The G. B. Kershaw 450, the Folder with a Trick up its Sleeve

[John Seaman]

The seller thought this G.B. Kershaw 450 needed a remote release to trip the shutter – the only button on the top being the door release. Actually there is a shutter button, concealed along one side of the front door baseplate as arrowed, and easy to miss. Apart from this it's a pretty conventional 6x6 folder for 120 film.

When it was made in Leeds in 1957, Kershaw had been taken over by the Rank Organisation. They previously made the Curlew line of cameras as in my earlier post:

https://www.photo.net/forums/topic/537538-the-kershaw-curlew-2-simply-quality/

The 450 has an Otar Anastigmat f/4.5 lens and a Velio six speed shutter. Lesser models in the series, the 630 and 1100, had slower lenses and simpler shutters. It came with the original box and instruction manual, even with the retailer's price ticket for £11-19-10, probably the best part of a week's wages in those days. But if you look carefully at the box end, there's 33 & 1/3 off the price. That price is confirmed by an ad I found in Amateur Photographer – which has a rather quaint (and by current standards, sexist) sales pitch.

The manual includes a useful section of “Hints for Beginners” which advises the user to count audibly up to six while going through the checklist for each exposure (last picture). To the possible consternation of the subject. That's it for now, thanks for looking as always.

 

 

Edited December 15, 2023 by John Seaman

[John Seaman]

I should add that the Velio shutter is German, made by Gauthier. Earlier Kershaw's had the English Epsilon. otherwise I suspect the rest of the camera including the Otar lens is made in the Kershaw factory, as with the earlier Curles.

[gary green]

Beautiful camera, John.  It has an amazing resemblance to the Agfa Isolette while the shutter release is somewhat similar to the Kodak Tourist.  I'd bet it's capable of fine results.

[rick_drawbridge]

Very nice, John, certainly a very typical folder of the era, with similarities to a variety of it's contemporaries . I suspect the Vero shutter is more reliable than the Epsilon which, if I recall correctly, didn't have a great reputation. The Otar lens is apparently a Cooke Triplet and the few samples I've managed to find suggest that it's an adequate performer. It would be nice if you could eventually post some sample images from the camera.

[dan_fromm2]

On 12/16/2023 at 7:26 AM, John Seaman said:

I should add that the Velio shutter is German, made by Gauthier. Earlier Kershaw's had the English Epsilon. otherwise I suspect the rest of the camera including the Otar lens is made in the Kershaw factory, as with the earlier Curles.

Top-of-the-line Kershaw cameras used TTH shutters and lenses.

[John Seaman]

On 12/17/2023 at 3:10 PM, gary green said:

It has an amazing resemblance to the Agfa Isolette

Yes, a lot of 6x6 folders were very similar, for example the Zeiss Ikon Nettar, Adox Golf, Kodak 66, Ensign Selfix 12-20 etc.

Rick, I've had quite a number of Epsilon shutters, with perhaps 50% working, a little less than, for example, Compur and Prontor shutters. They don't seem as bad as is often said  As I've mentioned in other posts, I've hardly done any film photography lately. In particular I'm struggling to read the frame numbers in the red windows, perhaps because the backing paper printing is not as contrasty as it used to be - and my eyesight is not what it was.

Dan, yes, from Camera Wiki:

Curlew I     Kershaw Critak 105mm f6.5     3-speed
Curlew II     Kershaw Critak 105mm f4.5     Epsilon, 4-speed, 1/25-1/150
Curlew III     Taylor Hobson Roytal 105mm f/3.8     Talykron 1s-1/400
Curlew III     Taylor Hobson Roytal 105mm f/4.5     Epsilon 1/25-1/150

Talykron would be a TTH brand name - I hadn't realised they made shutters. The 6x6 Kershaw Peregrine probably had similar lens / shutter combinations.

Thanks for the responses and comments.

 

Edited December 20, 2023 by John Seaman