Una

The Una was introduced in 1904. It was a very well-made and solid camera. The earliest models had square cornered bellows, reversing back and box shaped view-finder. It was originally available in quarter-plate, 5" x 4", and half-plate sizes.

The price of a camera with the specification of the quarter-plate example shown above was £35 in 1928.

Variations

The Una remained essentially the same as the early model but a number of improvements were introduced:

• c. 1906. A Tropical finish was offered in mahogany.
• c. 1907. The Tropical model was now optionally teak or mahogany. For a brief period after this teak was the preferred tropical finish, by c. 1911 the teak option had been dropped in favour of mahogany.
• The folding bed of early (before 1908) models was clamped by a screw, later, a spring held the strut in place.
• 1909. A tilting front was added with an 'arc' shaped guide to fix the movement. A tilt movement may have been available from around 1907, advertisements are not clear if one was fitted and if it was what form it took.
• 1909. The back was now revolving.
• 1910. A tilting finder was available to determine the amount of rising front that was necessary. A scale was engraved on the finder matching the scale on the lens panel and front standard, at first the scale was marked on the fixed part of the finder with an index on the tilting part later (by 1914) the scale was on the tilting part. Previously the view-finder was box-shaped and without rising front markings. The box-shaped finder remained for cameras without rising front calibration. Both reflecting and brilliant finders are fitted, only the reflecting type was tilting. In 1909 a finder with a sliding front to show the effect of rising front was fitted to the half-plate model.
• Central tilt (described as swing) to the back was available from the late 1900s, but was not recommended.
• By 1914 the 'arc' guide was removed. From then, to operate the tilt a flat spring attached to the top of the lens board is raised which disconnects it from a catch at the top of the front standard forks.
• Variations in operating the falling front (described in a section below).
• 1936. The front of the baseboard hinged down allowing wide-angle lenses to be used.
• c. 1937. Triple extension was on all models.
• The locking of the rising front flap was at first by swivelling clips later by springs.
• On some tropical models the leather hood is a deep grained red/brown, on others it is smooth light brown.

Shutters

Commonly supplied shutters together with their introduction dates:

• Linhof - found on early models, 1904.
• B&L Automat - 1905.
• Compound - 1905.
• Accurate (N&S Patent) - 1912/13.
• Perfect (N&S Patent) - c. 1916.
• Lukos Express - c. 1920.
• Acme - c. 1920.

The N&S Patent shutter

An Anschütz, Ernemann or Adams focal-plane back was available as an accessory.

Sizes

A number of sizes were made:

• 3 ½" x 2 ½" introduced 1913.
• 3 ¼" x 4 ¼" introduced 1904.
• 4" x 5" introduced 1904.
• 3 ½" x 5 ½" introduced 1911.
• 10 x 15 cm introduced c. 1919.
• 6 ½" x 4 ¾" introduced 1904.
• 7" x 5" introduced 1906.

Other sizes would have been made to special order.

Rising and Falling Front

The camera is usually marked with rising front indicators of 0 - 3 and two index lines. Position 0, sometimes just shown as a dot, is the neutral position. Position 1 is when the lens panel is raised to align with the index on the lens board without lifting the whole lens board. Positions 2 and 3 are when the lens board is raised by moving it within the front standard forks to align with the index on the front standard fork, the lens panel is left in its neutral position.

The falling front is normally operated by moving a brass plate from under the lens board. The lens board rests on the plate when in the neutral position. On early models the plate slides, later it is pivoted. On some models a spring plate is fixed to the outside of the front standard forks, the end of the spring has a peg attached to it which fits through a hole in the fork and engages the lens board. To operate the falling front the spring plate is raised by pushing a brass plate underneath it. The peg arrangement seems to be fitted to models that have the 'arc' tilting front.

Dark Slides & Focusing Screens

Normally a block form double dark-slide was supplied with vulcanite sheaths, book-form slides were also available. The Autochrome slide was a book-form type with velvet covering to the pressure plate.

The focusing screens have a removable hood that unclips when a focusing cloth to be used.