A-Pattern or 'A' Pattern camera

Ron (Netherlands) · Apr 10, 2020

Who of our fellow members has an A-Pattern camera?
I ask since I've acquired one in very nice shape, but alas as so many times with these oldies, without any plate holders.
If you have such a camera could you show it with its matching plateholders, so I know what to look for. Btw the camera was made in many different (British) formats, and the one I have is in the more common half plate size.
thanks

lobitar · Apr 10, 2020

No offence - but I really don't understand why you don't provide a picture?

Ron (Netherlands) · Apr 11, 2020

lobitar said:
No offence - but I really don't understand why you don't provide a picture?

No offence either, but I guess the member who has an A-pattern (and these are quite rare camera's) doesn't need an example...

BrianShaw · Apr 11, 2020

I have a couple of old British plate cameras but have no idea if they are “A-pattern” or not.

Ron (Netherlands) · Apr 11, 2020

Ok, sounds fair......its a Sanderson A-Pattern...

These are not half plate, but you get the picture:
http://www.earlyphotography.co.uk/site/entry_C305.html#C640

Ron (Netherlands) · Jan 3, 2021

Last week (dec 20/jan 21) found some time to put pics on the net of my A-pattern (for more info about camera and lens, click picture):

Sanderson A-pattern half plate camera (1)
by Ron (Netherlands), on Flickr

Sanderson A-pattern half plate camera (2)
by Ron (Netherlands), on Flickr

Perhaps a fellow member has a copy of the Houghton catalogue (1899, 1901 or 02, 03, 04) in which the camera could be presented? Could look like this:

Ian Grant · Jan 3, 2021

1898 BJPA not very good quality but better than nothing

Ian

Ron (Netherlands) · Jan 3, 2021

Many thanks Ian, for the swift response.....any info much appreciated!
If it is ok with you, I'll try to put that info on my flickr site below the picture of my camera...
(i've put a link to this site overthere)

Ian Grant · Jan 4, 2021

No problem.

I have quite a lot of Houghton's equipment from cameras to an enlarger, contact printing frames, safe-lights, etc. emnough to have sn Edawardian setup I have seen an A Pattern Sanderson camera and they are very nice. Actually Sanderson Cameras weremade by Holmes Brothers who were part of Houghton after 1904.

A 1930's Monopolies Commission report shows the Shareholdings of Houghton Butcher still split between the families of the companies that merged to .form first Houghton and much later Houghton Butcher. Some of these were mergers, othersw were takeovers. Outside investment largely coming from Lord (later Earl) Astor.and his family. Astor was Ameican born but raised in the UK and Aide de Camp to the Viceroy of India just before WWI, he would have been instrumental in setting up Houghton India Ltd.

The links between Houghtons and Butcher are complex with Butcher manufactuing cameras for Houghtons from 1904, later with a joint manufacturing company only merging completely in 1926.

Ian

Ron (Netherlands) · Jan 4, 2021

Thanks for the additional info. I read about the Holmes Brothers before, but couldn't find much additional info, nor about Sanderson himself.

In the past I've seen only 3 other A-pattern camera's - and only on the internet.
The first that I've seen was presumably an 8x10 owned by a fellow member on flickr, however he has sold it long ago.
The second one iIve seen was also on flickr owned by a fellow member named Steve Given from Australia; however he passed away in august last year; it was a half plate camera in good shape, probably from about 1910.
On my flickr site I have put the pictures of both camera's below the picture of mine for reference.

A third one I saw was a whole plate camera in possession of a photographer in Spain. It is a partly restored camera: some time in its life it got new bellows but it is very clear they are too small for the camera.

Ian Grant · Jan 4, 2021

I may have a spare lens board no idea what camera it's for it came with a lens. If you give me some measurements I'll check tomorrow,

Doing a search I have two files on Houghtons and Houghton Butcher but I need to go through them and verify data, at one point it was the largest manufacturer in the UK and possibly the world.

The Monopolies Commission where investigating Butchers Films Ltd, owned by Houghton Butcher they were a major distributor of Hollywood films in the UK making the copies sent to Cinemas. When I was a child there were 5 cinemas in my town, although 4 were closed, a sixth a dance hall for years had originally been the first silent movie theatre. The area I live is really three towns (one large, two small) and roughly 100,000 population now, so 5 cinemas in the largest, and 1 in one of the smaller shows how important cinemas were in the 1930's-50's.

So Butcher Films only made films for projection, but that must have been in huge quantities.

Ian

Ron (Netherlands) · Jan 4, 2021

Thanks,
if you mean the round lens board where the Cooke lens is directly attached to, is 85mm, / 3.35 inch in diameter;
the rectangular main board (that can be taken out) is 137mm / 5.40 inch

Ron (Netherlands) · Jan 8, 2021

Found some more info on F.H. Sanderson (including a portrait of him) here: http://www.fadingimages.uk/photoSa.asp

rknewcomb · Feb 14, 2021

Please forgive my ignorance, what does A-Pattern camera mean? Is the "A" mean as in first model and Pattern mean type, design etc?
thanks,
Robert

Ian Grant · Feb 15, 2021

It probably refer to the Sanderson Patent which may have design variants.,

The Ilford Phenidone Patent gives various formulae using the compound, a US Patent granted to a Swedish company for an Ascorbic Developer also gives variations and this prevented Kodak launching a similar developer until it expired.

Ian

AgX · Feb 15, 2021

rknewcomb said:
Please forgive my ignorance, what does A-Pattern camera mean? Is the "A" mean as in first model and Pattern mean type, design etc?

I too did not find a convincing explanation.

Moreover I do not understand its front standard from those photos. Typically I am the tech guy, but in this case I am very slow on the uptake....

grat · Feb 15, 2021

I'm wondering if it means the front standard design-- it almost looks like the front standard is designed for the struts to not be vertical. Perhaps the idea is by angling the struts to each other and the standard, you get a more stable base (and an "A" pattern).

Or perhaps it's because they're for Architectural work.

AgX · Feb 15, 2021

I thought of "Architecture" too, but in the designation "A-Pattern" it makes no sense. I too thought of the design of the camera, especially its front standard, but that does not make sense to me either.

Very far fetched would be: "designed in a pattern that is best for architectural photography".
But as indicated I even do not understand the design of this camera...

grat · Feb 15, 2021

http://www.earlyphotography.co.uk/site/entry_C305.html

AgX · Feb 15, 2021

I knew that text, but it did not make me wiser, nor does it now.

grat · Feb 15, 2021

That may not be the text's fault.

But it was all I found that references "A" pattern cameras from Sanderson.

Edit: ... and it's the link Ron provided. I gotta get more sleep.

Ron (Netherlands) · Feb 15, 2021

thanks all for having a look into this thread. From what I've read the Sanderson camera with the - what they called - compound front panel and the combo of wooden and metal struts, was presented at the world fair in London. They presented 3 types, called A-Pattern, B-Pattern and C-Pattern. However investigation revealed that there could have been only an A- and B-pattern camera, since there were only 2 presented at the fair (btw I've lost track of the source but if I can find it I'll post it here).
I guess 'pattern' was in those days a chique word for type. They were made in almost all in its day common camera dimensions: from quarter plate to the huge 15x12 inch.

The camera was indeed developed with in mind architectural photography, although I've never found any info on how Sanderson actually would make use of the compound front in combination with the different struts.
Btw the compound front makes it possible not only to shift the lens in horizontal and vertical direction, but in very direction in between. The combined struts provide lots of variations of tilt (further the back panel has the possibility of tilt and swing).

<edit> since these camera's are quite rare and very well made, I try to set up a little database with every kind of info I can find. So if you have one or know of one please let me know its specs (plate dimension), serial, type of makerslabel.

AgX · Feb 15, 2021

But if you use the oblique strut from the rear standard the same way at the front, and that is seemingly done here:
http://www.earlyphotography.co.uk/Images/C305.JPG

and with the front panel sliding in the vertical struts, the wooden U-shaped, hinged frame yields no benefit.
That is what I am wondering all about so far.

removed account4 · Feb 15, 2021

Ron (Netherlands) said:
Last week (dec 20/jan 21) found some time to put pics on the net of my A-pattern (for more info about camera and lens, click picture):

Sanderson A-pattern half plate camera (1)
by Ron (Netherlands), on Flickr

Sanderson A-pattern half plate camera (2)
by Ron (Netherlands), on Flickr

Perhaps a fellow member has a copy of the Houghton catalogue (1899, 1901 or 02, 03, 04) in which the camera could be presented? Could look like this:

hi Ron (Netherlands):

I know absolutely nothing about that camera other than it is really a lovely work of art. I almost about an Italian 8x10 camera years ago that also had a round/oval lensboard. It was a camera made by Fatif.
I never bought it, and never have seen a camera with a round lensboard since. Maybe they got their idea from this camera?

Thanks!
John

Ron (Netherlands) · Feb 15, 2021

AgX said:
But if you use the oblique strut from the rear standard the same way at the front, and that is seemingly done here:
http://www.earlyphotography.co.uk/Images/C305.JPG
and with the front panel sliding in the vertical struts, the wooden U-shaped, hinged frame yields no benefit.
That is what I am wondering all about so far.

This is what I found on the - what Sanderson called - the Universal Swing Front:
"The second aim of the Universal Swing Front was to allow the camera baseboard and therefore the tripod to remain level and do away with the necessity of tilting the camera and tilting the back. When taking subjects such as buildings a problem would be the amount of foreground shown on the screen, to overcome this the photographer would tilt the camera up, this will introduce converging verticals which was remedied by tilting the back so that it was vertical. In Sanderson's design the camera bed is kept level and the lens is raised, for which there is ample rising front available, and tilted as required. A test took place in Cambridge in 1897, the results were widely reported in the photographic press and substantiate Sanderson"

Apparently until then camera's were mainly equipped with only tilt of the back panel.

"Sanderson’s patent of 1895: This describes how the lens board is held between two pairs of slotted struts, a screwed bolt, connected to the lens board, passes between the slots to clamp the lens board to the struts. When unclamped the lens board is free to move vertically, tilt and move forward or backwards. This allowed the photographer to roughly focus and compose the subject, then with the struts unclamped a single movement would move the lens board to critical focus and bring the rising front into play. On later models there would be pre-set catches to set the front standard in a vertical position."

The first camera introduced, had metal struts - the wooden only later added to provide more stability.

A-Pattern or 'A' Pattern camera

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