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The Ilford Ilfoflex was a low
cost plastic twin lens reflex style box camera, made in Hong
Kong, by 'The Great Wall of China Manufacturing Company'. Equipped
with a fixed focus 'Brytex' f8 lens and a shutter with I(nstantaneous)
and B(ulb), the Ilfoflex took 12 pictures, 4cm square, on 127
roll film.
Bill Smith, who was Ilford's
Product Manager for cameras and accessory equipment and oversaw
the sales of the Sportsman camera range and introduction of the
Elmo cameras, recalls
that the Ilfoflex was never sold in any quantity except in the
promotional market - not via retailers. He remembers leaving
an example on a sunny windowsill of his office while away on
vacation. On his return it had transformed itself into abstract
sculpture due to the heat of the sun coming through the window!
Looking like a toy, good results are claimed with care. The instruction
booklet can be downloaded here 
This web site shows the same camera, badged
as a Bedfordflex (or so the owner believes, but his name plate
is missing). The interesting thing is that he shows pictures
taken with his camera which are likely the equivalent from an
Ilfoflex. They are not too bad, but the camera is suffering from
light leakage, partly spoiling the pictures. Another site showing
the Bedfordflex and its pictures can be seen here.
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