Ansco Camera ID

[jadoss23]

I was curious if anyone knew if this camera was an 8x10 with what looks like a reducing back? I believe it to be an Ansco 8x10 but wasn't quite sure from pictures and seller didn't know. thanks. Any info would be helpful.

[William Whitaker]

It looks like an Ansco or perhaps, an Agfa as it has the Bakelite knobs which are later. It does have a reducing back (clearly marked "Ansco" in your photo). But it's hard to tell if it's an 8x10 or a 5x7 with either a 4x5 reducing back or smaller (such as a 3 1/4 x 4 1/4)

[Mark Sampson]

That does indeed look like an 8x10 Ansco- one of those was my first view camera, back in 1981.
The front standard seems to have an adapter to take Pacemaker Speed Graphic metal boards. Useful if you have a Graphic. IIRC the Ansco takes a fairly standard 6" board.
To be certain, ask the seller to measure the size of the rear standard 'box', the 8x10 size should be at least 12" square. It's hard to tell if that's a 4x5 or 5x7 reducing back (Mine had a 5x7 back along with the 8x10 back), so ask the seller to measure the groundglass size too.
Perhaps someone here who uses one will be certain of this camera's format.
A real battleship of a camera... best of luck!

[Mark Sampson]

Will, jadoss23, It's a post-WWII Ansco for sure, made in Binghamton, NY. The gray paint and plastic knobs are identifiers.

[Tin Can]

Most likely a 5X7 as here is mine. Notice the handle size.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1722/41755781255_37cde2f589_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/26BPi22)5X7 Ansco (https://flic.kr/p/26BPi22) by TIN CAN COLLEGE (https://www.flickr.com/photos/tincancollege/), on Flickr

[mdarnton]

It's a 5x7. As Randy says, all of the proportions (relative knob size, etc.) are right for that. And it has a 4x5 reducing back.

[jadoss23]

What's the relative worth of a 5x7 ansco? It does have a Wollensak 7 1/2 4.5 lens on it. Would that help distinguish between 5d7 and 8x10? thanks

[mdarnton]

I paid $120 for my 8x10, $200 for my 5x7, and there has been a nice 5x7 kit for sale on Ebay for a couple of years for $800 or so that hasn't sold. And I have seen them sell for everywhere in that range, so. . . . Y'know, it's Thursday, so who can guess?

That lens would be long normal for 4x5 and slight wide for 5x7.

[Leonard Robertson]

That looks to be a 5X7 Ansco, based on two observations. On the 8X10 version, the read standard is somewhat wider than the front standard. On the one you pictured the front and rear standards appear to be the same width. The 8X10 Ansco has a flat metal brace going down and forward on the rear standard with a locking knob on the side of the standard. The 5X7 doesn't have this. But my thoughts are based on my own two cameras and there could be version I'm not familiar with.

I've attached pictures of my 5X7 and 8X10 cameras together.


179094 179095

[mdarnton]

The diagonal brace for back movements is a last generation thing--previously the 8x10s had the same mechanism as the 5x7.

[John Kasaian]

I have a trio of 5x7 Anscos for Senior's workshops. They are good solid cameras.

[Tin Can]

And nobody loses the extension...

As it's captive.

A very good feature

Also strong enough to use a slider splitter for 2 images on a film.

Which can be done very quickly during portraits...