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Ilford, Advocate II. Photograph gallery.

Bangkok floating market

The Advocate had its first outing in the museums' ownership in January 2001, during a trip to Thailand. All the following images were taken during this frenetic trip. Little account is taken for the age of various cameras and inevitably accidents happen from time to time. The Advocate had a severe soaking during the course of this trip. However, it seems to have dried out with no ill effects, as most of these pictures were taken after that event. It's a risk that has to be accepted when all the various exhibits are expected to be used.

The picture, right, was taken at a Bangkok floating market, on the day of the soaking. This camera is best either for landscapes or this sort of scene.

The shutter release works in the horizontal plane, which makes it a tad awkward to hold steady at the point of release. The shutter also has a very definite "break off" at this point which further aggravates the problem.


All manner of merchandise can be bought in these floating markets. Although a large amount of traditional trade still goes on, there is an inevitable shift towards the tourist sector.	Thailand is nominally a Monarchy and the people are quite respectful of the incumbent Monarch. This is the Royal Summer Palace at Bang Pa-in


Another image from the Royal Palace at Ba Pa-in, Thailand	A small part of the beautiful Golden Palace, Bangkok

An hours coach ride from Bangkok will deliver you to the ruins at Ayutthaya, the old capital. A century ago these were still covered by the jungle. It seems a pity to have cleared them on the one hand, yet it does reveal the true extent of the complex. You can only try and imagine what this place must have looked like when it was new. The Advocate is, in fact, a very useful and usable camera - it can easily be tucked away in a bag and provides a comfortably wide angle view

If the Advocate lets itself down at all, it's in the resolution of the lens. Despite being stopped to f/11, the clarity is a bit disappointing, which is surprising in view of the relatively short focal length

		Kemble airfield seems to have designs on being the UKs equivalent to the Mojave Dessert, currently being used to store ten BAe 146 airliners. Always a big fan of the original "Whisper Jet", these days the fleet are getting a little elderly and these four laid up examples probably face an uncertain future. Shame, I always thought they were rather handsome.
		Not much uncertainty about the future of this dilapidated DH104 Dove. It's certainly very unlikely to ever see air between it and the ground, except maybe slung beneath a crane. Another inmate at Kemble. Ilford managed to get a print off of every negative, despite my best efforts !
		Capitol Hill, Washington DC, bright sun and rather chilly into the bargain. Not a spot of dust to be seen on the prints.
		A lobster kicking up sediment in his tank at the Washington DC Aquarium. The lighting was weak tungsten and decidedly orange in colour. This was exposed, hand held, for about 1/5sec. The thick glass made guessing the distance near impossible. All told it was amazing it was usable at all. This was pretty well exposed so Ilford didn't have to work too hard at this one.
		A section of the old disused canal, the Itchen Navigation. There are few signs that this was once a canal, save for the remains of some crumbling lock walls.
		Shoppers scurrying around late on Xmas Eve 2006 in Winchester, UK.
		A station on the Washington DC Metro. Very utilitarian. Hand held for two seconds, I was traveling light - without a tripod. All told the Ilford service worked out well, certainly good enough to give your old cameras a Black and White workout, so no excuses now.