BLAST FROM THE PAST: The Dandycam
Amateur Photographer|July 25, 2023
John Wade discovers a box camera with some unusual tricks up its sleeve
John Wade
BLAST FROM THE PAST: The Dandycam

LAUNCHED 1911

PRICE AT LAUNCH 7s 6d (37%2p)

GUIDE PRICE NOW £100-120

Question: Who made the first single lens reflex (SLR) instant picture camera? Answer: Polaroid. Right? Wrong. More than 60 years before Polaroid's remarkable SX-70 instant SLR, the British Butcher company introduced the Dandycam.

It took tintypes, which formed a direct positive image on metal plates. These were circular, 2.5cm in diameter, and the image produced was for inserting into pendants and brooches. 

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