Unusual Vintage Houghton-butcher Ensign Cupid Camera - Good Condition C.1920's For Sale

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Ref: HS

This is a very unusually designed vintage Ensign Cupid Camera made in England by HOUGHTON-BUTCHER between 1922 and 1928.

The camera was designed to take 12 pictures of 2 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches on 120 roll film. It used two red windows to enable double the amount of pictures to be taken on a standard roll film by lining up the first number on the roll in the first window 'A' then exposing the film and moving the same number to the second window 'B'.

The system was invented by William Henry Harvey in 1914 and developed from a design patented in 1921 by V. W. Edwards and A. J. Dennis - General Manager of the Houghton-Butcher factory . Although originally intended to be a stereo camera the design was eventually adapted for roll film.

Whilst untested with film as far as I can see it is in good working order. The shutter is primed by pulling the pin and then fired by depressing the button; it fires perfectly at both T/I settings. The lens is in pretty good condition with just one of two very fine surface scratches and a few specks, plus maybe a few feint tendrils of fungus, but nothing too serious. For best results the lens would need cleaning, but it is perfectly serviceable.

The camera is very clean internally and comes with it's original take up spool.

Whilst there are one or two paint chips on edge of the lens/shutter housing, the camera is otherwise in excellent cosmetic condition, with barely a scratch. Both folding viewfinder frames are complete and in excellent condition.

Please note one of the mountings for the handle is missing and therefore the carry handle is adrift at one end. The camera could be used in it's current condition, but the mounting hole would need to be blocked from light.

Photographs form a very important part of my description and therefore buyers are advised to study them carefully and to contact me for any additional information they may need.

This item will be sent by Royal Mail Recorded Delivery within the UK or Airmail Small Packets (International Signed For) if going overseas. Once packed safely this item will weigh about 500g, which is reflected in my shipping take customer satisfaction very seriously and always strive to provde a Five Star service. Consequently, we would ask any buyer who feels unable to leave positive comments with Five Stars in each category to contact us before leaving response to discuss how we may address any issues and improve our future items we sell are antique or vintage and often fragile and/or valuable; we therefore take extra care with packing to ensure items arrive in a safe and timely manner. To achieve this we use good quality, professional packaging materials and trackable shipping services. Depending upon destination and value, we use either Royal Mail Recorded or Special Delivery. For larger/heavier items exceeding 2Kgs we may use a courier service.

Items are always shipped within 3 working days of cleared payment, but are usually despatched within 24 hours, sometimes the same day. Buyers are welcome to collect in person.

We ship worldwide, but overseas buyers should note that Royal Mail have maximum weight (2kgs) and size limits for Airmail and this includes Surface Mail and International Signed For. Items exceeding weight and/or size limits will be sent by International Courier, such as Fedex or Parcelforce.

If Post &Packing to a particular destination is not listed, buyers are advised to contact us for a shipping quote before offerding, as costs may vary even between neighbouring countries.

PLEASENOTE Good quality packaging materials are quite expensive; whilst we absorb most of this expense, our shipping charges do include a small amount (£1 or less) to cover part of the packaging cost. We encourage buyers to review our response comments before offerding to satisfy themselves on the quality of our service, with particular reference to our post & packing performance.

PAYMENT

Our standard payment terms are 3 working days from date of sale, but subject to prior agreement we are happy to be flexible. buyers are asked to please contact us if they are unable to comply with our payment terms, so that we can come to a mutually acceptable arrangement.

We are pleased to accept payment by Paypal, Postal Order, Bank Cheque/Transfer drawn on UKBanks or Cash on Collection. Unless agreed otherwise we ONLYaccept overseas payment by Paypal. Overseas buyers should therefore contact me prior to offerding if NOT intending to pay by PayPal. All bank payments, including eCheques must be cleared prior to despatch, which can take up to 7 days.

This item has been shown 160 times. Unusual Vintage Houghton-butcher Ensign Cupid Camera - Good Condition C.1920's: $51