The other Ensign Selfix 16-20

Oh yes in typical odd ball British fashion there were more than one of these on the market in the early 1950's.

Confusing or what ? Why would you bring out two different cameras with the same name at roughly the same time? Anything it seems is possible with the Houghton Butcher Barnet Ross Ensign conglomerate ! At least Zeiss Ikon gave each one a different code! In this post we follow on from the recent Ensign Selfix 16-20 post, to look at, yes you have guessed it, the Ensign Selfix 16-20.

Since finding the Ensigns in the attic, I have been spending far too much time reading about The Ensign company and looking at other Ensign cameras. I really should get out more! I kept seeing quite a few of these 'other' Selfix cameras for sale on the internet and thought it might be fun to do a post comparing the two cameras. But half decent ones were going for £60 or so, far too much for my meagre pension, so I was on the verge of shelving the idea when I got the offer of this for £13 plus postage. So the idea of the post was back on!

So what is this other 16-20 you may ask? Well I think it is the first version from about 1950, though it looks to my eyes slightly more modern with its viewfinder built into the nice chrome top plate instead of the Albada finder of the later model. Like the later version it takes 16 6x4.5 cm images on a roll of 120 or indeed 620 film. The shutter is an Epsilon, but a bit more basic than the later version, with speeds of just 300, 100, 50, 25, B, & T.

The lens on my example is not the expected Ross Xpres, but a 75mm f4.5 Ensar Anastigmat, with aperture marked 4.5, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, & finally 22. However examples of this camera do exist with the Rosstar lens.

This little beauty weighs in at 454g, is quite compact and light for what is essentially a medium format camera, it can be carried around in the pocket quite easily, so a good one should be quite a useful bit of kit if the Ensar lens is any good.

The view from the top plate looks a bit odd to me, with the two bits of black trim each side of the viewfinder housing. It does not quite do it for me, for some reason I prefer the look of the one with the Albada finder. But I don't really know why!

The neat double hinge is also a feature of this earlier version.

As is the nice Made In England wind on knob.

So lets have a look at them side by side, see how they compare.

From this angle the front views look very similar. The later version is on the left here.

The body is basically the same apart from the top plate or so it seems.

So similar !

Could be twins!

Even the camera backs look identical, the early version is on the right

But from this angle the differences are more apparent!

And from the top, they look like two totally different cameras

Looking so different here! I still think the early one at the bottom looks more modern than the later version, or is this just me?

I don't really like buying cameras off the internet, there is so much risk involved. Things wrong with them that you can't see in the photographs and the seller fails to mention to you! Putting them right can be so costly. More than the camera is worth. This Selfix had it's unmentioned problems! Firstly the red window was found to be floating freely, not covering the hole. Then it disappeared and I thought I had lost it! Anyway today I thought I would investigate.

The first job was to remove the pressure plate. Relatively easy, just two screws.

Once the pressure plate is removed, this little housing can be seen, four tiny screws here, a magnetic screwdriver is useful! The housing was removed and I found...............

The lost red window glass. Boy was I relieved. It can't actually really go anywhere but to the side, the plate keeps it safe. But I did not know that until today, I thought it was lost. Lucky or what?

A few little dabs of glue with a screwdriver onto the housing, carefully drop the red window in and you are done. I cleaned everything up, it was amazing how much dirt was behind the little sliding window cover. The red window was cleaned with plastic polish, that got rid of the finer scratches, don't want to not see those little numbers! At least now if I see another Selfix for sale and the red window is loose or missing I know it will be fixable and the red window will be there.

The other problem with this camera was that the lens panel would not drop down without a lot of assistance. Not a mention of that on the listing from the oh so honest seller. There was a load of oil everywhere, with dirt stuck to everything that had been oiled. It looked like it had been done a long time ago, not just recently. I spent a couple of hours with some alcohol and a pack of cotton buds and some clean cloth and eventually got everything clean. It opens a lot better now, but there is still room for some improvement. But at least it opens okay and the lens standard looks square and vertical. I think that it has been sprained slightly at some point in its long life and the old oil was an attempt by a previous owner to fix it.

Anyway, even if it may not be a regular user, the camera at least was an interesting subject for a post !

Now I have spotted a third version, it is based on the 2nd version but with different shutter and lens board releases, like little tear drops,it has the Rosstar lens and it looks much more modern than either of the other versions and must have been one of the last cameras Ensign ever made, now if I.................

Take care !

Phil