The Pressmaster Camera
I bought this at a camera fair in November 2021, for a nominal sum. We shall see why!
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“Pressmaster” - is the only writing on the outside, there’s no maker’s name. The only other writing is a number (1003) on the woodwork inside, presumably a serial number. If so, I suggest it is a member of the first production batch. As received it had no lens, split bellows, crumpled and torn shutter curtains. The shutter is just like an Anschütz, variable tension and slit-width. Plenty of corrosion too.
It’s a relatively simple folding press-type camera, based closely on the Goerz Anschütz. Non self capping focal plane shutter, taking 9x12cm single metal dark slides, no provision for lens movements or a ground glass screen, but the lens is interchangeable. If it had one. |
There is no sign of this camera in any of the standard reference books, it was never mentioned in the “New Goods” section of the BJPA, nor the RPS Journal, and I’ve not found any pictures or information on the internet (in April 2022). So the first question is - who made it? Answer – the London company Van Neck (VN); here’s some evidence:
Left - the Pressmaster - Right - a standard VN Press Camera, 1932 - 1950s.
Left - the Pressmaster - Right - a standard VN Press Camera, 1932 - 1950s.
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Photo - Antiq-Photo.com
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Observe:
- Identical layout of the shutter controls
- The design of the catch holding the back cover, and the use of 9x12 single dark slides, even though these are British cameras (based on the origin as a copy of the Goerz Anschütz, back in 1919)
- Style and materials of viewfinder
- No flash sync
- Simple shutter wind knob
- No B or T on the shutter
- No parallax slider on the backsight
- No ground-glass, scale focusing only.
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Photo - the-saleroom.com
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And looking at the front:
I only know of four examples, including this one. A friend and I have one each, we believe another contact in the USA has one, and one was illustrated a few years ago on a website which has now disappeared. Surely there must be at least a few others, so please tell me if you have one!
VN made the British Anschütz after WW I (1919-1924) and this looks very like their Model A, which evolved into the VN Press, which itself continued into the 1950s. Even the Model A had rising front, so I don’t reckon this is a “primitive early version”.
The lack of any publicity or available information, and the apparently very small numbers produced, and the lack of a maker’s name on the camera, all suggest that this was an abandoned attempt to prop up a shrinking business by putting out a simplified cheaper version of their regular professional product, perhaps for amateurs. If so, it dates from the 1950s when the company, which was by then Peeling & Van Neck, was in decline. About then the firm became Peeling & Komlosy, somehow connected with Komlosy the aerial camera maker in Dunstable, and for a while distributed Zeiss Ikon cameras before disappearing altogether.
- Identical struts, similar front panel
- But no lens movements
- Neat and different clamping of the lens board
- Same arched cover/scale over the focusing arm
I only know of four examples, including this one. A friend and I have one each, we believe another contact in the USA has one, and one was illustrated a few years ago on a website which has now disappeared. Surely there must be at least a few others, so please tell me if you have one!
VN made the British Anschütz after WW I (1919-1924) and this looks very like their Model A, which evolved into the VN Press, which itself continued into the 1950s. Even the Model A had rising front, so I don’t reckon this is a “primitive early version”.
The lack of any publicity or available information, and the apparently very small numbers produced, and the lack of a maker’s name on the camera, all suggest that this was an abandoned attempt to prop up a shrinking business by putting out a simplified cheaper version of their regular professional product, perhaps for amateurs. If so, it dates from the 1950s when the company, which was by then Peeling & Van Neck, was in decline. About then the firm became Peeling & Komlosy, somehow connected with Komlosy the aerial camera maker in Dunstable, and for a while distributed Zeiss Ikon cameras before disappearing altogether.
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Before doing any restoration work - can I find a lens? After a bit, I found a lens close to the original – a Ross Xpres 6.5” / 165mm f/4.5 lens in focusing mount, without shutter. The original would have been a British 6” lens, probably a Ross Xpres, but I wanted to be sure I got a lens that would focus on infinity. One a little long can be moved out on a short tube, but too short means the front panel won’t go back far enough. And lenses with focusing mounts are not easy to find. This one was mechanically very stiff with old grease, but optically OK. By serial number it is about 1922, so older than I believe the camera to be. After a clean and relubrication it now works fine. The focusing lever moves the opposite way to the original.
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Here it is mounted on the camera, using a home-made autocollimator to set infinity focus - that is, the depth of the mounting tube.
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The next step is to sort out all the problems of the camera itself.
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Controls for the lower shutter blind - tension set and release.
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Although I replaced the shutter blinds, I kept the tapes and the two brass reinforcing bars.
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Here the shutter set at slit-width 1. You have to spot the position of the pin through a small window to know where it is set - quite hard with the cover on, even with a nice clean new window.
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This is where the slit width is set.
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Bottom blind tension adjuster and release.
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The base casting is the same as those in other VN cameras – yet more evidence of the origin.
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The old bellows was very stiff and had bad cracks. As it is an easy, simple bellows to make I decided to replace it.
Stiffeners cut to match the originals, here glued to a new piece of leather. A layer of black cotton fabric goes on top, before folding, gluing up the ends and making a tube of it.
Stiffeners cut to match the originals, here glued to a new piece of leather. A layer of black cotton fabric goes on top, before folding, gluing up the ends and making a tube of it.
The spring inside the bottom roller - cleaned and lubricated.
The top roller. The spiral visible through the slot sets the relative positions of top blind and the tapes on the spools at each end, thus adjusting the slit width. I hoped to take this apart for a proper clean, but the fixings were so stuck that the risk of breaking the brass tube was too high, and I contented myself with soaking it in petrol and re-lubricating.
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All the main blind mechanics.
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New upper blind
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The shutter mechanism back together.
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Some pictures of the camera after restoration.
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No dark slides came with it. I was able to find one original VN slide, and also three of these clever ones that take either plates or sheet film, and almost fit the Pressmaster. You have to ease the shutter out slightly before inserting them, and then they work.
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Now at last, some pictures taken with the restored Pressmaster.
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And breaking news - I now have a 15cm (6”) lens in a focusing mount. It does focus correctly on infinity, and it is possible to close the camera even though the folded bellows is in contact with the back of the lens, and the focusing lever movement matches the direction and scale of the arched cover; so I have fitted it to the original lens panel, leaving the 6.5” Ross on a non-original panel. However … it is a Tessar, not the right lens … what shall I do?!
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I would love to hear of any more examples, or adverts, instruction manuals, anything!! You can use the contact form.