Whitehouse Products
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| Two-Twenty-Five - the larger Beacon image by Rick Soloway (Image rights) |
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| Early Beacon, with B setting image by Steve Harwood (Image rights) |
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| Beacon II, with B/I switch image by Rick Soloway (Image rights) |
Whitehouse Products Inc. was a camera manufacturer based in Brooklyn, New York, USA. It made simple Bakelite (and later other plastic) snapshot models, branded Beacon. Early Beacon models had collapsible lens panels; collapsing the panel disabled the shutter. Early models featured a B shutter setting, which was removed on later examples. The Beacon II and Two Twenty-Five were fitted for mounting a flashgun.
The later Reflex model was almost identical to the Ansco Cadet Reflex. The WH 127-A model was also sold by Argus as the Argus 127.
As a representative model, the Two Twenty-Five exposes 12 images of 2¼" x 2¼" size on 620 film. It features a 70mm Whitar coated air-spaced doublet f/12 lens. Includes a Whitehouse shutter with 1/50 sec speed, built-in flash synchronization for class M bulbs, and eye-level viewfinder.[1]
Cameras
| Name | Dates | Film Format |
|---|---|---|
| Beacon | 16 3x4cm on 127 | |
| Beacon II | 1947-55 | 16 3x4cm on 127 |
| Beacon Two Twenty-Five | 1950-58 | 12 6x6cm on 620 |
| Beacon Reflex | c1960 | 12 4x4cm on 127 |
| Beacon Automatic 705 | ? | 12 28x28mm on 126 |
| Beacon Autoflash WH 127-A | ? | 12 4x4 on 127 |
| Charlie the Tuna | 1971 | 12 28x28mm on 126 |
The Beacon, Beacon II & Two Twenty-Five cameras were usually black, but were available in various different colours.
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| Autoflash WH 127-A also sold as Argus 127 image by AWCam (Image rights) |
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| Charlie the Tuna image by John Kratz (Image rights) |
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| Beacon II, without B/I switch,lens panel extended image by AWCam (Image rights) |
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| white Beacon II, without B/I switch image by John Kratz (Image rights) |
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| Beacon II with matching flash image by Geoff Harrisson (Image rights) |
Links
- Whitehouse cameras on www.collection-appareils.fr by Sylvain Halgand (in French)
- Charlie the Tuna by Flickr user Travis Gray
- Beacon II with Flash
- Beacon Cameras at PBase.com
- Autoflash 127-A on OneTwoSeven.org.uk
- Automatic 705 on ClicClac.fr (in French)
- Whitehouse page at Collection G. Even's site (in French)
