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Mystery Newman & Sinclair P100 35mm Cine Camera c/w Cooke Lens


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Hello All,

I wonder if you can help.

I am in the possession of a Newman and Sinclair P100 35mm Cine Camera.

I am attempting to discover some background to this object. I cannot find any information on the net whatsoever, the closest I can find is the Newman & Sinclair NS400 featured on the Science Museum Group website in the Cinematography Category.

It has a Cooke Speed Panchro 18mm f1.7 T2.

If you are able to offer any help it would be much appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Gary

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  • 2 weeks later...

The 'Newman' in Newman & Sinclair was the same Arthur Newman in the partnership Newman & Guardia that earlier produced mainly large format still cameras and process/repro cameras.

 

Their Cine cameras were mainly sold under the Sinclair name, and that company ran advertisements in 'The British Journal of Photography' until around the early 1960s.

 

Although no longer available in print, old copies of The British Journal of Photography annual, or almanac, can often be found for sale.

 

From the appearance of your camera, I would put its vintage as post WWii at the earliest. The P100 model name probably indicating its capacity as 100 foot reels.

 

Assuming the lens is contemporary with the camera; it's AR coating would certainly place it as late 1940s onward. And I would guess post 1950 and edging into the 1960s.

 

Sinclair in its later years tended to specialise in high-speed and scientific cine cameras.

 

A search for Sinclair cine cameras might throw up a few more links than Newman & Sinclair.

Edited by rodeo_joe|1
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The link to the article about Cooke lenses and Taylor, Taylor & Hobson is most interesting to me. I can just about remember the Taylor, Taylor and Hobson factory in Highfields, Leicester, my home city. The TTH lenses were also used on the Reid 35mm Leica rangefinder copy, also made in Leicester.
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The TTH lenses were also used on the Reid 35mm Leica rangefinder copy, also made in Leicester.

That was one camera I really coveted when film was king. But prices have always stayed a notch above what I could justify spending.

 

Today it would just live on a shelf or in its box, should I be lucky enough to find a boxed one. And that's really no place for a camera IMO.

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I had a quick look and found this in the 1964 British Journal of Photography Annual.

IMG_20210127_133008.jpg.84e804e9b7cfaaa9f53d58e4037bb373.jpg

The P series appears to be recently introduced at that time, since there's no mention of it in much earlier editions.

 

 

The above is part of a two page advert by J.A. Sinclair & Co. Ltd. By 1968 their advertising had dwindled to a half-page and listed them only as agents for Bolex, Arri and other 'Kine' equipment makers.

 

BTW. Good luck getting 13K for it on eBay. I don't think it's that rare - although the 18mm Cooke Panchro might fetch a bob or two.

Edited by rodeo_joe|1
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  • 1 year later...

Hi Gary

I was chatting with my dad over Christmas about his time with Newman Sinclair. He was an apprentice with the firm at Holloway in the 1940s, and may have some answers for you. Is there anything specific about the P100 you wanted to ask?  

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