Ansco Vest Pocket N° 1

Photos by Guy Lordat text by GL. From the collection of Guy Lordat. Last update 2023-12-08 par Michel Rochevalier.

Manufactured or assembled in USA from (After) 1926 to (After) 1926.
Index of rarity in France: Rare (among non-specialized garage sales)
Inventory number: 14469

See the complete technical specifications

Chronology of cameras Ansco

Ansco Vest Pocket (VP) is a series of folding-type cameras. meaning that the front section, flat, is connected to the camera body by four struts. Even when extended, this section always remains parallel to the film plane. Exposure must only be made when the struts are fully extended and locked.
Once folded, the front section protects the bellows. The lens is sometimes protected by a cap attached to the front section by a hinge (Model No. 2), giving a rather characteristic silhouette to the Ansco Vest Pocket. In this case, the cap is made of metal, like the rest of the camera. On its inner face, there is sometimes an exposure table.
Another recurring feature of the Ansco Vest Pocket is their curved stand. There are two viewfinders to allow both vertical and horizontal shooting. The covering is leather or imitation leather.

The lens combinations are numerous, especially since examples sold in France were sometimes “Frenchified” by fitting a local lens. The shutter is a Wollensak. The early Bionic is gradually replaced by an Actus.

Ansco The No. 0 is a 4.5 x 6 cm, fixed-focus model. The No. 0 bis has the same format, with focusing. The No. 1 is a 6 x 9 cm on 120 film. It is fixed-focus. The No. 2 is a 6 x 9 cm on 120 film. It features a micrometric focusing adjustment. An Omnium Photo catalog from 1923 mentions a Vest Pocket Junior No. 1, but it is simply the Vest Pocket No. 1.

Available combinations in France, according to catalogs (non-exhaustive):

	No. 0	No. 0 ^bis	No. 1	No. 2

Rectilinear	1919-24		1919-21	1920-21
Achromatic	1919-22		1919-21	1920-21
Ansco Anastigmat 7.5		1921
Modico 7.5				1917-19
Photo-Plait 6.8	1920		1919	1917-19
Berthiot Olor 6.8	1919-24	1922-23	1923	1917-23
Ansco Anastigmat 6.3	1919			1920-22
Photo-Plait 6.3	1919-24		1919-21	1921-28
Roussel Stylor 6.3	1919-24	1922-23	1919-23	1920-27
Novac 6.3		1923	1921-23	1921-23
Dallmeyer Perfac 6.3				1915
Duplouich Verax 6.3	1921
Krauss Tessar 6.3				1921-23
Hermagis 6.3				1924
Splendor 6.2	1922-24			1922-27
Berthiot Olor 6				1920-28
Krauss Tessar 5	1921-24
Boyer Saphir 5		1922		1922

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The Ansco Vest Pocket No. 1 features a luxurious finish with a reddish-brown leatherette and gold plating on all brass parts. Despite this lavish design, technically, the camera remains the same as the less luxurious versions and has only a single meniscus lens.

The presence of a patent date from May 1926 engraved inside the back indicates a later production date.

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