W. Morley Stereo, London

At some point in the 1890s, this c. 1860 mahogany wet plate tailboard camera had it's original Negretti & Zambra lenses replaced with a set of Wrays, mounted on a Thornton Pickard stereo shutter. The quality of wood, richness of the original maroon square leather bellows and perfect dovetail joints all speak to the degree of workmanship lavished on cameras of this era. Features included a rising front and tilting back. Sadly, I don't have a wet plate holder to match the camera, and frankly there's no evidence to suggest this camera was ever used to shoot wet plates. Either it sat around as a display piece, or someone treated it with the utmost care. Currently, there is nothing to stop the lens panel sliding side to side. Screw holes on top of the shutter suggest there may have been a bracket attached with a slot to be held by the knob above.

E. Mazo Stereo

Fourth quarter 19th century tailboard stereo camera, with Mazo lenses on Thornton-Pickard stereo shutter. I'm guessing it was a private label product made for Mazo by someone else.

J. Reygondaud Stereo

By the latter part of the 19th century a thriving business had evolved for both professional and high quality amateur cameras. The sliding box style had given way to folding cameras with leather bellows such as this (circa 1890) Reygondaud. It has both mono and stereo lens sets mounted on roller blind shutters. The stereo lens pair are Darlots with waterhouse style stops. The mono shutter is by Mattioli. The stereo sh utter has a trademark, but I don't know if its Mattioli or someone else. The single lens is a Goerz of most likely later vintage. The accessory view finder is an interesting piece. With the top cover closed, it works as an eye level finder. Open the cover and a mirror drops down internally, making it a waist level finder.

Camera with Mono Lens

No. 5 Folding Kodak Improved "satchel" Stereo

In 1885, Blair establisheded the concept of self-casing cameras with their commercialy succesful Lucidograph. Kodak soon followed with their own Folding cameras. Looking much like a satchel, the Kodaks were more practical, though still far from an ideal design. An interesting feature of the Kodak cameras was their incorporation of an Eastman-Walker roll film holder. The No. 5 Improved of 1893-'97 was given a wider lens board, allowing the use of stereo shutters. It could also shoot glass plates. By the turn of the century, better designs were available and the satchel cameras were gone.

Mono Lens | Internal View | Roll Holder

Rochester Camera Manufacturing Co. Stereo POCO

The Stereo POCO camera was a typical turn of the century cased camera design. I tend to think of this as the third basic design evolution. Early cameras were of the sliding box type, then came folding designs with leather bellows, but their components were still exposed when the bed was folded up. Cased c ameras were the norm for over 50 years. It took modern 35mm SLRs to unseat them. By changing the lens board and removing the internal septum, the camera can be converted for shooting regular 2D photos.

Camera with Mono Lens

Gundlach-Manhattan Optical Co. Korona Stereo

As was common with turn of the century optical companies, Gundlach went through a series of owners and naming variations. Based on the branding, this particular example was likely made somewhere between 1903 and the war years. Interestingly, while most Korona cameras had an ivorene maker's plate at the base of the front stand, this one does not. Instead the maker's information has been engraved on the decorative plate between the lenses. If the label appears crooked, that's because it is! Presumably, this was a manufacturing deffect. I would love to see if any other Korona cameras of this period had the same deffect.

Folmer & Schwing Triple Lens Stereo Graphic

Say hello to the beast - a camera only its mother could love, or perhaps the men who designed it. Manufactured in a brief window from 1902 until Eastman's takeover of Folmer & Schwing in 1906, the Triple Lens Stereo Graphic is an extremely uncommon camera. Clearly intended as a top of the line stereo camera, today it is best known as the subject of a rare but popular Keystone stereo view. The 5 x 8 format should have produced impressive images, although I have never encountered such an image. This particular example was purchased by the previous owner from Ukraine, via an obscure and mislabeled Ebay auction. Talk about a stroke of luck!

Goerz Anschutz

Another turn of the century bellows type camera was the Goerz Anschutz. Featuring a focal plain shutter, the Goerz uses struts rather than a folding bed. The camera may be used to create 2D panoramas by removing the internal septum and sliding the lenses over so one is centered. After the age of interchangeable lens boards, this was a not uncommon feature prior to WWII. It has a Newtonian action finder on top, or a ground glass could be attached for critical composition and focusing.

Back and Side Views | Instruction Manual

Bloch Le Physiographe

The Bloch brothers produced cameras in the form of a book, a cravate, a briefcase, a monocular, and like this example, a pair of binoculars. Was anyone ever fooled by one these devices? Who knows. Le Physiograph was patented in the late 1890s and soldiered on in production until shortly after WWI.

Camera controls are located between the objective lenses. The one on the left is fake, and is used as a handle for the plate changing magazine. The right objective looked through a 90 degree finder located in the black rim. Because the natural tendency is to hold a binocular with both hands, I could see many images being ruined by a hand in front of one of the lenses. The difficulty of using the 90 degree finder likely also lead to many angled images. According to McKeowns, early examples were in 5 x 12 format. Later examples, like this one, are in the ubiquitous 45 x 107 format.

Bellieni Stereo Jumelle

Typical turn of the century Jumelle style camera with magazine back, for 9x18 stereo pairs. Owing to the physical size of the plates, the magazine holds 24 half size plate holders. Advancing from one image to the next required the operator to keep careful track of the frame counter. The plate changing handle had to be cycled twice per image. Looking at the camera from behind, 24 unexposed half plates are loaded on the left hand side. Each time the changing handle is cycled, one half plate is moved across to the right. Therefore, before the first photo is taken, the changing handle must be cycled to bring an unexposed plate to the right hand side. After taking a photo. The exposed left hand image is dragged over to the right hand stack. A second operation of the handle then drags an unexposed plate from left to right, leaving two unexposed plates in position. The exposure counter must always be on an even number or one half of a pair will be double exposed. Large and clumsy systems such as this were rapidly supplanted by easier to handle 45 x 107 cameras like the Verascope.

Mackenstein La Francia

A delicate French 45 x 107 strut folding design, La Francia folded up into a very small package. It would be carried in a felt pouch and was perfectly suited to be carried in a purse, or coat pocket. Like many of its contemporaries, the shutter is pneumatically controlled, with "slow" (lent), and "fast" (rapide) settings. The aperture control knob on the upper right must have been a production line modification. Whereas labeling on the front plate has been beautifully engraved, markings for the aperture knob are scratched in by hand. Perhaps it came unmarked and an owner later scratched in his own markings. Another oddity of this particular camera is the red leather bellows have been dyed black. This is one of the rare few cameras I think actually looks better in black.

Photo Hall

The Photo Hall is one of a plethora of Fre nch 45 x 107 mm glass plate cameras. Not a highly sophisticated machine. The body is leather covered wood and it uses a simple metal plate holder with dark slide.

Blair Stereo Weno

Blair was one of a number of companies absorbed by Eastman around the turn of the century. Built in the popular "pocket" style, Weno cameras are less common than the similar Hawkeye models, and were only made in 190 2-'03. Although still labeled Blair Camera Co., Kodak would drop the Blair name around 1908. I believe this is a very early example, as all the others I have seen have an aperture scale bridging the top of the gap between the shutters. Blair Camera Co and Weno are then stamped into the black metal cover. On this camera, Blair Camera Co is stamped into the two small chrome plates screwed to the tops of the shutters. The only number I can find on the camera is an 88 stamped under a film take up spool. I'm guessing that is the serial number.

No 2 Stereo Brownie

Kodak made a large and confusing series of folding stereo cameras. This was due in part to the fact Eastman kept absorbing competing companies, but continued to offer their products. The No 2 Stereo Brownie is a personal favorite. On these early cameras the handle was on top, so one would carry the camera much like a lunch box.

Stereo Hawkeye Model 4

One of the prettiest folding Kodaks, the Stereo Hawkeye Model 4. Eastman absorbed many camera companies along the way, including the Blair Camera Co. This led to the rather long winded Eastman Kodak Co Successor to Blair Camera Co. label on the round disc between the lenses. Kodak must have realized there were advantages to Blair's design, because the Stereo Brownie had a short life.

Stereo Kodak Model 1 (early)

The thin end of the wedge. Next thing you know they'll be making these things out of plastic. Oh wait, that's exactly what happened. Although the case has been modified, there is no mistaking the Hawkeye origins of the Model 1. It also marked the end of the beautiful wood, brass and maroon bellows era. I've also seen a version like this but still with the lacquered brass shutter. If I run across a nice one for sale, it will be joining the collection.

Stereo Kodak Model 1

This is a later example of the Stereo Kodak Model 1. Notice how the camera has evolved from the box shape of the No 2 Brownie. The handle has moved to the end, which is rounded instead of square. Its now much more typical of a 1920s pocket camera. However, these cameras were way to big to fit in your pocket. Standard stereo view cards of the day were 3.5 x 7 inches, and so the camera had to accommodate a big roll of film.

Hugo Stöckig Union 30

Stöckig was a large German mail order company which sold many private label versions of Ernemann cameras, under the Union label. This particular model was the Union version of the Ernemann Heag IV Stereoskop. The back incorporated an unusual folding viewing hood for the focusing screen. Later versions incorporated a reflex finder mounted on the front between the lenses.

Camera Back

Stereo Auto Graflex

Graflex, the renouned maker of advanced ammateur and professional press cameras, produced only two SLR stereo models. The first was the Stereo Graflex, and the second was this Stereo Auto Graflex. Differences between the two were minor. Both cameras shot 5 x 7 inch sheet film (I have seen a photo of a smaller format version, but know nothing about it). Today, Stereo Graflex cameras are few and far between. This example has an unsual feature which allows adjustment of the stereo base. I wrote a story about the camera for the Graflex Historic Quarterly. It appears in the 2nd quarter 2003 issue. I've reproduced it here.

Gaumont Block Notes Stereo 6 x 13

An interesting strut folding design, the Bl ock Notes is extremely compact when folded. The sliding front panel performs multiple functions. As seen here, the view finder is in place and the shutter cocked. Slide the viewfinder in and the front pane l acts as a lens cover. When the viewfinder is slid back out again, it also cocks the shutter. This concept really presages the operation of many modern pocket digital cameras, with a sliding lens cover which also turns on the camera.