Ensign Autorange 820 - Amazing Price

[peter_naylor1]

<p>The British Ensign Autorange 820 was made from late 1955 until the company folded up around 1960, and was their top-of-the-range 6 X 9 120 folder. It had the same fine F3.8 4-element Ross Xpres lens and Epsilon 9-speed leaf shutter as the Selfix 820, but had a coupled rangefinder thrown in. My 1956 BJP Almanac tells me it cost just under 53 GBP, so I guess not many got sold when you consider the scale focus Selifx 820 cost about half that.</p>

<p>The resulting scarcity of the Autorange 820 in today's collecting market, means a really nice one could fetch up to a thousand GBP. However, one has just sold on Fleabay UK complete with ERC, for - believe it or not - 2,284 GBP!! Here's the link:</p>

<p> <a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rare-Vintage-Cased-Ross-Ensign-Autorange-820-Camera-/260843011744?pt=UK_Photography_VintageCameras_SM&hash=item3cbb747ea0#ht_2807wt_1125http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rare-Vintage-Cased-Ross-Ensign-Autorange-820-Camera-/260843011744?pt=UK_Photography_VintageCameras_SM&hash=item3cbb747ea0ht_2807wt_1125">http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rare-Vintage-Cased-Ross-Ensign-Autorange-820-Camera-/260843011744?pt=UK_Photography_VintageCameras_SM&hash=item3cbb747ea0#ht_2807wt_1125http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rare-Vintage-Cased-Ross-Ensign-Autorange-820-Camera-/260843011744?pt=UK_Photography_VintageCameras_SM&hash=item3cbb747ea0ht_2807wt_1125</a></p>

<p>I hasten to add that I have no connection at all with the seller, buyer or bidders. I'm just an impoverished Antipodean Ensign collector who couldn't even contemplate forking out a grand in GBP for one of these, let alone over two grand. It'll be interesting to see if history repeats itself when the next nice one comes up for sale, and also if this shows an upward trend with similar top-spec'd 6 X 9 CRF 120 folders like the Super Ikonta C and Bessa 11 - or if this proves to be an isolated incident of Fleabay Frenzy from over-excited bidders!<br>

)Pete In Perth, Sadly Contemplating His Trio Of Scale-Focus Selfix 820s)</p><div></div>

[rick_drawbridge]

<p>Astounding! Scarcity value or not, it's still hard to credit that anyone would dig that deep for a relatively undistinguished folder. As you say, <strong>Pete</strong>, it will be interesting to see if a trend is developing...On our auction site a 50mm Super Takumar f/1.4 lens has just been listed at $235, and I thought that was silly enough!</p>

[mark_medin]

<p>Nooooo! I have one of those Super-Takumars. I <em>want</em> it to be worth that. Or nothing if I find another to buy ;)</p>

[peter_naylor1]

<p>I did a bit of further research and found that the scale focus Selfix 820 model, which shares the same lens and shutter as the Autorange 820, cost almost 26 GBP when it was introduced in 1950. So my guesstimation that the Autorange version of late 55 cost double that, appears to be close to the truth. However, there's a few intangibles here - such as inevitable higher prices due to inflation between 1950 and 1955, offset by reduced rates of the dreaded Purchase Tax. Maybe the two just about balanced themselves out?</p>

<p>Whichever way it went, there's no doubt that a Selfix 820 with a separate accessory rangefinder for a couple of quid, was far better value than the Autorange 820 - unless you had the gift of foreward sight. If you did, you could see that 53 quid in 1955 wouldn't be such bad value if you could get over 2,000 quid for it 56 years later! I therefore did a check with an inflation factor website and found that 53 quid in 1955 is worth 1020 quid in 2010 RPI values, ie slightly less than half that amazing figure achieved by the one recently sold on Fleabay.</p>

<p>I guess we need to consider Mark Twain's comments about 'Lies, Damned Lies - And Statistics', here. All my financial surmisings prove absolutely nothing of course, unless we see that the recent astronomical price for that Autorange 820 is maintained when another comes up for sale. In my experience, whenever a rare-ish camera suddenly goes for a big hike way above the price norm, dusty cupboards around the world magically open and similar items suddenly appear for sale. It'll be interesting to watch forthcoming Fleabay auctions to see if the Autorange 820 repeats history here .............<br>

(Pete In Perth) </p>

<p> </p>

<p> </p>

[John Seaman]

<p>From 1955 Wallace Heaton catalogue (The Blue Book) - the most expensive camera listed was the Hasselblad 1000F at £299. Most of the 6x9 folders were around £20. The ebay camera shutter doesn't even seem to be working properly, although the Epsilon shutters had a rather poor reputation.</p><div></div>

[peter_naylor1]

<p>Hi, John Thanks for posting those ads from the 55 WH Blue Book, mate - much appreciated. I have to agree with you about Epsilon shutters. They invariably seem to have problems with sticky slow speeds, don't they? In fact, I've sort of become accustomed to meeting that situation with any post-war Ensign fitted with an Epsilon. Luckily it usually doesn't require any more than a few squirts with CRC Electronic Aerosol Cleaner or the like to blast out the dust and crud that are jamming up the slow-speed gears and springs.</p>

<p>However, I recently acquired an Ensign Selfix 12-20 Special on Fleabay Oz, the 6 X 6 cm smaller brother of the one your ad shows, and - Lo And Behold! - its Epsilon worked perfectly, right down to one full second. However, common sense suggests that this was more likely to have been because the seller had CLA'd it before listing. Shame that the seller of that highly expensive Autorange 820 hadn't had its Epsilon similarly CLA'd ............. (Pete In Perth)</p>

[John Seaman]

<p>I have to say that I've had probably four cameras with Epsilon shutters and they've all been fine. Here's one:</p><div></div>

[peter_naylor1]

<p>Hi, John That's a very nice 16-20 in your picture, and I'm very jealous of that box. I have a solitary Selfix 820 box, the only one for all my post-war Ensigns. Strangely, I have more pre-war than post-war Ensign boxes. Just the luck of collecting, I guess.</p>

<p>Regarding the reliability of Epsilon shutters and especially their sticky slow speeds, our local Repair Guru has a very reasonable theory that it's more prevalent on the models with bigger lenses such as the F3.8 Ross Xpres on the 820, because the shutter blades have further to travel in the opening and closing cycle. Incidentally, Ensign Ltd - or should I more correctly say, 'Barnet - Ensign - Ross Ltd' - supplied their Epsilon shutters to other British camera makers, such as the Kingston-on-Thames based MPP Ltd for their Microcord TLR. MPP found it unreliable but had to put up a strong case to the British Board of Trade before eventually gaining permission to replace it with a German-made Prontor, because of the governmental regulations that British-made products had to be utilised if available. Here's a link to the excellent MPP Users website: <br>

<a href="http://www.mppusers.com/twinlens.htm">http://www.mppusers.com/twinlens.htm</a></p>

<p>(Pete In Perth)</p><div></div>

[John Seaman]

<p>I'm actually a (rather inactive) member of the MPP Users Group - I recently acquired a Microcord and am waiting for a film to come back, when all being well I will do a post about it.</p>

[peter_naylor1]

<p>Hi, John I have a Microcord too, it being one of the later ones with the Prontor shutter. I was fortunate to get it complete with box, ERC, IB etc in a swap deal for a Rolleicord of similar vintage. I've never used it though - it's just one of the many collectables I like to look at! </p>

<p>I actually have a bit of an association with MPP, having been brought up in Kingston-on-Thames and walked past their small factory at 145 London Road, on my way to grammar school. However, the march of progress has intervened and the last time I went past that place, it was now an office block (sigh!). (Pete In Perth)</p>