Ilford Advocate camera

In the olden days, before everything was made in China, each country had its own consumer-goods manufacturing facilities, and it took pride in them. It was the same as each town or village had its own main street, which was now lost to Walmart and power centers. In this case, once photography for the masses emerged, local manufacturers supplied plates/film, chemicals, and paper. Germany had AGFA and Perutz, Japan had Fuji, Belgium had Gevaert, Italy had Ferrania, France had Guilleminot, and the US had Kodak and so on. The UK had Ilford, which is the subject of this article. On a personal note, some sixty years ago, when I was active in the darkroom, Ilford was all I knew.

While controlling the trifecta of film, chemicals, and paper, some photography input suppliers felt compelled to add cameras to their portfolios. The leaders of the pack were AGFA and KODAK. Common to them and the others was that while they churned out many models, most aimed at the mid and lower market segments, just peppered with a few high-end, sophisticated cameras.

Ilford was a textbook example. Making photography inputs since the mid-19th century, they dipped their toes into the camera trade by selling Hermagis models under the Selo name. The Advocate, the first in-house designed and made camera, came in 1949. It was one of the earliest UK-made 35mm still cameras, if not the first. There were several sub-models; overall, they sold some 4,500 units, an impressive number for the time and the maker. An overly ambitious model, the Witness, followed in 1950, as a high-end rangefinder with an interchangeable lens that could rely on the M39 thread ecosystem. It was an interesting approach: it didn’t follow the Leica or Contax camera style, as most other high-end camera makers did, but instead introduced a fresh concept. It didn’t succeed, and fewer than 1,000 were sold; exact figures vary by source. It seems the Ilford brand didn’t attract high-end buyers. Today, the Witness sells for over USD 14,000, and I am not sure whether that’s because of quality, features, rarity, or mere curiosity.

From then on, Ilford offered entry-level cameras, rebranded from Dacora, Agilux, Minolta and probably others.

The company was founded in London in 1864 by Alfred Harman, a chemist, whose name would surface much later as the brand of the current point-and-shoot camera line. The company sold its early products through Marion, a French company founded in the 1930s and settled in the UK in 1842. Marion’s consumables house brand was Britannia, which Harman also used. The company had moved to the village of Ilford, now part of Greater London. After falling out with Marion and no longer being able to use the Britannia brand, the company was renamed Ilford. It later moved north, closer to Manchester, where it has stayed to this day. The Canadian distribution center is a short drive from me.

What first stands out is the camera finish, in enamel light cream or pearl white. I looked high and low, and the only compatible model is a Pentina variant. On the shelf, it stands out, which is probably why it fetches a relatively high price.

There were several Advocate models, marked as I, II, III and a few outliers. Model I was supplied with an Aallmeyer 4.5/35 lens. Model II added a sync port and added an Aallmeyer 3.5/45 lens. Model III changed the lens to a Wray Lustar 3.5/35 lens and added a 2nd sync port. A few models were issued in black enamel, and some with a black faceplate over the white body. An X-ray and microscope model were also made.  See photomemorabilia for more details.

• The cast aluminum body is finished with smooth enamel paint, well preserved. It is compact, but heavy for its size.
• The camera I have is fully operational. I’m not sure if this is common to this model or if this particular unit was handled with care.
• The top has two equal-sized knobs, wind and rewind. There is no rewind release control, so press and hold the winder knob while rewinding. The winder cocks the shutter as well.
• The frame counter skirts the winder knob. To reset, once loading, press the winder and turn till the dial sets to 0.
• The viewer is superimposed on the top. The structure is bulky, but the viewer is too small to be practical.
• The trigger is a lever protruding at the front; slide it towards the winder knob.
• To open the hinged back, pull the side clasp. Inside is a cast film track, a double-cogged pivot to guide the film. The feeder cartridge bay keeper pin does not pull up as most cameras do; it is mounted on a hinged arm.
• To load, first hook the leader into the take-up spool, and then set the feeder cartridge into its bay.
• On the lens assembly, the large dial closest to the body sets the shutter speed, a modest B, 2-200, which was adequate at the time.
• Next is the distance dial, marked in feet, a reminder of the time the UK used the imperial system.
• The very front, smallest dial, is the aperture setting.

For the collector, it is more a conversation piece than a groundbreaking or important camera. They are fairly expensive, so it depends on one’s appetite and budget.