It seems that Anthony used many different cameras over the years. Many of the negatives I have are neatly wrapped in brown envelopes or white company paper bags that he used in his shop. While by no means the rule, there is sometimes the name of the camera and perhaps the year and name of the occasion.
From this scanty information, I picked up the following cameras that were used at some time or another by the photographer. Aquick look at the list shows that he also had some specialist, narrow-niche cameras like a half-frame camera and a stereo camera.
The list is in no particular order since I am not so well versed in the subject that I can put them in the right chronological order. Please also be aware that the list shows the cameras that he owned and not those that I know that he used to take the photographs in this website. For example, the Minolta SR-T 101 was first launched in 1966 and certainly could not have been used in the post-war decade that these photos refer to. On the other hand, the article on “Hyperstereoscopy” was published in Amateur Photography in August of 1953 and photos for this article were almost certainly taken by the Iloca stereo camera listed below.
The Minox incident
The MINOX GT camera holds a special place in my heart because of the following anecdote that I remember as if it was yesterday.
In 1982 I was 24 years old and went on a short work-related course in London. This was my first trip abroad as travel was not that easy during those days. Anthony, my uncle, asked me to buy for him this spanking new camera on the market (the MINOX) and as I knew that I would have the time, I ageed on the condition that I would have to pay customs duty as well on coming back (slipping in things through customs in one’s back pocket was a national hobby at that time ....). Anthony of course agreed as he wanted the camera boxed and sealed but also because he was a very upright person in this sense.
When I came back, the Customs Official asked me laconically whether I had anything to declare. When I, in my normal voice, as opposed to a whisper in the ear, said that I have a brand new camera to declare for duty purposes, the gentlreman (for want of a better word) became livid and starting huffing and puffing and looking around him. “Things are not usually done this way, sir” he said “it will be costing you a lot in duty charges!”. “No problem” I replied “my uncle will be paying. I will pay whatever you ask but of course I would need a receipt for whatever I pay to show to my uncle.
At that point the gentleman just stared at me as if I were speaking in Chinese! (Receipt? Wot is dat, guv? ....). It was only when I saw his colleagues looking at him and grinning from ear to ear that it dawned on me what his game was! I leave up to you to work that out .... At the end of the day I paid about £6 duty on a camera that cost some £30 if I remember correctly, about 20% of the price of the camera. And for which he issued an official reciept after a few minutes looking for the receipt booklet. Of course, I never told my uncle about this as he would have been shocked and scandalised.
ALL camera photos listed here were taken from the Internet
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Kodak f 6.3
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Solida f 2.9
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![01_Demaria Lapierre Dehel Folding Camera75mm f3.62 01_Demaria Lapierre Dehel Folding Camera75mm f3.62](../assets/images/autogen/01_Demaria-Lapierre-Dehel-Folding-Camera75mm-f3.jpg)
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![02_Kodak f 6.3 02_Kodak f 6.3](../assets/images/autogen/02_Kodak-f-6.jpg)
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![03_Solida f 2.9 03_Solida f 2.9](../assets/images/autogen/03_Solida-f-2.jpg)
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Olympus Pen EES
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Vivitar autofocus
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Contax autofocus
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![04_Olympus_Pen 04_Olympus_Pen](../assets/images/autogen/04_Olympus_Pen.jpg)
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![13_VivitaAutofocusCamera 13_VivitaAutofocusCamera](../assets/images/autogen/13_VivitaAutofocusCamera.jpg)
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![14_ContaxAutofocus 14_ContaxAutofocus](../assets/images/autogen/14_ContaxAutofocus.jpg)
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Rolfix II f 4.5
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Rollei TE compact
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Minox GT
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![05_Rolfix_II 05_Rolfix_II](../assets/images/autogen/05_Rolfix_II.jpg)
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![06_RolleiTE 06_RolleiTE](../assets/images/autogen/06_RolleiTE.jpg)
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![07_MinoxGT 07_MinoxGT](../assets/images/autogen/07_MinoxGT.jpg)
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Minolta SR-T 101b
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Minolta XG9
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Iloca stereo camera
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![08_MinoltaSRT101b 08_MinoltaSRT101b](../assets/images/autogen/08_MinoltaSRT101b.jpg)
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![15_MinoltaXG9 15_MinoltaXG9](../assets/images/autogen/15_MinoltaXG9.jpg)
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![09_IlocaStereoCamera 09_IlocaStereoCamera](../assets/images/autogen/09_IlocaStereoCamera.jpg)
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Robot IIa
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Gevabox (Gevaert)
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Ricoh 500ME compact (half frame)
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![10_RobotII 10_RobotII](../assets/images/autogen/10_RobotII.jpg)
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![11_GevaertGevabox 11_GevaertGevabox](../assets/images/autogen/11_GevaertGevabox.jpg)
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![12_Ricoh500ME 12_Ricoh500ME](../assets/images/autogen/12_Ricoh500ME.jpg)
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