A very popular detective camera based on Miall's patent of 1889 which remained on sale until the early 1900s.

The Facile is rather large as one changing box is filled as the other is emptied, so twice the space is used. Advertisements suggest that the camera, if wrapped in brown paper, would resemble a parcel of books, Fallowfield also sold leather and canvas cases for concealment. The camera was advertised only in the quarter-plate size. Fitted with either a 5" Rapid Landscape or Rapid Rectilinear lens. The price was £5.5.0 in 1891.

A note in the British Journal of Photography (1891) suggests that the Facile was originally supplied with a brown paper covering which had to be removed to reload plates and that from that date a leather case was made available.

Minor variations exist:

• Early models were optionally not fitted with a view-finder.
• Usually a single finder is fitted for landscape format. Some have a second for portrait format.
• A sheath is fitted to some models which covers the lens and finder openings, when the finder lid is raised the sheath is also raised.
• Leather covering was an option.

Later a focusing Facile was introduced this may have had a different mechanism as it took 12 plates or 24 cut-films without holders which could be exposed in any order. It was fitted with a shutter having speeds of 1 - 1/100, some advertisements say the shutter was by N&G.

In his book, Victorian Snapshots, Paul Martin describes using a Facile and how he was able to adjust the focus by operating the changing mechanism.

An unusual model fitted with a pneumatically controlled shutter. The shutter blade only operates in one direction, it is set by a rod on the side of the camera and released by a spring-loaded catch.

The Focusing Facile had a different changing mechanism compared to the ordinary model with the 12 plates held in only one box. The camera is carried upside down, the carrying handle being on the underside of the camera, the plate selector dial is near the handle. When taking a photograph the plate selector dial is moved to a particular plate number, this would normally be the next position but it was possible to load different types of plate in the changing box and expose these in any order. Moving the selector dial moves the changing box. The camera is now turned upright, this causes the selected plate to drop through a slot into the exposing position, the speed and focusing scales can now be set. After exposure the camera is reversed and the exposed plate drops back into the changing box. An aluminium shutter covers the lens, this shifts to uncover the lens when the camera it turned upright.

This is a very large camera for only 12 plates. Advertisements state that the shutter was made by N&G.