ILFORD Sportsman 1950s
Posted on 9/20/2012 by UNITED PHOTO PRESS MAGAZINE
As the desire to own a 35mm camera blossomed within popular amateur photography during the latter 1950s, in part prompted by the more economical production of projectable colour transparencies on 35mm instead of roll film, Ilford Ltd must have been concerned that they did not have the ability to make their own range of such cameras.
Kodak was importing their 35mm Retina/Retinette range from Kodak A.G. in Stuttgart, a factory they purchased in 1931, (originally the Nagel Camerawerks).
To provide a suitable 'popularly priced' 35mm camera, Ilford entered into an agreement with Herr Dangelmaier of the Dacora Kamerawerk, Reutlingen, near Stuttgart, (West) Germany. Dacora produced a simple 35mm camera, the Dacora Dignette, but rebadged it as an Ilford Sportsman for sale in the UK. This first (Style 1) Sportsman camera was reviewed by Amateur Photographer magazine in their 10th July 1957 issue.
Selling a range of cameras, which could advertise the film brand, was seen as a definite marketing advantage. lford used the term 'silent salesman' when referring to the sticker they subsequently placed on the inside of all their cameras, encouraging the owner to purchase Ilford's films. The sticker visible in the Sportsman alongside reads "ALWAYS USE ILFORD 35mm FILMS".
The Sportsman instruction booklet is dated November 1957 (J57) but was reprinted in January 1958 (A58) with improved film loading instructions.
Kodak was importing their 35mm Retina/Retinette range from Kodak A.G. in Stuttgart, a factory they purchased in 1931, (originally the Nagel Camerawerks).
To provide a suitable 'popularly priced' 35mm camera, Ilford entered into an agreement with Herr Dangelmaier of the Dacora Kamerawerk, Reutlingen, near Stuttgart, (West) Germany. Dacora produced a simple 35mm camera, the Dacora Dignette, but rebadged it as an Ilford Sportsman for sale in the UK. This first (Style 1) Sportsman camera was reviewed by Amateur Photographer magazine in their 10th July 1957 issue.
Selling a range of cameras, which could advertise the film brand, was seen as a definite marketing advantage. lford used the term 'silent salesman' when referring to the sticker they subsequently placed on the inside of all their cameras, encouraging the owner to purchase Ilford's films. The sticker visible in the Sportsman alongside reads "ALWAYS USE ILFORD 35mm FILMS".
The Sportsman instruction booklet is dated November 1957 (J57) but was reprinted in January 1958 (A58) with improved film loading instructions.
Note the exposed leverwind and manually reset exposure counter ('brassed' through use on the model shown top left), knurled rewind knob, low height top cap and small direct vision viewfinder that had only a small circular opening at the rear for the users eye.
Ilford is known for its fantastic black and white films and photo papers, but not cameras--except maybe the Ilford Advocate. However, this camera is certainly no advocate. its a fully mechanical camera with bog standard features.
The Ilford Sportsman was an impulse buy really. It was back when I first got into film photography and was shooting colour film and didn’t really care about exposure or composition or lighting or anything really, I picked it up simply because it was cheap and looked interesting.
Any way I got it with a small lens hood and a haze filter, the hood is actually very useful as the lens does flare a lot.
My model is the model 2 which was introduced in spring of 1959, so the Sportsman is a old camera and has an old design, as is the lens. The camera feels very robust and steady in the hand. Unlike more modern compacts, it is completely mechanical.
The Ilford Sportsman was an impulse buy really. It was back when I first got into film photography and was shooting colour film and didn’t really care about exposure or composition or lighting or anything really, I picked it up simply because it was cheap and looked interesting.
Any way I got it with a small lens hood and a haze filter, the hood is actually very useful as the lens does flare a lot.
My model is the model 2 which was introduced in spring of 1959, so the Sportsman is a old camera and has an old design, as is the lens. The camera feels very robust and steady in the hand. Unlike more modern compacts, it is completely mechanical.
