Antique & 19th Century Cameras
Antique & 19th Century Cameras
The 1893 Instantograph Patent Camera
J. Lancaster & Son, Birmingham, England
This Lancaster Instantograph is a ¼-plate model complete with Lancaster's Patent Intantaneous Lens and scarce rubberband shutter. It is a robust camera made of polished mahogany and a brass bound rear standard to provide additional strength. The red bellows is a double extension, tapered square cut design.
Lancaster's Instantograph series was appealing to advanced amateurs such as the English photographer James Coventry. Mr. Coventry was a gifted amateur photographer, active in the 1890s and early 1900s, who used a ¼-plate Lancaster Instantograph similar to this camera.
A monograph about James Coventry by Gerald Ponting and Anthony Light entitled “James Coventry - Gentleman Photographer” was released on October 2, 1999. The book is a rich chronical about James Conventry's photography and late victorian English Life. Follow this link for more information about the this fascinating study.
The ¼-plate Instantograph is very small for a view camera (about the same size as the ¼-plate Le Merveilleux) and well suited for field use. It's body walls and bed have the same thickness as the larger ½-plate model, making it a rugged little camera.
Included with the camera is a changing box that allowed dry-plates to be transferred between the storage box and plateholders without the aid of a darkroom. Special dry-plate holders incorporated a sliding door allowing the glass plates to be transfered to and from the changing box.
This reference is from "How To Be A Successful Amateur Photographer" by W. J. Lancaster, F.C.S.
The Instantograph was a very popular line of cameras with over 15,000 sold by 1888.
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