Ansco Lancer

This week's camera is the Ansco Lancer, a relic from the 1950s. The model I have is my dad's camera, and it was actually his first! As you can see, he must have thought at some point that a camera strap made of string was a good idea. I found this guy in my parents' basement collecting dust.

So, while the Lancer was sold by Ansco on this side of the Atlantic, it's actually a Bilora Bella 44-1 minus a B setting, manufactured in Germany. It's a very simple viewfinder camera with zone focusing, along the same lines as the Agfa Silette. It has a whopping two shutter speeds (50 and 100) and an impressive two f stops (8 and 16). It has a Sconar lens, although I'm not sure what focal length it is. This guy takes 127 film, which, again, is available from The Frugal Photographer (see the link on the right), but is otherwise pretty obsolete. I wholly intend to test it out one day, but today is not that day.

The Lancer was a pretty cheap camera, but it has some fun quirks. The cheapness itself is kind of a quirk, actually, since the lens is so basic that you can see through it perfectly. It's kind of hard to believe that it's doing anything at all! And then the winder makes a clicking noise once you've wound to the next frame, but then you can just keep on winding forever if you want to, so that takes some getting used to. Also the name, "Lancer"...  really... It's easy to see how it would be perfect for a kid learning how to take pictures in the 50s and 60s, though.

You know... it's also kind of interesting that my dad used this camera for years and still has it, and that his family used their Brownie for even longer. Almost every camera I had growing up ended up breaking in a couple of years, and with so many chips and digital bits, newer cameras are a lot harder to salvage, I think. Maybe.

So, I will continue to dig through my dad's belongings and see if I can uncover some of his old photos, and maybe I'll run some film through it myself. However, Marcy at Junk Store Cameras has an amusing review of the Lancer as well as some test shots. Check it out!


Cheers!
Caity