Introduction

The main purpose of this site is as a virtual museum of Classic & Antique Cameras and related photographic ephemera that form part of my own collection.

The photographs on this initial landing page are just intended to give an overview of the type of antique and classic cameras that the site features, concentrating on the period from the 1880s through to the 1930s (rollfilm and plate cameras).

The site describes cameras and related ephemera that form part of a private collection, and the hope is that that this will illustrate the development of photography over this key period through the equipment that was available at the time, particularly to the amateur user.

While concentrating on rollfilm and plate cameras, the collection is quite varied and includes items from many different manufactures. However, the collection is dominated by equipment made for sale in the US and UK, with some European cameras also being represented.

The links at the top of this page provide an entry point to the camera collection by two different indexes: one lists the cameras by maker and the other by camera type. Please note that these initial index pages may take a little while to load as they are lengthy and include thumbnail images.

If you are trying to identify a camera and do not know the maker, the Type index might offer the best means of searching the content of the collection. The categories used in the type classification are explained at the top of the Type index page.

NOTE: This site is still under development. While the index pages are complete and each entry has a link to individual pages that provide details of each camera (click on the thumbnail), few as yet have corresponding photographs available.

The layout of the site pages has been set up to work best at 1024 pixels wide, but have also been adapted to make the web pages mobile friendly.

Rating (availability)

A brief note about the rating used for the scarcity of the cameras shown in these pages. A number of people will end up reading these pages with a view to trying to establish the likely value of some find. Be wary about equating the scarcity classification that I use with value. There are some very basic box cameras for example that are few and far between (so would be marked here as 'Scarce'), but have little intrinsic value.

The table below summarises the classification scheme that is used, although this is based purely on my own experiences rather than being established through any scientific quantitative process.

Common	An online search of auction sites such as eBay in a given month has a greater than 50% likelihood of finding one or more examples of the camera.
Uncommon	An online search of auction sites such as eBay in a given month may be unsuccessful, but within a three month period there is a greater than 50% likelihood of finding an example of the camera.
Hard to Find	There is only a 50% likelihood that an example of the camera may be found in an online search of auction sites such as eBay over a period of a year.
Scarce	There is only a 50% likelihood that an example of the camera may be found in an online search of auction sites such as eBay over a period of five years.

If you have any comments or questions about the site in general or specific items that are featured, please contact me. A Contact link is located at the bottom of each page.

Recent Site Updates

	Updated (February 2022): Photos and further information added for the Watson Vanneck Hand camera
	Updated (June 2022): Deleted separate page for the Watson Alpha (leather covered) camera and moved content to the general Alpha page
	Added (June 2022): Page added for the Popular Ensignette camera made by Houghtons Ltd. (photos to be added)
	Updated (August 2022): Bookmarked the Silver Jubilee entry on the Brownie No 2 page to allow it to be shown separately on index pages
	Updated (August 2022): Entry added for the No 2 Brownie camera in the special Modernist finish (photos to be added)
	Updated (December 2023): Entry added for the Soho Cadet model with 4 stop aperture wheel, and more information added (with photos)
	Updated (December 2023): Soho Model B camera moved to a separate web page, with additional information and photos added
	Updated (December 2023): Additional information and photos added for the Flat Folding Kodak. This camera is not in original condition as it has been adapted by a previous owner / user to work with plates rather than rollfilm.
	Updated (January 2024): Photos and further information added for the Blair Kamaret camera
	Updated (January 2024): Entry added for the Soho Cadet model with Kershaw Anastigmat lens in Gauthier Vario shutter (with photos)