The R.F. Hunter Gilbert Box Camera
As Ever I was sat on MY comfy stool by the counter at Russell’s shop when a nice young chap arrived and plonked a box of camera gear on the counter looking to sell. As this transaction was progressing my eye was drawn to a shiny weird looking box thing. After some chit chat and their deal was done I grabbed said box thing and started to examine. Nice and bold on the front “R.F. Hunter LTD – GILBERT! Clearly a box camera, shutter was stuck, it looked a bit tired and Russell suggested it was a nice display piece.
I muttered and talked fast, burbled something about I would
do some research and stuffed it in my bag promising to return it the next day.
Once home I hit the internet, the first things appearing were how difficult it
was to get one of these. I slowly gathered the important things.
A box camera of polished steel construction wrapped in “lizard skin”. 105mm lens – 2 apertures of f11 for bright and F5.6 for dull selected via a pull up rod on top of the camera. A similar rod to its right gives shutter speeds of – FAST, 1/50th & Slow, 1/30th. It gives images of 6x9 on 120 format which can be seen through a nice bright viewer above the lens and rotates as a whole from portrait to landscape. Film advance via the knob on the left side also cocks the shutter, this prevents double exposures and a quick glance through the lens shows a red or a green plate to tell you where you are at. Pulling the shutter release arm out gives to “T”, bulb mode, the usual red window is on the rear to advance your frames with a sliding door. A locking plate by the advance knob allows access for loading and that covers the basics.
The reality – It. Looks. Funky! That rotating viewer lens
combo is a chunk of stainless steel, set in a slab of stainless steel. It is a
very 50s attempt at designer styling which I came across in the 52 camera
project a couple of times, money ploughed into the look, and as camera usually
sucks! I figured it would be probably be the same. A bit of TLC and the shutter
came back to life, it was mostly in good condition but that lizard skin had
water stains and wear so wasn’t at its best. I decided to throw a roll at it to
give it a chance at a working life.
Just before setting off to return it I aimed a meter around outside and decided on a 13yr expired roll of Ilford PanF I had in the fridge, it had appropriate speed for the day and for how the camera was designed. I figured there were so many ways this could fail so an expendable roll and a quick blast of 8 unimportant frames was a sensible approach. I shot everything on fast and f11 except the last one. I set it to slow and f5.6 and shot Russell in the shady shop doorway…or was it shady Russell in the shop doorway… I will let you decide! A cheap development was employed of Rodinal 100:1 but with normal agitation for 10 mins but at 22c. Everything was a gut feeling and banking on luck…I was pleasantly surprised!
The negatives looked low contrast and maybe needed a tad
more development. A couple were a little under exposed but well within what you
would expect from a box camera. The centres are pretty sharp with a soft fuzzy
edge giving a tilt a shift feel. The Russell shot was very under but my
mistake. All in all I am pretty damned pleased! It is quirky, stylish, and very
usable with pleasing, character filled results. It should not just sit on a
shelf to be looked at! It should be used and enjoyed, I will be looking to have
a second more considered play with it.
