Eastman Kodak 2D 5x7: any sister camera?

[cyberjunkie]

Some time ago i purchased an Eastman Kodak 2D 5x7 missing the front and back rails.
The camera came with a Wollensak Ext.W.A. 6 1/4 inches, the real object of my interest.
I am already happy, the lens was in good shape, and a perfect fit for a Betax No.3 i have at home, but i feel that's a real pity to have a nice camera that can't be used.
I tried to find the two missing rail on the "market" sub-forum, to no avail.
Looking for a cheap solution, and seeing incomplete and/or overused wooden cameras going quite often on sale on Ebay, i am wondering if some other brand/model could be useful. What really matters is IF the racks are the same.
As long as the rack pitch is compatible, the rails could be modified with a certain ease.
As an example, now there is a tailboard ROC View 5x7 on the bay. My (un)educated guess is that the camera is too different to be really useful, but i lack too many basic informations. Are the parts used by ROC view cameras (after or even before the acquisition by Eastman) compatible with those used on the 2D 5x7? Did other cameras use compatible parts? I am referring in particular to complete rails, or just to the rack's pitch.

I am sure that some forum users were involved, at some time, with the restoration of old US wooden cameras, expecially a few old-timers living in the USA, and still in love with their Eastman View! :D
I live on the other side of the ocean, so i have no access to swap meets or photographica fairs were is possible to find parts for old US wooden cameras. In Italy there are more chances to find an Universal Heliar than an extension rail for a 2D 5x7! :(

If you found out about some degree of compatibility with other cameras (perfectly compatible rails; easily adjustable; compatible racks only), please let me know which brands/models i should look for.
Thanks in advance

have fun


CJ

[Jim C.]

I would keep looking for the extension rails for either a 8X10 or 5x7 2D,
some times they show up on ebay as part of an assortment of wooden camera parts
if not the rail assembly then for just the gear rack.

I could suggest that any experienced woodworking shop would be able to
duplicate the wood rails, but the gear rack would be hardest part to find off the shelf,
the tooth pitch doesn't match any of my gear pitch gauges SAE or metric.

I guess that any camera made in the Rochester, NY area at that time would share
similar hardware, especially the pinion gears and rack.

[voigtf64]

hello cyberjunkie, dont know whether this is help or not, firstly i am in uk and postage could be an issue for you, but i do have 5x7 2d, made in england (harrow), i would presume them to be interchangeable, the rails are perfect, it is the uprights where they run on rails that are beyond it , if interested suggest exchange of pics so that you can evaluate potential ,i am not after a profit, i paid £20 whatever that is in dollars ,regards jw

[Vaughn]

I have a back extention rail for a 5x7 Eastman View -- it is missing the hardware to attach it to the main body -- thus I will never use it (I'll just be using a 210mm and a 159mm lens with the camera, anyway.)

If you think it will match (I think the Eastman View is the older brother to the 2D), you can have for postage and $10.

Vaughn

[jackpie]

I am in the UK and also looking for a rail for a UK Kodak Specialist Half Plate aka 2D camera.

Voigtf64, if Cyberjunkie gets sorted with a US part could I buy your parts?

[Michael Graves]

I cannot speak directly to the rails, but I have a Korona and my daughter has an Eastman #2. The backs and lens boards swap back and forth between the two cameras. The rails might fit. If she drops by over the weekend, I'll ask her to bring her baby.

[Steven Tribe]

Kodak (UK) made quite a range of copy USA Kodak models. They are well labelled and were often made for Medical/Pathology/Detective/Criminal Records. Kodak (Rochester) would have insisted on compatibility. Appear regularly on UK E**y.

[voigtf64]

as an aside and at the risk of upsetting people which i do not wont to do , i have to say that my uk ektar lenses are better than the rochester originals, at this point i duck beneath the parapet, kind regards jw

[IanG]

Kodak rebadged Carl Zeiss lenses at one time, pre-WWII for the US market.

Don't know who would have made Ektars for Kodak in the UK but the European & Commonwealth markets came under Kodak Ltd (UK), and Kodak were the agents/distributors for Ross lenses outside the UK. But Kodak UK also had links to Zeiss through their German factories..

Ian