There's no name anywhere on the body of the camera.
There's no name anywhere on the body of the camera.
Yea, round gizmos with old, usually worn out attachments to tired, rickety wood tripods. I would not look to find original parts. Put a board underneath with a proper tripod mount and be happy.Originally Posted by altb44
To check the bellows for leaks, you would take a bright LED flashlight that would fit on the inside of the bellows and shine towards the corners/top/sides etc while you are in a darkened room and look for clear holes/cracks etc...
The thing to check for next is if the film holders are for films or glass plates... Film holders will have small slots along the sides and bottom inside, but plate holders will have a spring metal clip usually at the top and bottom inside...
Modern film holders might fit/not fit in your camera back, and there can be a difference with the depth where the film sits affecting focus, so test for that... You can make an adapter for the camera back that will also hold an old back from a Graflex Speed or Crown Graphic that will hold modern holders easily...
May be some work to make it a shooter, but it would also make a VERY nice display camera... If you get it to work, a more modern lens and after not too long, the bellows will need replacement after not a lot of use, but there are inexpensive custom bellows that would work well (IF you love using this camera)...
Step by step...
Good Luck!!!
Steve K
Great! I'm glad you got it folded. To determine the film size, measure the ground glass. Then if you have holders that fit the camera, you can use those,
You can put a board on the bottom of the camera with a modern tripod plate, but then you cannot close the camera with the lens mounted. That is not a big deal, as almost all modern field cameras cannot be folded with a lens on. Another option is to search ebay for one of the old tripods. I've seen them but never used one, but I expect you would want to make sure you have good measurements. Also, check ebay.co.uk, as I think they are more common that side of the pond.
Definitely shoot it, even if you are only shooting paper. Set it on a table and focus on your friend!
Cheers, Tim
It is not uncommon for UK cameras sold after the turn of the century (19-20th) to have USA shutters. Europe, in general, was late into getting into the "between" lens shutters. Even Busch, the German lensmaker, used the Unicum shutters ex. factory. The reason was probably because Thornton-Pickard was producing a quite reliable, simple and cheap front/rear curtain shutter. Other enclosed shutters, including the Unicum, were not fine instruments!
If it Is a UK camera, then the size is most likely to be 1/2 plate, rather than 5x7".
The brass ring mounted within the base hole - with three separate legs mounted to form a tripod - is basically a good stabile system. Of course, the ash wood can be split and the connections loose, but many I have seen are almost as good as new.
Here are a couple of views of the type of legs I think Stephen is talking about. I have no idea if either of these would fit your camera:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/WOODEN-TRIPO...sAAOSwwzhZW9Sd
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Folmer-Grafl...sAAOSwVm5Y~5qu
Good luck!
You're right, it's a half plate. The frame for the glass has a different looking piece of wood on one side and I thought this meant someone put a shim in the frame to fit a smaller plate into a larger space because the original glass broke, but if you include the piece as a replacement for a frame edge, or if the edge just lost it's finish...it's pretty much 6.5 by 4.75. But I found 5 x 7 film sheaths in the film holders, so...I drew conclusions.
at least I have three film holders that fit exactly, and the sheaths fit in the holders though it has the prong arrangement for glass plates as well. I guess the film sheaths must overlap a bit inside the holder. I took some photos on paper last night, just to see if it really didn't have pinholes. It doesn't and I managed to get a not half bad image!
Would the name of the maker have been on the plate for the tripod, which in my camera is missing? What kind of lenses would have been original? Or What would be a really good contemporary lens? I'm traveling to Britain soon and would love to get something it would have had when it was made.
I know I'm asking a lot of questions. This is a whole new area of photography for me.
Take a close look at the lens board. If you don't see any screw holes, and the finish of the board the lens is mounted on matches the finish of the camera, it's likely the original lens. I use lenses made from 1905 to 1925 on my modern (2010) Chamonix 4x5. The reason is I like the classic look they give. I personally wouldn't put a modern (1980+) lens on that camera.
Kent in SD
In contento ed allegria
Notte e di vogliam passar!
One way to get that camera on a tripod would be to make a plate from plywood with edges of plywood that make it into a tray that snugly fits the camera with cut-outs for the focus knobs on the edges. This way you can tilt the camera more w/o as much worry it'd fall off the plate. Or, as someone said you could screw the camera to a plywood plate, maybe with a small cut out for the lens protrusion, and put a T nut or tripod plate on that for a much more secure attachment. Sounds like a neat camera and lens.
When I said "contemporary" I meant the same era as the camera, not a modern lens. I really like using vintage lenses as well. My small cameras have lenses from 1909-1982 but I like the look the old ones give best
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