houghton’s ‘victo’ half plate camera
The ‘Victo’, a mahogany and brass folding half plate camera by George Houghton of London, produced under the company’s ‘Ensign’ trademark. The Houghton company was established in 1834, operating first as an importer of glass plates for wet plate photogrpaphy but latterly as a prominent manufacturer of cameras in its own right. When first launched in 1898 the ‘Victo’ was a relatively simple camera but a number of features were added to later incarnations, as demonstrated by this example which features a triple extension bellows and a quite sophisticated locking mechanism for the front standards. It is fitted with a Houghton ‘Ensign’ Symmetrical f8 lens housed within a Thornton Pickard ‘Time and Instantaneous’ mechanical shutter. The camera stands 25cm high and measures 46cm at maximum extension.