I just purchased an 11x14 Century. It is in great shape, has all the parts and pieces. I am just looking for some information regarding this camera. Or just some input from someone who has used this camera.
Matt
I just purchased an 11x14 Century. It is in great shape, has all the parts and pieces. I am just looking for some information regarding this camera. Or just some input from someone who has used this camera.
Matt
Try: http://www.fiberq.com/cam/cent.htm
did you end up finding any manuals for this camera? i just bought one
It is a nice camera. I enjoy using mine. Heavy buggers though. I certainly don't pack mine very far from the van. Make sure you have a heavy duty tripod for it.
Mine was made by the Folmer Schwing Division of Eastman Kodak somewhere around 1910. Mine uses film, not glass plates. I never had a manual for it though. It is a pretty standard wooden field camera, nothing too surprising.
If you need a book for it "View Camera Technique" by Leslie Stroebel is the book I have always used if I had any questions on any of these types of cameras.
The Viewfinder is the Soul of the Camera
If you don't believe it, look into an 8x10 viewfinder!
Dan
thanks for the quick reply, the 11x14 seems a lot lighter than my Cambo 8x10 studio camera, and its more compact
The focusing glass seems like it has ripples on it, maybe it sagged after 100 years by a bit. I hope the standard 11x14 film holder that I ordered for it fits onto it
Later I will probably make my own glass plate holder for experimentation, or just lay a piece of glass manually in a dark studio. For film I will be using ultra high contrast document type film, developed in very low contrast developer.
The 11x14 lens board that came with it is a bit smaller than my Cambo 163x163 mm board, so I ordered another Cambo board and will file it down to fit. The little wood board that came with the camera is kinda useless anyway, but I don't want to trim any wood or modify anything, as this is an antique and I will treat it as such.
Last edited by kfed1984; 6-Nov-2023 at 18:48.
Yep, looks really close to the one that I have. I have a 500mm Wollaston Meniscus lens on mine right now.
This is one of the few attempts I have made to scan the results. Sorry this isn't a great example but it is not easy for me to scan an 11x14 image.
I absolutely love working with this camera but I am just starting to get my health back to the point where I can even consider working with it again. I have a whole bunch of work to do to get proficient with it. It is certainly not something you just run out with to snap pictures.
Great fun though!
The Viewfinder is the Soul of the Camera
If you don't believe it, look into an 8x10 viewfinder!
Dan
Great picture, what film/developer did you use? I could not find that miniscus lens on ebay,
But found that my Schneider 300mm and Fujinon 250mm and another 350mm lens that are meant for 8x10, also cover 11x14 but without much movements.
Does this Century camera use standard 11x14 film holders or something custom?
You may measure your 11x14 camera back and see if it matches the standard 11x14 film holder (ANSI standard).
Dimensions: (ANSI in parenthesis)
Depth to fim surface: 0.330" (0.332"+/-0.016")
Retaining tab location: 16.125" (16.160")
Thickness: 0.75" (0.79")
Length: 16.25" (16.188")
Width: 13" (13.000")
Exposure height: 13. 563" (14.086"?)
Exposure width: 11.0625" (10.188")
Distance to exposure field: 1.25" (1.255")
Thanks for the details.
I checked your youtube channel, and didn't see the century there
in this video, what film/developer did you use?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ung5GT-J6k4
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