Difference between revisions of "Limit"

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m (Noted the iris on the Cooke lens; other example doesn't have it; not sure about the middle lens.)
 
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The '''Limit''' is a camera for 4.5x6cm plates, made by [[Thornton-Pickard]] in about 1912. It has a metal body, part painted black and part nickel-plated.<ref name=Christies_Cooke>[https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-4028255 Limit] with the f/6.5 Cooke Series III anastigmat, sold by [https://www.christies.com/ Christie's] in December 2002. It is listed as 6x9cm size by mistake.</ref><ref name=Christies_achromat>[https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-4378433 Limit] with one of the cheaper lenses, probably the achromat, sold by Christie's in November 2004.</ref> It has a collapsing lens-tube so that, when folded, the camera is a flat metal box, easy to stow away. It has a [[focal-plane shutter]], but this offers only 'I' and 'T' settings (described as 'T', but 'B' shutter seems more likely). There is a [[Newton finder]] ono one end of the front, which swivels up for use. There is a folding foot, which allows the camera to sit upright in vertical orientation on a table.
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The '''Limit''' is a camera for 4.5x6cm plates or film-packs, made by [[Thornton-Pickard]] in about 1912. It has a metal body, part painted black and part nickel-plated.<ref name=Christies_Cooke>[https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-4028255 Limit] with the f/6.5 Cooke Series III anastigmat, sold by [https://www.christies.com/ Christie's] in December 2002. It is listed as 6x9cm size by mistake.</ref><ref name=Christies_achromat>[https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-4378433 Limit] with one of the cheaper lenses, probably the achromat, sold by Christie's in November 2004.</ref> It has a collapsing lens-tube so that, when folded, the camera is a flat metal box, easy to stow away. It has a [[focal-plane shutter]], but this offers only 'I' and 'T' settings (described as 'T', but 'B' shutter seems more likely). There is a [[Newton finder]] ono one end of the front, which swivels up for use. There is a folding foot, which allows the camera to sit upright in vertical orientation on a table.
  
 
The camera was advertised in the British Journal Almanac of 1913 with one of three lenses:<ref name=BJA1913>[https://www.pacificrimcamera.com/rl/02811/02811.pdf Thornton-Pickard advertisements] in the British Journal Almanac for 1913, reproduced at [https://www.pacificrimcamera.com/ Pacifica Rim Camera]. The Limit is on p210-211 of the Almanac (p24-5 of the document as reproduced).</ref>
 
The camera was advertised in the British Journal Almanac of 1913 with one of three lenses:<ref name=BJA1913>[https://www.pacificrimcamera.com/rl/02811/02811.pdf Thornton-Pickard advertisements] in the British Journal Almanac for 1913, reproduced at [https://www.pacificrimcamera.com/ Pacifica Rim Camera]. The Limit is on p210-211 of the Almanac (p24-5 of the document as reproduced).</ref>
 
* A Thornton-Pickard [[achromat]] (price 35 shillings), probably an f/11 lens.<ref name=Christies_achromat />
 
* A Thornton-Pickard [[achromat]] (price 35 shillings), probably an f/11 lens.<ref name=Christies_achromat />
 
* A Thornton-Pickard Pantoplanat (price 45 shillings); the Pantoplanat is listed on its own in the cited advertisement as an f/8 [[Rapid Rectilinear]] type.
 
* A Thornton-Pickard Pantoplanat (price 45 shillings); the Pantoplanat is listed on its own in the cited advertisement as an f/8 [[Rapid Rectilinear]] type.
* An f/6.5 [[Cooke]] Series III anastigmat (price 110 shillings - 5 pounds 10 shillings).<ref name=Christies_Cooke />
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* An f/6.5 [[Cooke]] Series III anastigmat (price 110 shillings - 5 pounds 10 shillings) with an iris diaphragm.<ref name=Christies_Cooke />
  
A 'Limit' enlarging box was also offered.
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A 'Limit' enlarging box was also offered, to make postcard-sized prints from the vest-pocket negatives.<ref name=BJA1913/>
  
 
The camera is described in British Patent 12607, filed in 1911.<ref name=Pat>[https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search?q=pn%3DGB191112607A British Patent 12607 of 1911], ''Improvements in Photographic Cameras and Lenses therefor'', filed May 1911 and granted May 1912 to the Thornton-Pickard company, Arthur Gray Pickard and Richard Hesketh, including the provisional specification of patent application 28186 of November 1911. The patent describes a camera with the lens on a collapsible lens tube in two or more sections. Diagrams show the camera with either a focal-plane roller shutter as in the Limit, or a two-leaf shutter at the back of the lens. In the latter case, a pin projecting from the shutter mechanism engages with the shutter-release lever when the lens-tube is extended. At [https://worldwide.espacenet.com/ Espacenet], the patent search facility of the European Patent Office.</ref> This describes three features:
 
The camera is described in British Patent 12607, filed in 1911.<ref name=Pat>[https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search?q=pn%3DGB191112607A British Patent 12607 of 1911], ''Improvements in Photographic Cameras and Lenses therefor'', filed May 1911 and granted May 1912 to the Thornton-Pickard company, Arthur Gray Pickard and Richard Hesketh, including the provisional specification of patent application 28186 of November 1911. The patent describes a camera with the lens on a collapsible lens tube in two or more sections. Diagrams show the camera with either a focal-plane roller shutter as in the Limit, or a two-leaf shutter at the back of the lens. In the latter case, a pin projecting from the shutter mechanism engages with the shutter-release lever when the lens-tube is extended. At [https://worldwide.espacenet.com/ Espacenet], the patent search facility of the European Patent Office.</ref> This describes three features:
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[[Category:L]]
 
[[Category:L]]
 
[[Category:4.5x6]]
 
[[Category:4.5x6]]
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[[Category:1911-1914]]

Latest revision as of 17:59, 8 April 2024

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The Limit is a camera for 4.5x6cm plates or film-packs, made by Thornton-Pickard in about 1912. It has a metal body, part painted black and part nickel-plated.[1][2] It has a collapsing lens-tube so that, when folded, the camera is a flat metal box, easy to stow away. It has a focal-plane shutter, but this offers only 'I' and 'T' settings (described as 'T', but 'B' shutter seems more likely). There is a Newton finder ono one end of the front, which swivels up for use. There is a folding foot, which allows the camera to sit upright in vertical orientation on a table.

The camera was advertised in the British Journal Almanac of 1913 with one of three lenses:[3]

  • A Thornton-Pickard achromat (price 35 shillings), probably an f/11 lens.[2]
  • A Thornton-Pickard Pantoplanat (price 45 shillings); the Pantoplanat is listed on its own in the cited advertisement as an f/8 Rapid Rectilinear type.
  • An f/6.5 Cooke Series III anastigmat (price 110 shillings - 5 pounds 10 shillings) with an iris diaphragm.[1]

A 'Limit' enlarging box was also offered, to make postcard-sized prints from the vest-pocket negatives.[3]

The camera is described in British Patent 12607, filed in 1911.[4] This describes three features:

  • The lens-tube collapsing in sections into the camera body, for compactness, which the patent acknowledges is not new.
  • A 'key' (a machined ridge) in the collapsing sections that prevents them from rotating relative to each other; they pull out without turning.
  • A mechanism that stops the shutter being released when the camera is collapsed (but this only applies to an alternative version of the camera, with a leaf shutter mounted in the lens tube; the Snappa has this feature, in a more simply-built camera).

The Limit is a very poor cousin to the strut-folding Minim, which follows it in the same advertisement, with better lenses and a range of shutter speeds.

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 Limit with the f/6.5 Cooke Series III anastigmat, sold by Christie's in December 2002. It is listed as 6x9cm size by mistake.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Limit with one of the cheaper lenses, probably the achromat, sold by Christie's in November 2004.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Thornton-Pickard advertisements in the British Journal Almanac for 1913, reproduced at Pacifica Rim Camera. The Limit is on p210-211 of the Almanac (p24-5 of the document as reproduced).
  4. British Patent 12607 of 1911, Improvements in Photographic Cameras and Lenses therefor, filed May 1911 and granted May 1912 to the Thornton-Pickard company, Arthur Gray Pickard and Richard Hesketh, including the provisional specification of patent application 28186 of November 1911. The patent describes a camera with the lens on a collapsible lens tube in two or more sections. Diagrams show the camera with either a focal-plane roller shutter as in the Limit, or a two-leaf shutter at the back of the lens. In the latter case, a pin projecting from the shutter mechanism engages with the shutter-release lever when the lens-tube is extended. At Espacenet, the patent search facility of the European Patent Office.