The above pictures show a Series I Advocate (LHS), which went on sale in summer 1949, and a Series 2 Advocate (RHS) that first appeared in late 1952. They were manufactured by Kennedy Instruments, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ilford Ltd, who later manufactured the KI Monobar. The above picture of a Series 1 Advocate, and the others lower down this page, are shown by the kind permission of Michael Rickards.

Click the imager for a pdf file of the Series II Advocate instruction manual  Be patient as the file is 8MB.
The following review of the Series 1 Advocate appeared in the British Journal Photographic Almanac (BJPA) for 1950:

"The 'Advocate' is a landmark in British camera construction. As pleasing in appearance as it is accurate in construction, it brings the precision miniature into the medium price class and gives the lie to the assertion that we cannot hope in this country to compete in the miniature market. The body is a pressure die-casting of aluminium silicon alloy, finished in hard-stoved ivory enamel finish which is delightful to handle, extremely resistant to scratching and wear, and absolutely incapable of picking up dirt. The lens, too, is out-standing. It is a bloomed Dallmeyer British made f/4.5 of only 35-mm. focal length, a wide angle coverage which, at f/4.5 on so short a focus, gives a depth of field that renders a rangefinder unnecessary for the great majority of work: for portraiture and other work in which a smaller angle may be appropriate the perfection of the Dallmeyer lens permits of adequate definition by enlargement from rather less than the whole frame.

The shutter is timed for 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/150, 1/200, and bulb. Shutter speeds are set out on the outermost ring; the inner ring gives, on a very open scale, focus down to 3ft., while the iris is controlled by rotating the lens hood, and is graduated to f/22.

The shutter wind and film transport are interlocked, and the mechanism is freed for rewinding by depressing the winding head: it is very comfortably done with the second finger of the left hand holding the camera, rewinding being done with the right. The camera takes standard cassettes and loading is simplicity itself, thanks to the provision of a swing-out holder for the cassette.

The optical view-finder is adequate, well made, clear, and with a quite well-defined frame. A tripod bush is provided in the centre of the base-separately inserted into the body casting, solidly designed and of adequate depth. Eyelets for a sling are cast in the body itself, small and unobtrusive.

Altogether the camera gives unquestionable evidence of the very highest quality. The interior of the body casting is as clean and precise as a plastic moulding, and everything is attached with screws, with obvious precision. All parts are made dead to gauge, and the lens adjusted accurately to gauge by the makers, so that there can be no error when all is assembled. A final check after assembly nevertheless makes assurance doubly sure.

The price of the camera is £15 15s. Od., plus £6 16s. 6d. purchase tax (total cost £22.58p); the ever-ready leather case (with provision to hold 2 filters) is an extra and costs £1 19s, plus £1 5s.4d (total cost £3.22p) purchase tax."

The 1953 BJPA carried a review of the Series II Advocate, equipped with a f3.5 Dallmeyer lens, in place of the original f4.5, and flash synchronisation.

"The attractive stoved white-enamel (ivory) finish of the Ilford Advocate is by now so familiar as to need no introduction. The camera is a simple non-interchangeable lens miniature for 35mm. film, giving 36 standard-size negatives on a normal cassette loading of film. The body is a die-casting in aluminium alloy and is a very fine piece of workmanship.

This new model of the Advocate has been improved by the fitting of a lens of maximum aperture f3.5 in place of the former f4.5 lens. The focal length of this Dallmeyer anastigmat is, like that of the previous model, 35mm., which gives a rather wider angle of view than is generally considered normal, together with greater depth of field. At f4.5 with the lens set to 25ft, substantially sharp focus is given from 12ft. to infinity. Winding on the film automatically set the shutter for the next picture.

In addition to the new lens the scale plates have been modified to make them more easily read and the hinge and lock mechanism has been slightly modified. The shutter is synchronised for flash, and using it at 1/25 sec. all the following bulb types can be used satisfactorily. No. 5 and S.M., PFS, PF 14, PF 25, PF 38, and PF 60. The connectors for the flash gun are fitted to the lower RHS of the lens mounting block as viewed from the front (a flash lead was supplied with the camera to fit the two, non-coaxial, 'female' sockets).

The shutter release, which is mounted conveniently for operation by the forefinger of the right hand, is extremely light and the direct-vision finder gives a bright image. A good point of design is the eyepiece of the finder which is moulded in black plastic. Only too often this tiny part is finished in bright chrome or polished metal and is very distracting.

In all, the Series II Advocate is a well-made, excellently finished camera with a wide range of use. The price is £18 15s. plus £8 2s. 6d. purchase tax (£26.88p)."

The Advocate measures, overall, 5"x2.25"x2.675" and weighs only 18 ounces (510grammes).

'Ilford News' for Summer 1953 contains comment relating to tests carried out on the Series 2 Advocate by 'Amateur Photographer' magazine for 2nd April 1953. It also shows various lens accessories.

During the production life of the Series 2 Advocate some cameras were produced fitted with a Wray f3.5 lens due to the limited output available from Dallmeyer. This model has black coloured co-annular rings surrounding the lens with shutter speed and aperture numbers inscribed in white. Another variation was that a few Advocates were sold synchronised for electronic, rather than bulb, flash. The serial number shows this with a 'E' designation.

Kennedy Instruments stopped making the Advocate around 1957. Its design had apparently not suited the public taste and its lens cost made the retail price too high. Its believed the total production run was around 10,000.

Interestingly, it seems some Advocates were still be sold by an 'end of line' store, Direct Photographic Supplies Ltd, 224 Edgware Rd, London, W.2, as late as November 1968 (see AP advert page 96) under the heading 'Miscellaneous Bargains'. Complete with a case, Advocates were being sold for £10.10s (£10 50p). The advert doesn't specify whether the offer was for a Series 1 or a Series 2 Advocate.