Lizars, J | Challenge De Luxe | Other | Quarter Plate
1900 | HAND/STAND CAMERA After 1899, the Sanderson Patent specifying twin slotted struts for supporting the front panel, offered more versatility than had been realisable up to that date. Extreme rising and falling front, with provision for use of wideangle lenses, together with a wide range of swing and tilt movements, made Houghtons' Sanderson cameras ideal for architectural photography, and their immediate success made it imperative for other makers to produce competitive cameras, avoiding infringement of the Sanderson patents, by using various forms of complicated and expensive brass-work to produce similar movements to the front panel. Lizars' "Challenge" Cameras were made in more than 80 models, in various levels of sophistication, which in this "Challenge De Luxe" version extended to bellows and universal swing front allowing "enormous rise, extreme side movement, great extension with perfect rigidity, and can be set back for extreme short focus lenses, and tilted to any degree upwards or downwards" [Lizars Catalogue,1905]. Made in various guises, from 1899 onwards, the "De Luxe" was available with a leather-covered or polished mahogany body, and a Tropical model in Teak was also made. This leather-clad model is rare, by my standard of never having seen another one, and although this particular example has led a hard life, it is worth its place in my collection.
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