The Original Instamatic ........

........probably dating from the 1880s; this estimate was originally based on the fixed exposure and relating it to film speeds available during different periods.

I purchased it from a junk shop near Stockbridge at an exorbitant price in about 1975; what is called an impulse buy.

It has a simple single element lens, but no manufacturers mark. I am guessing it was made by a general craftsman rather than a specialist camera maker, the shutter mechanism being particularly crude. Surprisingly, the bellows is in excellent condition; it's probably not original, but I can't imagine anyone replacing it since the Great War as the camera would not have been practical to use and neither is it a thing of beauty.

Although it has a fixed exposure (both shutter speed and aperture), it does have a rising front and tilting back for correcting verticals and adjusting the plane of focus. These days you pay a fortune for an SLR lens that would achieve these functions. One of my pet hates is modern photographers not correcting their verticals; I will accept that there are occasionally artistic reasons for not doing so but, generally, it is down to either ignorance or laziness. I used to do it in the darkroom and it is now so easy with any procession software.

The picture is a combination of three exposures, a technique I have tried before with success. This time I found registration a bit of a bugger; it's still not right but I now realise that I needed to put markers in corners of the frame to make life easier. I may revisit this when my technique has improved. Overall, it’s not technically competent, but it’s the best your going to get for today.