The same line drawings are used, with the same reversal problem. Here the cameras are identified as Ernemann. In both cases, this advert quotes the FP shutters as capable of exposures down 1/2000th of a second. The BJPA advert for the Double Shutter camera also advertises the camera in two distinct sizes: ¼ plate as seen here and 5½ x 3½, which could also be adapted for stereo use.

Note also that the footer on the BJPA page declares that Chas Zimmerman is sole agent. Perhaps that is why Kodak Ltd had to market the camera under their own Artex trade name and without identifying the original manufacturer?

Enquiries made of other collectors has revealed that Ernemann used a variety of different patterns (five or so) of FP shutters on their cameras. From information available to date, it is not possible to determine what dates particular variants of the FP shutter were in use.