Ensign Midget

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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. The folded size of the "55" was 91mm x 44mm x 21mm, the film frame was 31.5 x 41.5mm on negative stock approximately 35.8mm wide (film spool width).

There was a special edition of silver-painted Midgets for the 1935 Silver Jubilee of King George V and Queen Mary.



Notes

  1. This image of someone holding an Ensign Midget, posted to Flickr by Neil Curry, illustrates how small the camera is.

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