Houghton Vest Pocket Ensign Folding Strut Braced
127 Roll Film Camera. c1926
The Vest Pocket Ensign, folded from aluminium sheet making it very light weight. This camera was intended to be a little more capable than a box camera, with aperture control and a limited range of shutter speeds the user could adjust, although focus was fixed. The strut braced folding eliminates the problems that arise when the lensboard flexes back under the strain of the leather bellows, that would otherwise result in inconsistent focus across the negative. Contemporary with it's Kodak Vest Pocket equivalent, also to be seen in the collection. "Vest Pocket" was term applied by Kodak originally for cameras to take 127 roll film, and other manufacturers were happy to adopt the term. The Houghton-Butcher manufacturing Co. Ltd, is stamped into the front of this pretty little 127 roll film camera. The merger of Houghtons and Butchers took place in January 1926. The sales umbrella name Ensign was adopted in 1930, and all qualifying cameras in the collection are listed as Ensign after this date
The strut braced folding mechanism as fitted to Houghton's Vest Pocket Ensign, introduced in 1923. The user simply pulls the lensboard forward to the end of its travel, making sure the lensboard snaps into each of the four locating slots. Closing the camera requires that the struts are sprung out of their slots before collapsing the mechanism to stow it inside the body. The strut braced arrangement was cheap and easy to manufacture, ensuring many of this and close relatives were produced.
The camera is in good used cosmetic condition, please see photos provided.
Optically the lens is clean and clear .
Shutter is working across the range.
Aperture selection is positive.
Bellows are light tight.
Tested & fully working
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