pete.naylor
Ensign Selfix 820 and Commando
This nice pair of British Ensign folders from the immediate post-WW2 era came as a package deal, being part of the estate of a recently-deceased collector here in Perth. I'm actually starting to feel a bit guilty about this sort of thing, it being the second nice outfit of gear I've acquired in similar circumstances over the last few weeks from widows who clearly had no sentimental attachments to their late hubby's stuff.. Why? Well, have you ever thought about those lines from that classic poem 'Ask Not For Whom The Bell Tolls' ......
Such introspectionally morbid aspects aside, this outfit comprises firstly a Selfix 820 dual-format 6 X 9/6 X 6 cm 120/620 folder, with the very sharp and fast F3.8 Ross Xpres 4-element coated lens and Epsilon 8-speed leaf shutter with speeds of B, T and 1 - 1/ 250 sec. It only has scale focussing but at least the entire lens moves, rather than the front element alone. The 2-piece spring-out optical Albada-type viewfinder is one of the clearest and biggest you could desire, with oversize framing showing both format sizes clearly. I already have a couple of these Selfix 820s, but not in such fine condition as this example. I'm also a sucker for collecting original bits and bobs, so a Genuine Bedouine Selfix 820 box like the one top left was a nice additional touch, not to mention the 1952 'Selfix Guide' book from Focal Press of London and New York. Shame an original Selfix 820 IB wasn't there too, though.
However, that cylindrical can of Ensign Panchromatic EFP20, still with a film in it waiting for development BTW, kind of made up for the lack of an IB. However, with a 'Develop Before Feb 1951' advice on the can, I don't think I'll bother to try and find which camera was used because it would have certainly been the Selfix 820 rather than the Commando, via the visible ends of the spool reading 'Kodak 620' . (How so, Holmes? Well, Dr Watson - the Selfix could use either 120 or 620 film thanks to cunningly designed tapered male prongs that fit into the ends of the film reel, but the Commando only accepted 120 film.)
The other camera is an Ensign Commando dual format 6 X 6/6 X 4.5 cm 120 folder, with an unusual CRF setup where the focussing is achieved by the film plane moving back and forth rather than the lens. AFAIK, only Mamiya in Japan used a similar system for their Mamiya Six. I already have three variants of these Commandos, but I was attracted here to the additional fruit of the original IB and leather ERC - made in New South Wales by 'A.L. Waddington And Son', by the way, indicating this was a local Oz market model, not one brought out here by a British migrant family like my other Commandos..
This is a clever camera but would have been very expensive to make, what with all those gears and the additional CRF plumbing. Because of the CRF aspect, the integral viewfinder is considerably smaller than the Selfix's external 2-piecer, but it's still quite adequate for the job unless you wear spectacles. Astute viewers will notice that the Commando has an accessory shoe on the topcover directly above the VF, although it's not synch'd for flash. So what was it for then, you ask? Well, apparently Ensign sold a close-up gizmo kit which fitted in that shoe, incorporating an optical corrector which went in front of the VF, plus a separate dioptre which slipped over the Ensar lens.
The matter of VF masking to change from 6 X 6 to 6 X 4.5 cm format is achieved via that slotted gizmo between the VF and CRF windows in the central housing of the topcover, with a hinged flap doing the deed internally to reduce the negative size.
All that internal gearing for the film-plane CRF focussing setup does give the camera a very 'clean' appearance though, compared to some other CRF setups such as Zeiss Super Ikontas with their strange arms. . The Commando was reputedly based on a former WW2 military design carried forward to peace-time production with a bit of cosmetic upgrading, after the guns had stopped firing and bombs dropping, hence the military nametag.
The Commando is very solidly constructed and cost a relative fortune in its day, with not much change coming out of 50 quid when it hit the streets in 1946. However, you only got an uncoated F3.5 75mm Ensar triplet lens and an Epsilon leaf shutter with B, T and 8 speeds from 1 - 1/200 sec. Sorry, no self-timer either, squire.
The Commando was dropped from the Ensign range of folders around 1949 when the new 'Selfix' range appeared, firstly with the Selfix 820 which appeared in mid 1949 (July according to the date in my photocopy of the IB) and shortly thereafter the Selfix 12-20 and 16-20. By then, the Ensign stable took in the highly respected optical company Ross Ltd - so Clapham Common stuff could look the likes of Zeiss and Voigtlander squarely in the eye from an optical viewpoint, with their well-respected Xpres 4-element lens on offer.
However, those Epsilon shutters are very prone to draggy slow speeds and never sound to my unqualified ears quite as 'sharp' as a Deckel Synchro-Compur. It's hardly surprising therefore if I admit that the 1 and 1/2 sec speeds on the otherwise pristine Selfix 820 are a bit sticky, something I hope to rectify shortly with a few squirts of that favourite product of all classic camera collectors - CRC Electronic Aerosol Cleaner.
Ensign Selfix 820 and Commando
This nice pair of British Ensign folders from the immediate post-WW2 era came as a package deal, being part of the estate of a recently-deceased collector here in Perth. I'm actually starting to feel a bit guilty about this sort of thing, it being the second nice outfit of gear I've acquired in similar circumstances over the last few weeks from widows who clearly had no sentimental attachments to their late hubby's stuff.. Why? Well, have you ever thought about those lines from that classic poem 'Ask Not For Whom The Bell Tolls' ......
Such introspectionally morbid aspects aside, this outfit comprises firstly a Selfix 820 dual-format 6 X 9/6 X 6 cm 120/620 folder, with the very sharp and fast F3.8 Ross Xpres 4-element coated lens and Epsilon 8-speed leaf shutter with speeds of B, T and 1 - 1/ 250 sec. It only has scale focussing but at least the entire lens moves, rather than the front element alone. The 2-piece spring-out optical Albada-type viewfinder is one of the clearest and biggest you could desire, with oversize framing showing both format sizes clearly. I already have a couple of these Selfix 820s, but not in such fine condition as this example. I'm also a sucker for collecting original bits and bobs, so a Genuine Bedouine Selfix 820 box like the one top left was a nice additional touch, not to mention the 1952 'Selfix Guide' book from Focal Press of London and New York. Shame an original Selfix 820 IB wasn't there too, though.
However, that cylindrical can of Ensign Panchromatic EFP20, still with a film in it waiting for development BTW, kind of made up for the lack of an IB. However, with a 'Develop Before Feb 1951' advice on the can, I don't think I'll bother to try and find which camera was used because it would have certainly been the Selfix 820 rather than the Commando, via the visible ends of the spool reading 'Kodak 620' . (How so, Holmes? Well, Dr Watson - the Selfix could use either 120 or 620 film thanks to cunningly designed tapered male prongs that fit into the ends of the film reel, but the Commando only accepted 120 film.)
The other camera is an Ensign Commando dual format 6 X 6/6 X 4.5 cm 120 folder, with an unusual CRF setup where the focussing is achieved by the film plane moving back and forth rather than the lens. AFAIK, only Mamiya in Japan used a similar system for their Mamiya Six. I already have three variants of these Commandos, but I was attracted here to the additional fruit of the original IB and leather ERC - made in New South Wales by 'A.L. Waddington And Son', by the way, indicating this was a local Oz market model, not one brought out here by a British migrant family like my other Commandos..
This is a clever camera but would have been very expensive to make, what with all those gears and the additional CRF plumbing. Because of the CRF aspect, the integral viewfinder is considerably smaller than the Selfix's external 2-piecer, but it's still quite adequate for the job unless you wear spectacles. Astute viewers will notice that the Commando has an accessory shoe on the topcover directly above the VF, although it's not synch'd for flash. So what was it for then, you ask? Well, apparently Ensign sold a close-up gizmo kit which fitted in that shoe, incorporating an optical corrector which went in front of the VF, plus a separate dioptre which slipped over the Ensar lens.
The matter of VF masking to change from 6 X 6 to 6 X 4.5 cm format is achieved via that slotted gizmo between the VF and CRF windows in the central housing of the topcover, with a hinged flap doing the deed internally to reduce the negative size.
All that internal gearing for the film-plane CRF focussing setup does give the camera a very 'clean' appearance though, compared to some other CRF setups such as Zeiss Super Ikontas with their strange arms. . The Commando was reputedly based on a former WW2 military design carried forward to peace-time production with a bit of cosmetic upgrading, after the guns had stopped firing and bombs dropping, hence the military nametag.
The Commando is very solidly constructed and cost a relative fortune in its day, with not much change coming out of 50 quid when it hit the streets in 1946. However, you only got an uncoated F3.5 75mm Ensar triplet lens and an Epsilon leaf shutter with B, T and 8 speeds from 1 - 1/200 sec. Sorry, no self-timer either, squire.
The Commando was dropped from the Ensign range of folders around 1949 when the new 'Selfix' range appeared, firstly with the Selfix 820 which appeared in mid 1949 (July according to the date in my photocopy of the IB) and shortly thereafter the Selfix 12-20 and 16-20. By then, the Ensign stable took in the highly respected optical company Ross Ltd - so Clapham Common stuff could look the likes of Zeiss and Voigtlander squarely in the eye from an optical viewpoint, with their well-respected Xpres 4-element lens on offer.
However, those Epsilon shutters are very prone to draggy slow speeds and never sound to my unqualified ears quite as 'sharp' as a Deckel Synchro-Compur. It's hardly surprising therefore if I admit that the 1 and 1/2 sec speeds on the otherwise pristine Selfix 820 are a bit sticky, something I hope to rectify shortly with a few squirts of that favourite product of all classic camera collectors - CRC Electronic Aerosol Cleaner.