Help! What is this camera!

[SLPDanielle]

Okay... The antique mall produced a great find today! However, I typically can easily find which camera I am purchasing by the printing on the camera itself or eventually finding something similar on eBay or something. This camera is one that I can't quite find! Here's what I know...

The inside of the film chamber has the following imprinted:
"Blair Camera Co Rochester NY" and "Patented Feb 25 1890 Nov 5 1895"
There is also written in Pencil "Film 103"

The lens on the front which twists off is the Bausch & Lomb Rapid Rectilinear. Other than that... here are some photos I took of the camera to assist.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31370927@N06/5308750146/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31370927@N06/5308746988/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31370927@N06/5308744414/in/photostream/

Thank you!

[Two23]

Looks very similar to the KOdak folder of the same time. Film 103 hasn't been available for years though. Shutter is a pneumatic one.

Kent in SD

[Nathan Smith]

It's a Blair camera, that's about all I can tell you. As far as 103 film:

Walter Mangum's site lists #103 as 3 3/4 x 4 3/4
http://www.nwmangum.com/Kodak/

The Brownie Camera Page lists it as 4x5
http://www.brownie-camera.com/film.shtml

According to the Kodak history site (http://www.kodak.com/global/en/consumer/products/techInfo/aa13/aa13.shtml) it was used in the "No. 4 BULLET Camera" & "No. 4 BULLS-EYE KODAK Camera".

[SLPDanielle]

Thank you... However, I can't find matching "Kodak" cameras that list using that film. As in, the photos or ads found for those matching cameras do not actually match this camera. I'm not 100% sure that the penciled marking is accurate considering the low number of cameras which are listed as having used 103 film. The closest I've found are the folding Weno or hawk-eye cameras but they are slightly different from this one.

[Steven Tribe]

The word you are missing in your google search is "Hawk-eye".
Blair changed models and formats very often so you eventually can find the exact year(s) it was made.
This is the kind of early roll film camera that I rush past at high speed when I see them as they can only lead to frustration. Some early roll film types can still be puchased (if you have some spare spools) but at a very high price.
Wasn't Blair one of the many companies bought up by Eastman Kodak - so the "Hawk-eye" trademark continued with the Kodak name later?

[Ernest Purdum]

Yes, Blair was absorbed (one of the many) by EKC in 1899, but the Blair name was used for some years longer. Hawk-Eye was once a Boston Camera Co. name, but Blair bought them in 1890.