Back in the 50s Britain was still teetering on the brink of being a Super Power, but then Suez happened and the Banksters pulling the strings abandoned Britain and threw their lot in with the USA. In those days Britain still used to have factories and a manufacturing industry, from automobiles such as Triumph and Jaguar to my favourite aircraft – the English Electric Lightning. M.P.P was a manufacturer of Cameras – or as Wikipedia states: “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.)”
Their main focus were Micro press Camera’s, based on Linhof designs. Because of import tariffs Britain was able to produce home made products whose quality I’d say was on par with their foreign rivals. This soon changed and M.P.P along with everything else became history.
Now we have 3D printed crowd funded rubbish. Ah well, at least we can still go onto eBay or other second hand stores (online or bricks and mortar) and buy some old classics. I bought this on a whim, it looked like a Rolleiflex and I’d never heard of M.P.P
My MPP Microcord was a mk II with a working and fairly accurate Prontor SVS shutter, and a super fast top shutter speed of 1/300 It has a 4 element Tessar Ross Express f3.5 77.5mm lens (which I have read is said to be of higher quality than the comparable Tessar in a Rolleicord)
It has its Microcord brown leather ever-ready case with neck strap, and a twin lens cap (a Minolta one) but the ground glass is clean, relatively bright, with crystal clean optics and it all has been well oiled CLA’d and looked after. Not as bright as that on a Rolleiflex but good!
It’s easy to load, by opening the hinged (removable) back ‘lid’ and simply winding a roll of 120 Film in, the cover is then replaced and secured.
You then have to wind the film on by depressing the button on the film wind knob, until the window shows ‘1’ and then have to do the same for every frame – press the button, wind the knob, focus using the forward knob, and then cock the shutter (located under the Ross Express) – press the shutter release and the shutter depresses with a snick – very quiet!
The Microcord is like a Rolleiflex ‘lite’ rather than a full blown Rolleicord type – as Aperture and Shutter speed are changed using the Rolleiflex type wheels (and the values are viewed in a small window on top of the viewing lens).
Anyway, the camera is beautifully made, everything about it is of very high workmanship, Rollei makes no junk, and neither did MPP.
The camera takes standard Bay I Rolleicord Filters and is very cheap to buy. I spent £120 on the camera (from ffordes with a year warranty), £10 on two rolls of Rollei Retro 80s and £10 on a Rollei Gelb Hell Yellow Filter. I developed using Rodinal.
I’m a Londoner – born and raised here and when someone asks where I’m from I say London as it’s more of a city state and very different from the rest of Britain. Though I moved away a while back, much of it isn’t recognizable anymore – but I work there and my favorite part is and always will be the West End. I took a walk around my favourite parts of the West End of London and towards the Southbank, along the river to St. Pauls Cathedral in The City.
Some trivia, can anyone, off the top of their heads, name the 7 Gates of The City of London? I had 2 rolls of Rollei Retro 80s, an asa 80 super-panchromatic sensitised Film, with high Red sensitivity all the way to 750nm.
It comes on a clear base which makes it almost Agfa Scala like, but as i discovered it is also very E6 like when it comes to exposure and can be very unforgiving in regards latitude and highlights. It is a very contrasty Film, very fine grained and smooth but it’s a case of you’ll either love it or hate it. Shadow detail isn’t great and even with a Yellow Filter the photo’s look ‘Infrared – ish’.
I love it, I shot using a Rollei Yellow Filter (as always, Don McCullin shoots with a Yellow permanently attached and he’s the Don) I metered the light using my Minolta Autometer III (Incident) and on the odd occasion I used the excellent spot meter on my iPhone ‘Light Meter’ app.
The only Post Process I used was to clone a few spots of dust off and resized in Photoshop – ok, they’re hardly Leica Monochrome shots, a 60 year old camera is ultimately a 60 year old camera, but I wouldn’t get any better results with the Leica, I can only photograph as much as my capabilities and creativity dictates, (not very good) and I reckon it is the same for everyone else.
Anyway, this was a while ago and since then I’m on the lookout for a M.P.P 4×5 camera and the rare M.P.P Microflex – the Rolleiflex of this series, fitted with a glorious Taylor-Taylor-Hobson Sonnar type lens. These are rare as have a design fault which if used incorrectly turns the camera into a paperweight.
But there are some mint bargains on eBay – get yourself something as good as a Rolleiflex 3.5F for under $200! As with most delightful cameras I’ve had this soon went on a knee jerk.
Overall the MPP Microcord a lovely nicely made camera which can be bought for peanuts – for those wanting a Rolleiflex but don’t want to empty their bank accounts.
I hope you enjoyed the photographs
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Comments
Geoff Chaplin on MPP Microcord – A British TLR
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
4x5 MPP is something I wanted years ago but missed. Good luck!
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
andy hertig on MPP Microcord – A British TLR
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Kind regards, Andy
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Simon Foale on MPP Microcord – A British TLR
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
David Pauley on MPP Microcord – A British TLR
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Roger on MPP Microcord – A British TLR
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Ibraar Hussain on MPP Microcord – A British TLR
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
And the 7 gates of the City of London are:
Aldgate – leading to Colchester and Essex
Bishopsgate – leading to Shoreditch and up towards Cambridge along the old Ermine Street
Moorgate – not an original Roman gate, it was more than likely a postern in Roman times, only becoming a gate in 1415. The gate led to the Moorfields, a marshy area north of the city.
Cripplegate – leading to the village of Islington
Aldersgate – leading towards St. Bartholomew’s Abbey, Smithfield Market, and London Charterhouse. Aldersgate was thought to have replaced a previous gate to the west of the city.
Newgate – leading towards Oxford and the west
Ludgate – leading towards Bath and the South West
Bob Janes on MPP Microcord – A British TLR
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
The only issue I have in operation is that I sometimes forget to keep my hand clear of the underside of the front standard and sometimes I obstruct the cocking lever as it comes across during an exposure - but other than that it is a lovely camera.
The last Microflex I saw in the flesh was up at Real Camera in Manchester - they won't have that anymore, but might get the odd example in from time to time.
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Murray Leshner on MPP Microcord – A British TLR
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
I can see they are in a couple ways nicer than the 6x9 Crown Graphics so I hang onto them.
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Curtis Heikkinen on MPP Microcord – A British TLR
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Clive prothero-Brooks on MPP Microcord – A British TLR
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Daniel Castelli on MPP Microcord – A British TLR
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
But thanks again. Nice pics.
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Gary Smith on MPP Microcord – A British TLR
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Thomas Wolstenholme on MPP Microcord – A British TLR
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Tony Warren on MPP Microcord – A British TLR
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
My first TLR was the Microcord's big brother, the Microflex. It had a Micronar lens of the same 77.5mm focal length, probably a similar computation.
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Comment posted: 21/03/2025
Jeffery Luhn on MPP Microcord – A British TLR
Comment posted: 22/03/2025
Another post with great shots. I really like your work!
That TLR is one I've never seen on this side of the pond. I'm a lover of TLR design, with a Mamiya C-33, a beat up Yashica, and two useable Rolleicords. From what I've seen of your results, if I ran across a similar model, I'd buy it. Keep shooting and writing. We all enjoy your posts.
Jeffery
Comment posted: 22/03/2025