Rangefinder Baby Sibyl - Antique and Vintage Cameras

Rangefinder Baby Sibyl

1939

Newman & Guardia Ltd.

London

England

Image of Rangefinder Baby Sibyl

Lens:
f4.5, 75 mm, Ross Xpres, iris diaphragm to f32. Serial no. 140369 (c.1939).

Shutter:
Spring powered sector with pneumatic regulation, speeded 1/2 - 1/200, B, T. Not self-capping.

Construction:
Leather covered metal body, leather bellows.

Format:
4.5 x 6 cm plates held in double dark-slides.

Focusing:
Bellows to 4 feet, scale to 2 yards.

Attributes:
Coupled rangefinder, swing mirror type, half silvered mirror giving split field. Direct-vision (lens/lens) view-finder. 2nd Direct-vision (lens/lens) view-finder.

Movements:
Rising front, cross front.

Serial Number:
B1403 .

With:

  • 3 double dark-slides (1 - 6), aluminium, round tops.; FPA, inside is stamped N&G, London, W.
  • N&G Folding lens hood.; Cable release attachment.; 2 filters by Ilford: Alpha, Beta 401.

The Rangefinder version of the Baby Sibyl was brought out in 1939. Very few could have been sold as it is now extremely rare. It is essentially an ordinary Sibyl to which has been added a rangefinder running vertically along one side. The coupling is quite simple, a lever is passed from the rangefinder housing to the inside of the body, this touches the lazy-tong strut which moves during focusing and so moves the lever. By 1939 few Sibyls were sold, they looked out-of-date and were expensive. The price was £21.0.0 which was £3 dearer than the ordinary model. The position of the focusing lever is not good, the rangefinder tends to be obscured by the hand.

There are minor differences in the rangefinder windows between examples. Later examples have a much narrower lower window than shown here, the upper, circular, window also differs slightly in size.

References & Notes:
N&G Models.; N&G Serial Numbers.; AP 21/6/39, p. 709.

Illustrations:
Christies Cat. 11/12/02 lot 61. Shows camera serial no. 1416. That model has a rangefinder window of different shape to the example shown here. Photographica World no. 59 shows camera 1411 which has the same window arrangement as this example.

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