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Thread: 8x10 Kodak Master Camera Questions

  1. #11

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    Re: 8x10 Kodak Master Camera Questions

    I just got off the phone with Todd Gustavson, the curator of the Technology Collection at Eastman Museum. He looked it up and reported definitively that the 8x10 Kodak Master Camera was manufactured from September of 1953 through August of 1961. He said that the confusion over the dates often stems from the fact that the similarly named 4x5 Kodak Master View was manufactured from 1947-1953. Finally, he was able to confirm that the metal body of the camera is made of aluminum.

    Thank you fellows for your input. I may well be posting on this thread again before I attempt to make a rear bellows frame and install the new bellows, as this will be the first time that I do either of these things.


    Cameron Cornell
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    www.analogportraiture.com

  2. #12
    Mark Sawyer's Avatar
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    Re: 8x10 Kodak Master Camera Questions

    Quote Originally Posted by Cameron Cornell View Post
    I just got off the phone with Todd Gustavson, the curator of the Technology Collection at Eastman Museum. He looked it up and reported definitively that the 8x10 Kodak Master Camera was manufactured from September of 1953 through August of 1961. He said that the confusion over the dates often stems from the fact that the similarly named 4x5 Kodak Master View was manufactured from 1947-1953. Finally, he was able to confirm that the metal body of the camera is made of aluminum.
    I've heard magnesium as much as aluminum for the 8x10, both from sources that should know.
    "I love my Verito lens, but I always have to sharpen everything in Photoshop..."

  3. #13

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    Re: 8x10 Kodak Master Camera Questions

    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Sawyer View Post
    I've heard magnesium as much as aluminum for the 8x10, both from sources that should know.
    Gustavson said that the Kodak Commercial View was magnesium, but that Kodak switched to aluminum when they replaced the 8x10 Commercial View with the 8x10 Master Camera.

    I suppose we could try to set one on fire…

    Cameron Cornell
    Washington State
    www.analogportraiture.com

  4. #14
    Mark Sawyer's Avatar
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    Re: 8x10 Kodak Master Camera Questions

    Quote Originally Posted by Cameron Cornell View Post
    I suppose we could try to set one on fire…
    I nominate yours, not mine!
    "I love my Verito lens, but I always have to sharpen everything in Photoshop..."

  5. #15
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    Re: 8x10 Kodak Master Camera Questions

    Quote Originally Posted by Cameron Cornell View Post
    I was going to be asking about this later, but since you brought it up, I am going to be required to fabricate something to act as a rear frame for the bellows, as the original frame which was glued and screwed to the original bellows, was broken in one of the corners. Stupidly, so stupidly, it went into the bin still glued to the bellows. This was after work one day in my classroom. On my drive home, I realized with a start that I ought to have kept the broken frame either for repair or as a guide for making a new frame.
    That's a shame. But since it's a simple static piece, it should be easy to replicate. I'd suggest a WTB on this site. That could possibly mean "Want To Borrow" as you really only need one to use as a pattern. The original is very thin metal, so not easily worked by hand. Too great a chance of blood-letting! But it would be a good WaterJet project.

  6. #16

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    Re: 8x10 Kodak Master Camera Questions

    Glad you found some answers and shared them... questions I never thought about when using the cameras. A few bits of related trivia:
    When EK discontinued the 4x5 Master View in 1953, they sold the tooling to Calumet Photographic (then mostly a maker of stainless steel sinks). Who then did a little re-engineering (just how much is debatable) and sold the camera as the Calumet CC-400 for the next 35 years or so.
    And if you can find a copy of the Kodak "Studio Lighting" pamphlet from about 1958, the 8x10 Master is the camera in the illustrations. That little book is a marvel of 'how they used to do it' btw, with lots of still-useful info if you're doing table-top work.
    Last edited by Mark Sampson; 23-Oct-2018 at 21:00. Reason: clarity

  7. #17

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    Re: 8x10 Kodak Master Camera Questions

    Will, thank you for the suggestions about the bellows frame. I will definitely look into the options you recommended. I really appreciate your help.

    Mark, I’m glad you added this information about the 4x5 KMV. I think these threads will be helpful for people who search for information down the road since our keywords will pull these discussions up on the Internet. The more good information we can add here, the less confused people will be (hopefully).

    To that end, I just now did a little experiment to try and determine once and for all if the 8x10 Kodak Master Camera is aluminum or magnesium since not everyone was convinced by the word of Mr. Gustavson from the Eastman House.

    Surprise, surprise, there are chemistry forums and welding forums that talk about how to determine whether a metal is magnesium or aluminum. A simple test that both groups recommend that doesn’t involve any fireworks is to put vinegar on the metal in question. Aluminum does not react to vinegar, whereas magnesium will cause the vinegar to rapidly start fizzing and bubbling; eventually, this reaction will start to dissolve the magnesium.

    I’ve removed the hardware that holds the leather handle in place because I’m having a leathersmith in Bellingham make a new leather handle to replace the cracked and worn original. The contact point underneath that hardware has rubbed away the paint so that a strip of shiny silver-colored metal will be exposed until I replace the handle.

    I put white vinegar in a dropper and put several drops directly onto the exposed metal. Results: nothing happened. For me, that settles the question. The anticipation over whether my camera was about to start dissolving in a sizzling chemical reaction was pretty exciting!

    Cameron Cornell
    Washington State
    www.analogportraiture.com

  8. #18
    Mark Sawyer's Avatar
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    Re: 8x10 Kodak Master Camera Questions

    However, such tests do not rule out duranium, vibranium, adamantium, or mithril.

    Vibranium would be an especially useful metal for dampening tripod vibration, so when you think about it, it would make sense that Kodak may have used it...
    "I love my Verito lens, but I always have to sharpen everything in Photoshop..."

  9. #19

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    Re: 8x10 Kodak Master Camera Questions

    Given my financial situation, the 8x10 Master might as well be made of unobtainium. I regret selling mine, although it went to a good home. Someday I'll go back to 8x10, but not this year.

  10. #20

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    Re: 8x10 Kodak Master Camera Questions

    Further to this question of the rear bellows frame, I have contacted Keith at Custom Bellows in England and Michael Smith to ask if either have a spare part that I could buy. Custom Bellows does not. I haven’t heard back from Michael.

    My thought is to give the precise dimensions to a machine shop and have them fabricate a frame out of aluminum, say, and instead of worrying about getting threaded holes and using the original tiny screws, just drilling holes in the bellows frame to match the holes in the rear standard and using tiny bolts and nuts when it comes time to secure the whole thing. I checked this morning, and there is plenty of clearance between the 8 x 10 back and the body of the camera for a small bolt. I already have tiny bolts and nuts that would probably fit the bill that I bought when I was mounting a Vitax flange to a lens board.

    What do you think?

    Cameron Cornell
    Washington State
    www.analogportraiture.com

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