Identification, please

**_Karl** · 16-Feb-2021, 12:48

Dugan:
Refinishing is my first thought but I don't want to touch it if it has some history. Thanks for the tip on lens boards. Toyo film holders fit but I need to check the distance to glass/film. Checking the bellow comes next.
djdister:
I've looked on every surface I can find without disassembly. That won't occur until just before restoration but it would have to be under the hardware somewhere. There is a single pin-hole on the top centered but no indication what might have been there in the paint.
Vaughn:
Yes it does have shift on the front stanchion. There's a slide lock on the back bottom of the front stanchion. It can shift, swing and rise - not sure it can do shift and swing at the same time without falling off.
Wayne - you got me.
I didn't notice you tugging at my ankle until I googled Stanley Powerlock.
Embarrassing!!!!
_Karl

**mdarnton** · 16-Feb-2021, 15:51

It appears to have more in common with B&J than Ansco, though it's certainly not. However, there are aspects of it that could convince me that the person who designed the B&J had one of these on his desk to look at. Maybe it's an earlier version of the B&J Watson model?
http://www.piercevaubel.com/cam/misc/bjwatsoncomm.htm

**_Karl** · 17-Feb-2021, 10:21

I've been wondering if it's maybe a prototype.
mdarnton:
That's a very close design but the hardware doesn't match up. And too many things on the B&J are just not right.

I took a close look at the Watson Portrait Camera ( https://www.piercevaubel.com/cam/misc/bjwatson.htm) and it's quite similar.
That made me curious and I looked at the two side locks on the front stanchion.
Normally they hold the lens board vertical but they can be moved to add tilt to the front stanchion. Basically the lens board is all that tilts.

I'm reading Jim Stone's "A Users Guide to the View Camera" and on page 98 he describes tailboard cameras as being designed in the late 19th century with folding tail boards for portability. Unfortunately none of his photographs show this camera.

_Karl

**_Karl** · 19-Feb-2021, 14:02

Found a 5x7 camera on eBay that is "identical" to my 4x5. The decal on it says "Majestic". Montgomery & Ward made a camera named Majestic but this is not that camera. I'll try to buy it for a decent price just so I can copy the film holder design.

**Tin Can** · 19-Feb-2021, 14:58

I have a Montgomery Wards Photo Catalog

They rebranded everything

aka Badge Engineering

Since both B&J and MW were huge in Chicago anything is possible

**reddesert** · 20-Feb-2021, 15:53

Originally Posted by _Karl

I've been wondering if it's maybe a prototype.
mdarnton:
That's a very close design but the hardware doesn't match up. And too many things on the B&J are just not right.

I took a close look at the Watson Portrait Camera ( https://www.piercevaubel.com/cam/misc/bjwatson.htm) and it's quite similar.
That made me curious and I looked at the two side locks on the front stanchion.
Normally they hold the lens board vertical but they can be moved to add tilt to the front stanchion. Basically the lens board is all that tilts.

I'm reading Jim Stone's "A Users Guide to the View Camera" and on page 98 he describes tailboard cameras as being designed in the late 19th century with folding tail boards for portability. Unfortunately none of his photographs show this camera.

_Karl

Yes, there are two sliding locks on the rear of the front standard (it's usually called a standard, not a stanchion) that are visible in some of your pictures. These release the front frame that holds the lensboard to allow front tilts. The same mechanism exists on many Burke & James tailboard cameras. These designs continued to exist into the 1950s and I think this camera is more recent than the late 19th C. The same mechanism is on the gray 5x7 you posted. The gray 5x7 is very similar to a B&J model except for the hinged extension rail.

Not sure if you used the repositionable back yet: the back is held on by two slides at the bottom and two pins that go into spring plates at the top. If you pull the slides out a little, you can release the back and turn it from vertical to horizontal.

I'm not sure why you mentioned copying the film holder design of the 5x7 as I think both of these cameras will use standard film holders (as you mentioned, measure the depth to the GG in case it's been tampered with).

**_Karl** · 22-Feb-2021, 10:52

I do believe I may have found the answer, thanks to an appraiser and a $5.00 fee.
It sure appears to be an RHS Camera Model A, made by the Raygram Corp. of New York City sold between 1939 and 1941.