Thornton-Pickard Ruby
The Ruby is a wooden folding field camera made by Thornton-Pickard from about 1890 to 1907.[1] Intended for use on a tripod, the folding bed includes a turntable. The design was changed to make the camera also usable as a hand camera.[2]
McKeown states that the camera has a 'Ruby' Rapid-Rectilinear lens.[3] This is mounted on a Thornton-Pickard roller-blind shutter on the front standard.
The Royal Ruby is a very similar camera, introduced as a high-specification version of the Ruby (Notes at Early Photography describe it as the top of T-P's range[4]) in about 1900,[5] and continued in production for some years after the standard Ruby was discontinued. McKeown states that all Royal Ruby cameras are triple extension (allowing close focus, or long-focus lenses).[3] Examples exist with roller-blind shutters on the lens board,[6] and with a built-in focal-plane shutter.[7] Royal Ruby cameras have been seen in quarter- half- and full-plate, and 4x5-inch and (perhaps) 5x7½-inch (or 13x18cm) sizes. Notes at Early Photography state that 5x7½-inch and 8x10-inch cameras were introduced in 1907, when the quarter-plate and 4x5-inch sizes were discontinued.[4][5][8] There is also a half-plate stereo model.
The Special Ruby, strangely, was introduced as a lower-specification version of the Ruby, also shortly before the standard model was discontinued.[3] Wood and Brass shows an example from 1909-12, with a spring back (for easy insertion of dark slides in front of the focusing screen) and with triple extension;[9] the notes state that these features were among those left off the Special at first, and that they were reintroduced in about 1908, so the camera is very similar to a standard Ruby. McKeown lists the Special Ruby as double extension.[3]
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| Ruby 4×5 inch image by Geoff Harrisson (Image rights) |
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| showing the later style back image by Geoff Harrisson (Image rights) |
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| Special Ruby 1/2 plate image by Geoff Harrisson (Image rights) |
Notes
- ↑ Half-plate Ruby of about 1897, at Wood and Brass.
- ↑ British Patent 22136 of 1895, Improvements in Photographic Cameras, granted to John Thornton and Edgar Pickard, and describing changes to a stand camera 'such as is well known as the Thornton Pickard Ruby Camera' to make it suitable for hand-held use as well as on a stand; at Espacenet, the patent search facility of the European Patent Office.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 12th Edition, 2005-2006. USA, Centennial Photo Service, 2004. ISBN 0-931838-40-1 (hardcover). ISBN 0-931838-41-X (softcover). p918.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Royal Ruby at Early Photography: details and pictures of a quarter-plate camera and a half-plate one with nickel-plated fittings.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Royal Ruby in half-plate and full plate sizes, dated by the site owner to about 1900 and 1907 respectively, at Wood and Brass.
- ↑ Half-plate Royal Ruby outfit, dated by the auctioneer to about 1925; camera, T-P wooden tripod, two lenses and several front shutters, sold at the fifteenth Westlicht Photographica Auction, on 23 May 2009.
- ↑ Half-plate Royal Ruby, dated by the auctioneer to about 1904, with built-in T-P 'Unit' focal-plane shutter, offered for sale at the tenth Westlicht auction, on 18 November 2006.
- ↑ Royal Ruby camera described as 13x18cm (and with 13x18 reducing masks for the plate/film holders) but perhaps actually the similar 5x7½-inch size, sold at the 36th Leitz Photographica Auction in June 2020.
- ↑ Half-plate Special Ruby, about 1909-12, at Wood and Brass; this example has triple extension and a spring back. Its shutter is missing from the lens board.
