Invented by F. H. Sanderson, his
camera incorporated improvements allowing architectural photography
to be undertaken without distortion and the first arrived in
1895-6, see advert below. The heart of all Sanderson cameras
are the four lensboard support struts which allow the lens to
be moved off and about its axis to correct undesirable perspective
effects in the image. Other than this the camera follows conventional
practice. Production was entrusted to specialist camera makers,
notably Houghtons. These early models were intended for tripod
use only, which is understandable as the image has to be inspected carefully on the ground glass
screen to get the full benefit of the lens movements. In
1899 a 'hand and stand' version was introduced and the strut
design was refined in 1902 to become the definitive version,
with sprung pins that allow the lensboard to tilt. A further
two sprung pins mounted on the lensboard itself disengage to
allow the lensboard to swing. Re-engaging is simple and the camera
can be set to the neutral datums easily, without the need to
inspect the image, essential in a hand camera, and the reason
for the inclusion of these design elements.
Our example was acquired in October 2007, missing some vital
parts but restored from our collection of spare parts. This is
an early example with the 1902 pattern struts. Square cornered bellows give away its age,
these died out very early in the century owing to the ease of
'pin holing'. These early ones don't appear to have been fitted
with spirit levels. Houghtons
played around with many small aspects of the construction and
the quality of the build improved noticeably over the first three
to four years of production. This one is quite rough in places!
These types of camera were often owned by professionals who saw them more as tools of the trade, subsequently modifying them as better lenses and shutters became available. It is not unusual to find that the focus scales have been deleted or moved and the original shutter long gone. This example is no exception and has been restored using an appropriate Unicum shutter and other parts from a long dead example. At some time in the past it was modified to have a rear focus rack fitted, to allow fine focus of short focal length lenses, this has been retained as it has been well done, perhaps even by Houghtons, though it is definitely not from new.
Serial No.2848
Shutter, Bauch and Lombe Unicum, speeds T, B, 1, 2, 5, 10, 25,
50 & 100th
Lens, Dalmeyer Rapid Rectilinear, F/8
Condition, F5
Contemporary Sanderson adverts, click image
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