PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Oct 4, 2005 16:59:59 GMT -5
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Post by kamera on Oct 4, 2005 18:06:41 GMT -5
Peter,
For reference, what is the conversion...USA money and UK money?
Thanks!
Ron
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PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Oct 4, 2005 18:42:42 GMT -5
That's right Ron. These are old pre-decimalisation pounds. shillings and pence. 12 pence to the shilling and 20 shillings to the pound.
So, for example, the Selfix at £21 18 8 was £21.93. Don't know what the rate of exchange US Dollar/UK Pound was in those days, but something like 3.5 Dollars to the pound comes to mind. To put it into perspective, in the UK in the 1950s, a working man earned about £8 to £9 a week, clerical grades about £11 and junior/middle managers about £15. So the Selfix represented about two and a half weeks wages for the working guy, two weeks for clerks and one and a half for managers. A Box Brownie was about £3 in those days.
Peter
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Post by heath on Oct 5, 2005 2:36:12 GMT -5
I have a few Ensigns. They are great cameras, and not too common here in Australia. Mine are:
Selfix 20 Selfix 420 Commando Ful-Vue Ful-Vue Super
They are all in working condition and have been tested with film, except the Ful-Vue Super, which uses 620 film rather than the 120 that most other Ensigns use.
I will post more about my Ensigns with some pics as soon as I can.
Heath
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PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Oct 5, 2005 6:05:23 GMT -5
I remember the Full-Vue being very popular in the UK when it appeared after the war in its new rounded-top form. It looked very new-style and attractive, and the big brilliant viewfinder persuaded a lot of box cameras snapshotters to switch to it because they were fed up with squinting into tiny box camera viewfinders, and even then chopping off heads and feet!
In the 1950s a Full-Vue cost £2 13s 10d, or you could buy it as a flash outfit with a big bulb gun that fitted on the back for an extra £1 7s 3d. The camera was available in red, blue and grey as well as the standard crackle black, and these coloured ones are very collectable.
Peter
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Post by keith201 on Mar 18, 2012 23:34:28 GMT -5
The first camera I bought for myself was a Voigtlander Bessa II, a 120 folder with a coupled rangefinder which cost me GBP25 in 1952. I was doing a lot of mountaineering and climbing in those days and traded it for a Voigtlander Vito IIa, a 35mm folder similar to the folding Kodak Retinas. I did that for a smaller camera with 36 exposure cassettes instead of bulky 12 exposure rollfilm
I've been looking for a good Vito folder but the nearest so far is the Retina IIc which has a coupled rangefinder. I eventually swapped the Vito for a Braun Paxette with an extinction light meter and I have been able to replace that for my collection
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