Ensign All Distance Twenty Vintage Camera

Description

The **Ensign All Distance Twenty** is a vintage folding camera produced in the early 20th century by **Houghton-Butcher Manufacturing Company**, a British company known for its high-quality cameras. The camera is part of the “Ensign” series, which was popular in the UK for offering durable and versatile cameras aimed at amateur and semi-professional photographers.

### Key Features of the Ensign All Distance Twenty:

1. **Format:**
– The camera uses **120 roll film**, which produces **2 ¼” x 3 ¼” (6×9 cm)** negatives. This format was common for many medium-format cameras of the time and offered high-resolution images.

2. **Lens:**
– The camera is equipped with a **fixed-focus lens** (hence the name “All Distance”), which means it could capture sharp images from a wide range of distances without requiring the user to manually adjust focus.
– The lens is usually a simple meniscus-type lens, which provided reasonable sharpness for its time, but lacked the sophistication of later multi-element lenses.

3. **Shutter:**
– The camera has a simple **leaf shutter** mechanism, often offering a limited range of shutter speeds, such as **1/25 sec, 1/50 sec, and Bulb (B)** for long exposures.
– Some versions might also include **T (Time)** mode, where the shutter stays open as long as the release is pressed.

4. **Aperture:**
– The camera features a basic **aperture control** with a few settings, which were often marked by symbols or arbitrary numbers rather than f-stop values. The aperture settings allowed for basic adjustments depending on lighting conditions.

5. **Viewfinder:**
– The camera uses a simple **waist-level viewfinder** or a wire-frame finder to help compose shots. This was typical of folding cameras from that era.
– The viewfinder is not through the lens, so parallax error can occur, especially for close-up shots.

6. **Folding Design:**
– The Ensign All Distance Twenty is a **folding camera**, meaning the lens and bellows collapse into the body for easy transport. When unfolded, the bellows extend, allowing for the proper focusing distance between the lens and the film plane.
– The camera is compact when folded, making it portable and convenient for outdoor photography.

7. **Body and Build:**
– The camera is built with a **metal body** covered in leatherette, giving it a robust and classic look. These cameras were designed to be durable and portable, which made them popular for travel and outdoor photography.
– The fold-out bed supports the lens and shutter assembly, and it is typically made from metal as well.

8. **Manual Control:**
– The camera is entirely **manual**, with no automatic exposure or focus features. Photographers had to rely on their knowledge of lighting and distance to set the appropriate aperture and shutter speed for each shot.

### Special Appeal:
The Ensign All Distance Twenty is prized by collectors for its elegant design and historical significance. It was aimed at photographers who wanted a reliable and easy-to-use camera for general-purpose photography. Though it lacks the sophisticated features of later cameras, it captures the charm of early 20th-century photography, offering a hands-on, mechanical experience.

For modern film enthusiasts, it provides a nostalgic glimpse into the early days of medium-format photography, with the 120 film format still available today for use in vintage cameras. However, due to the simplicity of its lens and shutter, its image quality might be limited compared to more advanced models from the same era.

Note: We are just like other vintage and antique camera collectors, we buy cameras from different people and markets and places. We do not test, inspect or repair the cameras. We just sell them as we get. Please check the images and videos for better knowledge of the cameras. ONCE PURCHASED WILL NOT BE TAKEN BACK OR REFUNDED! So please check them before placing any orders!

The camera is packed securely and shipped immediately once ordered.

Thank you!