renovation of my Century Master studio camera.

[Scott Davis]

I finally got my Century studio camera and stand all set up and fully rehabilitated. First it was rebuilding the platform on the stand (the original had broken and been repaired enough times that it was beyond salvage). Then it was getting the Packard shutter in the camera to sync with my flash. Then it was trying to repair the Packard shutter (the pin that goes through the pneumatic cylinder broke off the flap in the body of the shutter). After I realized that the lens board for my Kodak 405mm Portrait lens was an exact match for the Century camera, and it had a matching Packard shutter already installed, I got that cleaned up and the flash sync leads attached, and tested out the camera/lens combo. And coincidentally this weekend a friend emailed saying he had an 8x10 back for a studio camera, was I interested? He brought it over and we tried it out and it fit perfectly on my camera, so I got a new 8x10 back for it, so now I have the trifecta- 5x7, 6.5 x 8.5 and 8x10 backs!

233311

233312

As you can see, that 405 Kodak is a beast of a lens. The curly wire coming out of the body of the camera is the modern flash sync (there previously had been a Household flash sync with lamp wire, which was too ratty and unreliable for words.

[Daniel Unkefer]

Beautiful and Amazing

[Tin Can]

Good!

There is a slight mismatch threaded yellow filter I keep on my 405

and a spare RED KODAK Bullet Safe Light retaining ring makes a slip-on lens cover, with a matte board disc

I forget, 122 or 123mm from BH

[diversey]

Beautiful camera! Your camera seems darker in color, dark walnut color. Mine has mahogany color. Do you know when your camera was made? I could not find any information to determine when my Century master studio camera was made.

[Scott Davis]

Beautiful camera! Your camera seems darker in color, dark walnut color. Mine has mahogany color. Do you know when your camera was made? I could not find any information to determine when my Century master studio camera was made.

I don't know when mine was made - I suspect between 1900-1920. You can narrow the date range down a little by the Century Master label, if it says "Folmer & Schwing", "Folmer Graflex", or "Division of Eastman Kodak", but I forget which one is what period, other than ones that mention Kodak being later. While my stand is more walnut-y, in part because I stained it with Minwax walnut stain, the color of the camera itself could be just the varnish having aged. But it definitely is dark brown now. I wonder if they sold them in different finishes concurrently, or if they just changed the color over time. In a perfect world I'd take the whole thing apart, strip the wood and re-stain, get all the cast-iron parts for the stand sanded and painted black, and put new bellows on, but I lack the facilities and the spare time to do such a thing. Most importantly right now, it works.

[Tin Can]

Definitive Data

http://dougkerr.net/Pumpkin/museum/Exhibit_Century_Studio_10A_Polish_Century.pdf

[diversey]

Mine was made by Graflex, Inc. with a serial number 4674xx on camera.

[Scott Davis]

Definitive Data

http://dougkerr.net/Pumpkin/museum/Exhibit_Century_Studio_10A_Polish_Century.pdf

There's something wrong with your link- it won't open.

[BrianShaw]

There's something wrong with your link- it won't open.

It opened for me... very slow but eventually opened.

[diversey]

I could opened it too. It is about Kodak 10A studio camera with dark finish, like yours.

[Scott Davis]

Would someone who can open the file be able to post it in this thread as an attachment instead of a link? Thanks

[diversey]

Not sure how to upload a PDF file here. Just use your iPhone to google “ Kodak studio camera 10A PDF”, the top one is the PDF file from the link.