What kind of camera is this?

[J. Lee]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Century-Master-S...QQcmdZViewItem

The camera is listed as an 8x10, and so I asked if it takes plates or film holders, and his reply was that it takes 5x7 film holders. I understand that it has a 5x7 sliding back, but isn't it an 8x10 camera?

Thanks much.

[John Kasaian]

You'd need to find an 8x10 back for it in order to use 8x10 film holders. With the 5x7 back it'll only accept 5x7 film holders. It certainly comes with an interesting lens!

[Turner Reich]

A monster studio camera or a camera for a giant person with huge arms for field work. It should be in a museum.

Turner

[wfwhitaker]

It's an 8x10 studio camera with a 5x7 reducing back. Probably wouldn't be that hard to find or fit an 8x10 back to it. But as it stands, it's essentially an oversized 5x7 camera. For someone who wanted to play with some of the large old portrait lenses, it should work pretty well; the front standard is robust and large enough to accommodate a big Packard shutter. No doubt the camea would be more stable on a stand than on the included tripod - it probably was originally on a stand. For serious 8x10 work I'd want to know what the maximum bellows extension is.

From the photos it looks like someone did a nice job refinishing it. Personally, however, I find modern finishes on antiques to be suspect and prefer the original finish even if imperfect. But that's me. You can often find similar cameras with the stand - not tripod - for similar or less dollars.

[snuck]

yeah that looks like a 'car' camera to me. Can't envision carting that to the field....

[Brian Ellis]

yeah that looks like a 'car' camera to me. Can't envision carting that to the field....

I can't imagine carting it to the car.

[Bob Salomon]

A lot of portrait photographers made a lot of money through the 60's and into the 70s shooting with this camera using the 57 sliding back as well as split 57.