Some More Shots with the Microcord

<p>A while back I posted some shots I did with the Microcord: http://www.photo.net/classic-cameras-forum/00ZLeN<br>

<br />These TLR's were made by Micro Precision Products of Kingston on Thames in the mid - 1950's M.P.P. also made a series of large format cameras of various types and many other photographic products, as well as the Celestion loudspeakers.<br>

<br />Mine is the second version with the Prontor shutter – the earlier ones had the British made Epsilon shutter. It is something of a cross between the Rollieflex and Rolleicord, having wheels to control the settings, but a knob to wind the film. The taking lens is a Ross Xpress 77.5mm f3.5, and viewing lens an unnamed f3.2.</p>

<p>The later MPP Microflex had a better lens and lever wind but can suffer from mechanical problems.</p><div></div>

<p>Its in good condition apart from the leather peeling slightly on the front. The red lever at the bottom is for cocking and releasing the shutter; there is no winding interlock. The green lever on the right selects M, X and D (delay - which works).</p>

<p>Since the last outing I have replaced the ground glass screen with a fresnel focusing screen from a broken Seagull TLR. I had to cut it down slightly, and shim it with tape as the new screen was slightly thinner. With a brighter view and split image rangefinder it gives the camera a more modern, usable feel.</p><div></div>

<p>A few shots from the Leicester University Botanic Garden Scupltture Exhibition. The film was a Jessops (remember them?) 50 ISO, scanned on my Epson 4870 flatbed.</p><div></div>

<p>I recall most of these were done at around f5.6</p><div></div>

<p>I regret I neglected to record the names of the sculptors of these works, or their titles. Thanks to them anyway.</p><div></div>

<p>Another one.</p><div></div>

<p>Another view:</p><div></div>

<p>Another one:</p><div></div>

<p>And another:</p><div></div>

<p>The last of the sculptures:</p><div></div>

<p>A window:</p><div></div>

<p>Last one - this is one of the large houses which were combined along with their gardens to form the Botanical Garden and Halls of Residence. There were lots of similar and smaller residences in this and other areas of the City, belonging generally to prosperous factory owners and the like. The ordinary workers lived of course in much more modest terraced houses, many of which still exist and form the backbone of the housing stock of the city. It used to be known as the Richest City in Europe, mainly because of the diversity of its industry, so that most family members would have had jobs, many women working in the extensive hosiery industry, and men in the many engineering factories and iron foundries.</p>

<p>Thanks for looking.</p><div></div>

<p>John, these are excellent, particularly like the last one, no.7..really nice look to it...cool sculpture too! Never seen the Microcord although when I first started in photography way back when, my Mentor had a MPP 5x4 camera, much like a Linhof Technika.<br>

Funny thing, I also had a set of Celestion speakers too, didn't know it was the same company. I'm a great fan of English speakers, the sound seems somehow smoother. I now have Kef speakers.</p>

<p>Really nice. Sculpture 5 looks like a lens cap for a big TLR.</p>

<p>I once used an MPP 5x4 view camera for a couple of weeks; very British, solid and practical but definitely not stylish. The Ross lenses are really very good. I like your window image, and there are some fine sculptures in that collection. Nice post, <strong>John</strong>; incidentally, I used to have a couple of big Celestion woofers, but now I have Missions.</p>

<p>Like Rick I had an MPP 5x4 camera - in my case the Microtechnical. I originally had a Mk VI but swapped it for a MkVII to get the universal back.<br /> MPP was set up to take advantage of the German patents and drawings seized after the war. Reid and Sigrist made a Leica copy while MPP made a Rolleiflex and Rolleicord copy (the Microflex and -cord) and the Microptechnical which was a copy of the Linhof Large format camera. As John says Ensign had trouble making a Compur shutter copy (the epsilon) as not all the skill is contained in the drawings and patents.<br /> So the style you see in these products is not English but German. The MPP Microtechnical is a fairly exact copy of the Linhof MkIII. In response Linhof upped the stakes by refining their products and giving them more style and finish while MPP stayed much the same.<br /> But as John's shots show the Microcord and flex lenses are usually very good. Nice work John!<br /> I have Mission speakers too!<br /> Oh, and the US did the same thing with captured german stuff but in their case they got Werner von Braun and the Saturn V rocket:-)</p>

<p>Thanks for the comments. One disturbing thing was that the winding mechanism seemed to get out of kilter with the film counter towards the end of the roll. I used the film counter to judge the frame spacing, which meant I lost a couple of frames by turning the film advance knob instead of the focusing knob. Perhaps modern films are a different thickness?</p>

<p>I read that the with the Microflex , if you advance the film at the start by turning the spool instead of the advance lever, you can ruin the mechanism. Perhaps the Microcord being simpler is a better proposition, although I doubt its as reliable as, say, a Rolleicord.</p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>

<p>Nice work. I wasn't aware of this TLR. I especially like the window picture.</p>

<p>Damn good work but now I want one.</p>