Old 8x10 Camera

[Jon Wilson]

I recently obtained an 8x10 mahogany view camera made by O.Sichel & Co., London and would like to learn more about its history. Is anyone familar with this company? This camera is 42" long, 14 1/2" wide, and 23" high. The bellows are slightly longer than the 30" of brass racks. The only movement is with the lens board moving up and down slots in the front and the forward & backward movement on the racks. It does not have any tilts or swing features. The bellows are light tight. The ground glass carrier removes vertically from the top of the rear of the camera. I believe an 8x10 filmholder will fit in the slot, but filler caps will probably need to be positioned on either side of the filmholder so that it will be light tight and film properly positioned.

The lower portion of the rear of the camera is built on overlaping shelfs which appear to create a "black hole" area. There is a 1/4" hole on either side of this portion of the lower base. I am not certain what these holes were for, but given the size of the camera, I suppose it is possible an axle with wheels were attached at one time or sometime around 1900 there may have been some form 8x10 roll film used? Any thoughts?

I am very new to LF, but am hooked on the beauty of 4x5 sheet film. I am using an old Korona and love its flexibility. I can hardly wait for some 8x10 film and filmholders to arrive so I can try this old, but new baby out.

Thanks for all of your assistance!

[Ernest Purdum]

O. Sichel & Co. were manufacturers and agents for other firms, selling a large variety of photographic items. In their advertising, they emphasized items intended for studio workers. In 1910, they listed five different studio cameras.



In addition to the fillers to keep the filmholders in place, you will probably need to do some shimming to arrange for the groundglass and the film to be at the same distance from the lens.