Ensign Midget
The Ensign Midget was a tiny[1] roll film strut folder made by Houghton-Butcher in the UK.
It was introduced in 1934, to a design by Swedish engineer Magnus Niéll - designer of the Ensignette. Production was halted by war work in 1941. Film size was Ensign E10.
The original models - with a roughly diamond-shaped nameplate surrounding the lens - had a 3-speed shutter and either a fixed-focus ("All Distance") lens with two apertures (A/D model), or a focusing Ensar-Anastigmat lens with 5 stops (A/N model). In 1935, the cheaper "model 22" was introduced, with a single-speed (+T) shutter, simpler viewfinder and other simplifications. The earlier models were renamed "33" and "55" at this time.
There was a special edition of silver-painted Midgets for the 1935 Silver Jubilee of King George V and Queen Mary.
Ensign Midget (the simplified model 22) image by George Rex (Image rights) |
Notes
- ↑ This image of someone holding an Ensign Midget, posted to Flickr by Neil Curry, illustrates how small the camera is.
Original A/D version with film image by Marc De Ridder (Image rights) |
Links
- Ensign Midget on Adrian Richmond's Ensign History pages
- Ensign Midget variations on submin.com
- Midget on the Living Image museum
- Ensign Midget on Nigel Richard's site
- Flickr set showing Midget and original paperwork, by Marc De Ridder
- Midget on www.collection-appareils.fr by Sylvain Halgand (in French)