camera, still, 1/2 plate, Ensign Reflex Model B

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Order this image under fair dealing

All Rights Reserved except for Fair Dealing exceptions otherwise permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

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All Rights Reserved except for Fair Dealing exceptions otherwise permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
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Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
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If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

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Order this image under fair dealing

All Rights Reserved except for Fair Dealing exceptions otherwise permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

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All Rights Reserved except for Fair Dealing exceptions otherwise permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

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Order this image under fair dealing

All Rights Reserved except for Fair Dealing exceptions otherwise permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

Accepted Non-commercial Use

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Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

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Description

Object description

A Houghton's Ltd half-plate still Ensign Reflex Model B camera, with a Ross Homocentric 8 1/2 inch f/5.6 lens, in maker's fitted case. Used by Australian official photographer Frank Hurley.

Physical description

Sturdy leather case with a hinged lid. The front has a lock and two leather straps with buckles for securing the lid and is stamped "F. HURLEY". The top has a leather carrying handle and two leather loops. On each side is a leather loop. One of these has become detatched (see PHO 234.12). On the bottom of the case are 4 brass feet and three further leather loops. The inside is lined with red textile and is divided into two sections. Containing:

Physical description

Ensign Reflex Model B Camera: Camera is cube-shaped. The front has a hinged door behind which is a brass lens mount. The back has a horizontal slot where the camera back can be slid in and clipped in place. The top has a hinged door behind which is a folding view finder. One side features a leather carrying handle, a brass wheel for winding and setting the shutter speed, a sliding shutter and a wheel that adjusts the position of the lens. The opposite side has a focussing wheel. On the bottom there is a screw thread for mounting on a tripod with a circular depression around it caused by use.

Physical description

Camera back: Wooden frame painted black with a hinged door made of covered board. Door is secured with a pained brass catch. Slides horizontally onto the back of the camera.

Physical description

Ross Homocentric 8 1/2 inch f/5.6 lens: Lens housing is pained black but worn back to bare metal by use, particularly towards the front. The front section includes the F numbers and is marked MADE IN ENGLAND. Behind this is the aperture ring and behind this is the screw thread for attaching it to the lens mount. Lens is marked 8 1/2in HOMOCENTRIC 1:5.6. No. (?)9527. ROSS, LONDON. PATENT

Physical description

Camera strap: Consists of two strips of leather buckled together. Both strips are broken at their ends. the strip with the buckle has eleven holes and a leather loop. The strip without the buckle has 12 holes and a tapered end. The pin of the buckle is throught the fourth hole from the tapered end.

Physical description

Spare lens mount: Metal ring with four evenly spaced screw holes and a raised inside edge with a screw thread for attaching the lens.

Physical description

Double dark-slide (DDS): two wooden frames that are painted black and hinged together. The frames are secured together by two hinged metal clips. Within each frame is a black painted wooden panel that slides out of the frame. On the top of each panel is a shaped handle to enable it to be slid out of the fame and a metal clip that secures the panel in place. Inside one frame is a hinged metal sheet to separate the contents. One frame is marked "11" and the other is marked "12". The panel in frame 11 is split in five places and panel in frame 12 is split in three places. The handle of the panel in frame 11 is broken and has been repaired with a piece of twisted wire.

Physical description

Double dark-slide (DDS): Consists of two wooden frames that are painted black and hinged together. The frames are secured together by two hinged metal clips. Within each frame is a black painted wooden panel that slides out of the frame. On the top of each panel is a shaped handle to enable it to be slid out of the fame and a metal clip that secures the panel in place. Inside one frame is a hinged metal sheet to separate the contents. One frame is marked "7" and the other is marked "8". The panel in frame 7 is split in one place and panel in frame 8 is split in two places. The handle of the panel in frame 8 is broken and the majority is missing.

Physical description

Double dark-slide (DDS): Consists of two wooden frames that are painted black and hinged together. The frames are secured together by two hinged metal clips. Within each frame is a black painted wooden panel that slides out of the frame. On the top of each panel is a shaped handle to enable it to be slid out of the fame and a metal clip that secures the panel in place. Inside one frame is a hinged metal panel to separate the contents. One frame is marked "5" and the other is marked "6". The panel in frame 5 is split in five places and panel in frame 6 is split in two places. One corner of frame 6 is missing.

Physical description

Double dark-slide (DDS): Rectangular wooden frame, painted black, into which two black metal plates are slid. These plates are secured in place with metal clips. One side of the frame is marked "9" and the other side "10" in white lettering.

Physical description

Leather loop from leather case: Small strip of leather with four lines of stitching holes. When attached to the leather case, it forms a loop through which a strap can pass.

Physical description

Cloth: Square piece of red wool fabric. On edge and one corner are frayed.

Physical description

Four fragments: Two are strips of wood roughly square in section. Another is a five-sided shape similar to a rectangle with a corner cut off and appears to be the missing corner from PHO 234.5. The fourth piece is approximately square with a notch cut out of one of the sides. All are painted black.

History note

Frank Hurley (1885-1962) used this camera while acting as the official photgrapher to Dr [later Sir] Douglas Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) of 1913-1914. Hurley was one of the first photo-journalists, travelling the world in search of newsworthy pictures for use in magazines and cinematograph. He had been the official photographer to Mawson's earlier AAE which left Hobart, Tasmania in 1911. By selling his work, Hurley's photographs were essential in helping the expedition to recover some of its costs. He was later recruited to take part in Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914-1915. By 1917 Hurley was photographing Australian forces in action at Ypres and Passchendale and later, in Palestine. He resigned his commission in 1918 and returned to Australia. During the 1920s he took part in further expeditions, notably to New Guinea. He is described by Gael Newton in 'Shades of Light, Photography and Australia 1839-1988' as "dominating the photographic history of (Australia)".

Engraved plates, painted

Body: Ensign Reflex Model B British Made Houghtons Ltd, London Patents 16353-06, 15548-08, 6121-13 Lens: Ross, London, Made in England No 6(?)9527 (catalogue says 60527) 8 1/2in Homocentric 1:5.6 Case: "F. HURLEY"

Object Details

Category

Equipment

Creator

Houghtons Ltd, London

Production date

1910

Place made

London, England, United Kingdom

Materials

Camera And Slides: wood

Camera And Slides: metal

Camera And Slides: glass

Camera And Slides: Book cloth

Case: leather

Case: textile

Dimensions

Case: Height 262 mm, Length 445 mm, Width 330 mm

Camera: Height 255 mm, Length 247 mm, Width 253 mm

Catalogue number

PHO 234

Object associations

Associated people and organisations

Hurley, Frank
Australian Army, Australian Imperial Force, First
Associated keywords

Photography

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camera, still, 1/2 plate, Ensign Reflex Model B

Description

Object description

Physical description

Physical description

Physical description

Physical description

Physical description

Physical description

Physical description

Physical description

Physical description

Physical description

Physical description

Physical description

Physical description

History note

Engraved plates, painted

Object Details

Object associations

Associated people and organisations

Associated keywords

Our collections information

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