Sands & Hunter Imperial - Antique and Vintage Cameras

Sands & Hunter Imperial

1887

Sands & Hunter

London

England

Image of Sands & Hunter Imperial

Lens:
c. f7, c. 9" Sands & Hunter Euryscope No. 1. Waterhouse stops in case. Lens cap.

Construction:
Spanish mahogany, dovetail joints. Black square cornered, tapered leather bellows.

Format:
6 ½" x 8 ½" plates held in double dark-slides.

Focusing:
Bellows. Double extension, rack and pinion movement to inner frame.

Attributes:
Reversing back. Removable lens panel.

Identification:
Baseboard hinge at the back. There is no strut to the front standard and it has a semi-circular clamp to the baseboard. At some time some work has been done to the camera: the lens panel has been widened, to allow for this the top piece of wood holding the lens panel in place has been moved upwards, this has resulted in the cross front retaining screw being removed. Why this was done is not clear.

Movements:
Rising front, tilting back.

Serial Number:
755 , the number is stamped on the front standard visible when the lens board is removed and the lens board itself.

Notes:
Address on plaque: 20 Cranbourn St.

With:
Double dark-slide.

Sands & Hunter Imperial

1887

Sands & Hunter

London

England

Image of Sands & Hunter Imperial

Lens:
f8, 8 ½" Wray rapid rectilinear. Iris diaphragm to f64. Lens cap. Serial no. 10099 .

Construction:
Spanish mahogany, dovetail joints. Black square cornered, tapered leather bellows.

Format:
6 ½" x 4 ¾" plates held in double dark-slides.

Focusing:
Bellows. Double extension, rack and pinion movement to inner frame.

Attributes:
Reversing back. Removable lens panel.

Identification:
Baseboard hinge near front panel. Strut to front panel. Curved slot for rising front screw.

Movements:
Rising front, tilting back.

Serial Number:
757 , the number is stamped on the front standard visible when the lens board is removed and on the baseboard.

Notes:
Address on plaque: 20 Cranbourn St.

With:
3 double dark-slides. Tripod screw.

The Imperial is quite an odd design, the front standard moves along the base and was clamped by rods passing through the front standard, i.e. Hare 1882 pattern. The rear standard moves and was clamped in a similar way, which was typical for tailboard cameras of the period. The baseboard is in two parts with a hinge joining the two, either near the front standard or the rear standard. To fold the camera the front and rear standards are pushed to the short part of the baseboard, the main part of the baseboard then hinges up to cover either the front standard or rear standard, depending on whether the baseboard hinge is near the back or the front.

The camera incorporated Sands & Hunter's patent for operating a swing or tilting back: A circular plate was mounted on the camera and able to rotate about an eccentrically mounted fixing. The plate carried an arcuate slot in which a stud, fixed to the tilting back, could move. The stud was also constrained to move in a straight slot fixed to the camera body but overlapping the tilting back. Rotating the circular plate therefore moved the stud along the straight slot and so altered the separation of the tilting part from the camera body.

The are some variations between examples:

  • The baseboard is hinged, the hinge is either near the front standard or the rear standard.
  • There was a semi-circular clamp covering the hinge in the baseboard when this is at the back of the camera.
  • There was a small strut to the front standard when the baseboard is hinged near the front.
  • The lens board is sometimes fitted with a cross front movement.
  • The rising front is clamped either by a screw operating in a vertical slot or in a loose arc-shaped plate.
  • The bottom of the front standard sometimes has a strengthening piece of wood.
  • Brass binding and Russia leather bellows were optional.
The version with a hinge at the rear of the baseboard, illustrated above, is not shown elsewhere, it could be a single example or a feature of larger sizes.

In 1888 the camera was advertised in sizes of half-plate to 12" x 10".

References & Notes:
BP 4808/1887. BJA 1888, p. 155. YBP 1889, p. lxviii.

Illustrations:
Holmes, Age of Cameras, p. 16, shows a model with a plain lens board.


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