Ensign Commando

The Commando is a folding camera which was produced and manufactured by Ensign Ltd of London. The camera was originally designed to meet a military requirement for a rugged general purpose hand camera. In some respects it echoes the design and style of the Zeiss Super Ikonta (523/16) but there are several notable differences in detail. In its military version the camera was released to services in the latter part of 1945. Following the cessation of hostilities Ensign along with most other camera manufacturers turned their attention to civilian market, and one of their offerings was a "civilianised" version of the Commando. This appeared in 1946 with a higher quality finish and a dual frame format. The camera now had a "named" lens and shutter, but in most other respects it was the same as the military version.

The camera is designed to take 12 exposures 6 X 6 cm or 16 exposures 4.5 X 6 cm on 120 size film. It is fitted with an uncoated 75mm Ensar Anastigmat lens of maximum aperture f/3.5. The lens aperture may be set at intermediate stops down to f/32 by means of an adjustable iris diaphragm controlled by a milled wheel in the lens assembly. The shutter is a flash synchronised 8-speed Epsilon, which are selectable by movement of a setting ring surrounding the lens. The shutter, which requires to be manually charged by means of a lever on the shutter mount, is released by pressing a button located on the camera top plate. Additionally, a cable release socket is fitted on the shutter mounting.

Focusing, in the range about 5.5 feet to infinity, is by movement of the film plane. The film plane support plate is coupled to a co-incident image rangefinder operated by a capstan wheel on the left of the camera top plate. Turning the rangefinder control wheel causes the film plane to move forward or back thus adjusting the point of focus of the lens. The film pressure plate is specially sprung to keep the film in contact with the film plane plate as is moves. The focus distance may be read from a scale engraved on the rangefinder control wheel; the first mark being at 6 feet.

The viewfinder, which is integral with the rangefinder, is of the reverse telescope type. The viewfinder assembly is mounted on the top plate and shows the subject image, at about 2/3 full size, together with the adjustment field for the rangefinder. On the front of the assembly is a sliding mask which, when in place, reduces the field of view when the 16 exposure mode is in use. The top of the rangefinder housing contains the baseboard release button and an accessory shoe. A tripod bush is fitted to the camera base.

In addition an adjustable circular mechanical frame counter is fitted in the camera top plate. The counter has a scale marked 1 to 11 followed by a series of index marks. The action of tensioning and releasing the shutter causes the counter to increment one frame. If desired the lock can be inhibited which allows unlimited travel of the winder, under which circumstances the user must verify frame advance with reference to the red windows.

At a time of austerity there were inevitable serious production and marketing difficulties and despite further minor modifications and refinements, which included a shutter with an increased top speed (1/300s), the camera was withdrawn from sale in 1950.

The approximated camera dimensions (W x L x D) are: 115 x 150 x 112 (open) 40 (closed) mm and it weights 860 gr.

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