The M.P.P. camera - history

Micro Precision Products Ltd of Kingston upon Thames was one of a handful of post World War II English companies manufacturing sophisticated and well made equipment, as its name implies, for the amateur and professional photographic market.

One of its best known cameras was the 1952 Microcord, a twin lens reflex 6X6cm medium format camera modelled on the German Franke and Heidecke Rolleicord. The camera was fitted with an English made Ross Ensign Xpres f/3.5 75 mm taking lens mounted in a Prontor SVS shutter speeded from 1 sec to 1/300th second. Unusually for the period, the first model was equipped with an eye-level viewing mirror. A second model featured a frame finder in its folding hood.

The firm's most famous camera however, is the MPP large format 5X4 inch Micro Technical Camera featuring a variety of tilts and swings making it suitable for many different photographic disciplines from studio to architectural work. Different models of the basic camera were produced and the Mk VII is still found for sale and in use today. Many different lenses can be fitted using appropriate interchangeable panels.

Other products manufactured by MPP include a series of photographic darkroom printing enlargers. These machines are substantially made, finely but functionally engineered from high quality metals. The MPP Universal enlarger can be used for print making using film formats from 35mm to 6X9cm and features a special condenser housing and filter drawer for colour printmaking. The Universal, like other MPP enlargers, is designed around a counterbalanced parallelogram arm for efficient shudder free image resizing. MPP