Micro Precision Products Ltd (MPP) was a British optical company that between 1941 and 1982 produced cameras and related equipment. (From 1976, its name was MPP Photographic Products Ltd.) MPP was formed in 1941 to sell equipment produced by

Celestion Celestion is a British designer and exporter of professional loudspeakers. History Origins What became Celestion was started in Hampton Wick (suburban London) in 1924. ''Cyril French'' and his three brothers had taken over a plating works ...

Ltd.; in its early days, MPP employees also worked for Celestion or the related McMurdo Instrument Company. MPP was based in London: in Kingston until 1976,

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its nam ...

thereafter.

Products

MPP's first major product was the Micro-Technical Camera, in 1948. This was far in advance of any other camera produced in Britain. Mark II followed in 1949; Mark III in 1951; Marks VI, VII and VIII in 1952, 1956, and 1963. (Marks IV and V were not sold.) These had the full versatility and quality of technical cameras; some long remained in professional use. The Micro-Press Camera was a

press camera A press camera is a medium or large format view camera that was predominantly used by press photographers in the early to mid-20th century. It was largely replaced for press photography by 35mm film cameras in the 1960s, and subsequently, by ...

available through the 1950s. MPP is the only postwar British manufacturer of

twin-lens reflex camera A twin-lens reflex camera (TLR) is a type of camera with two objective lenses of the same focal length. One of the lenses is the photographic objective or "taking lens" (the lens that takes the picture), while the other is used for the viewfind ...

s. The Microcord (1951) was based on the Rolleicord; it was soon (1952) followed by the Microcord Mk II, with an improved shutter (the German Prontor). The Ross lens is of high quality. In 1958, MPP brought out the lever-wound Microflex, inspired by the

Rolleiflex Rolleiflex is the name of a long-running and diverse line of high-end cameras originally made by the German company Franke & Heidecke, and later Rollei-Werke. History The "Rolleiflex" name is most commonly used to refer to Rollei's premier ...

. This had excellent optics (by Taylor, Taylor and Hobson) and the camera was well made, but the crank invited hard use for which it was not designed. Shortly after its introduction, Britain dropped the high duty rates that had made Rollei equipment prohibitively expensive, and the Microflex had to be heavily discounted. Other products included enlargers (even for large format), projectors, dark slides, carrying cases and a flashgun that was similar in design and appearance to

Graflex Graflex was a manufacturer that gave its brand name to several models of camera. The company was founded as the ''Folmer and Schwing Manufacturing Company'' in New York City in 1887 by William F. Folmer and William E. Schwing as a metal working ...

models.

Sources

* Skinner, Basil. ''Micro Precision Products: The MPP story and the products.'' Newquay, Cornwall: MPP Publications, 2004. {{ISBN, 0-9546070-1-5. (For a description of the book, se
this page
retrieved in 2007 from the website of Michael Pritchard FRPS.)

External links

The MPP Users' Club

Photographs of a MPP Mk VII
Technology companies established in 1941 Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Photography companies of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1982 Manufacturing companies established in 1941 Technology companies disestablished in 1982 1941 establishments in England 1982 disestablishments in England British companies disestablished in 1982 British companies established in 1941

Products

Sources

Further reading

External links