The Century Camera Co. was founded in 1900 - hence the name.  After only 3-4 years of operation, George Eastman (E.K.C.) acquired a controlling interest in the company in 1904, after which it became the Century Camera Division, EKC in 1907.  Cameras named  Century View Camera, Century View Camera No. 1 and Century View Camera No. 2 were advertised.  The Century View Camera would seem to be the obvious precursor to the Century View Camera No. 1 and Century View Camera No. 2, yet it was advertised concurrently with them. 

     To tell apart cameras made in Rochester after 1900 (the Century Camera Co.'s Century View Camera, Century View Camera No. 1 and Century View Camera No. 2, Rochester Optical Co.'s Empire Stat View Camera and Improved Empire State View Camera, and the Eastman Kodak Co.'s Eastman View Camera No. 1 and Eastman View Camera No. 2), one must revel in minutiae.  Since I apparently do revel in minutiae, below are a number of variations of almost identical cameras having almost identical names, so to quote a companion of BBC's Dr. Who: "Here is where it gets complicated".

1900?-1901:     The first view cameras advertised by the fledgling Century Camera Co. were two models manufactured by the Sunart Photo Co.: the Vici View Camera and the Vidi View Camera.  A simple label reading: Century was installed to make it a Century View Camera.  Oddly, both Sunart models were sold apparently under the one same model name: Century View Camera.

Century View Camera Variation 1.0
     This variation was a resale of the Sunart Photo Co. Vici View Camera, a front- and rear-focus model.  This variation was advertised only in the 1901 Century Camera Co. catalog, p.24.  But there would have been no reason not to sell it starting in 1900 (since Sunart was selling it as a Sunart camera), although there is so far no evidence that it was.

Century View Camera Variation 1.5
     The variation was a resale of the Sunart Photo Co. Vidi View Camera, a rear-focus only model.  This variation was not advertised, although it most surely was sold, since at least two examples of it exist having Century labels.  It is presumed that this variation was sold during the same period of time that Century View Camera Variation 1.0 was advertised (that is, only about 1901).

1902-1903:     The first view cameras made by Century.

Century View Camera Variation 2.0
     This camera was the first Century model actually made in the Century factory rather than being purchased from the Sunart Photo Co.  It is front and rear focus, like the Sunart-manufactured Century View Camera Variation 1.0, but it is the first Century camera (or perhaps the first camera model of any manufacturer) to feature the newly patented double-groove platform (Locke - US704,845 - Jul.15.1902).  It is also the first Century camera to utilize the straight rear standard forward/backward swing hardware that all Century cameras would keep from here on.  Another innovation that would be kept was a very useful spring-loaded small device inlet into the rear of the platform that allows the rear standard to be rolled onto the rear extension while the extension is present, yet prevents it from rolling off the track when the extension is not present.  This camera also had, for the first time to be used in all Century view cameras to come, a system to retain the lensboard that consists of two long brass retaining strips and a spring hidden behind the upper strip.  To install a lens board, the user merely has to put the upper edge of the lens board behind the upper retaining strip, push up against the spring until the bottom edge of the lens board clears the lower retaining strip, and let the lens board go down - now behind both retaining strips.  It is a great design, there being none of those small brass pieces to be turned to retain the lens board, as there were in almost if not all other view cameras before this time.  Century did, however keep the front standard design of the Sunarts it had been buying - i.e., a small thumbscrew high on the right side for front rise/fall.

Century View Camera Variation 2.1
     This model has front and rear focus and the same rear standard design as the Century View Camera Variation 2.0, but the Century View Camera Variation 2.1 dropped the small rise/fall thumbscrew high on the front standard in favor of a design that features a slot and thumbscrew, which is mounted just above the rather tall front standard supports.  The slot has a brass surround that is a tough bearing surface to which the thumbscrew locks.  This is a marked improvement over the Variation 2.0 and earlier, in which the thumbscrew could screw into the wood of the front standard if tightened too much. The change of the front standard was clearly a hit, as it was retained in all subsequent Century view camera models.  Indeed, the the Century View Camera Variation 2.1 is identical to the Century View Camera No. 1 Variation 1.0, introduced in 1904, except for its horizontal label marked simply Century.  The small, rectangular Century label was used apparently for all cameras advertised as the Century View Camera, regardless of variation.  The large round label used for the numbered view cameras: the Century View Camera No. 1 and Century View Camera No. 2.

Century View Camera Variation 2.2
     This variation has front and rear focus and the same rear standard design as the Century View Camera Variation 2.1, but the Century View Camera Variation 2.2 has two unique clips on the inside ends of the hinged front standard that holds the front standard in place once it has been folded up.

1904 & ff.:     Century view cameras being either a No. 1 or No. 2, included small refinements of the design, possibly a result of Century's acquisition by the Eastman Kodak Co. and the resulting new ideas therefrom.  The Century View Camera No. 1 and Century View Camera No. 2 cameras were in catalogs concurrently from 1904 to c.1915, at which time they were superseeded by the Eastman View Camera No. 1 and the Eastman View Camera No. 2, which have dogleg-shaped rear standard forward/backward swing hardware.  The dogleg shape was adopted from the Empire State Improved View Camera, formerly made by from Rochester Optical Co., another Eastman acquisition.

Century View Camera No. 1 Variation 1.0
     To distinguish this camera from The Century View, Century added a No. 1 to the name.  This model has the same front and back focus as all the Century view cameras except Century View Camera Variation 1.5.  It has the same rear standard as Century View Camera Variation 2.0.  In fact the catalog engraving of the rear standard and bellows of Century View Camera Variation 2.0 was re-used for the catalog engraving of Century View Camera No. 1 Variation 1.0.  This conclusion is based on looking closely at the engraving details, inclusing the exact shape of the ribbon-like attachment to the top of the bellows (there is another on the bottom of the bellows, which can't be seen from the point of view) that allows the extra-long bellows to be shortened to prevent sagging.  The front is identical to Century View Camera Variation 2.1.  Therefore, overall, Century View Camera No. 1 Variation 1.0 is identical to Century View Camera Variation 2.1, except that it has should have a round label that reads: Century No. 1.  Oddly enough, the engraving used for the Century View Camera No. 1 does not have a round label, but shows the earlier, horizontal label used for the earlier Century View Camera (advertised without being a No. 1 or No. 2).  The confusion comes from the Century saving the money of a new engraving by re-using most of the engraving for the earlier model.

Century View Camera No. 1 Variation 1.1
      This variation is identical to the Century View Camera No. 1 Variation 1.0 except that the rear focusing thumbscrew is on the left and at the rear of the rear standard, whereas, in the Century View Camera No. 1 Variation 1.0, it is on the right side and in front of the rear standard.  Since the left-handed configuration is never shown in an engraving, it is hard to tell whether this variation is how it was made for a period, or whether it is a custom left-handed camera. 

Century View Camera No. 2
      The Century View Camera No. 2 is the first Eastman Kodak view camera to have a triple grooved platform or rail.  The purpose of the third groove is to be able to slide into it a piece of wood about 6" long.  Ome problem with view cameras up to this time is one of balancing a long, heavy camera on a tripod.  For a given photo, the center of gravity of the camera may be at a very different point.  The problem is worse for very long bellows cameras, such as the Century views.  Previously, manufacturers either ignored the problem, or supplied a second tripod threaded mounting hole (e.g., The Century View Camera Variation 1.5).  The solution here is that the extra piece has a tripod mounting hold, and is infinitely adjustable as to where it is on the camera platform - it can always be put at a point of balance for the camera, and therefore present very little instability to the tripod.  Otherwise, the model appears to be identical to Century View Camera No. 1.0.

References:
Century Cameras 1904, Century Camera Co. (Rochester, NY), 1904, p. 33-34
Century Cameras 1905, Century Camera Co. (Rochester, NY), 1905, p. 38
Complete Catalog of Cameras, Apparatus & Accessories for the Amateur Photographer, Catalog A, Sweet, Wallach & Co. (Chicago, IL) Catalog A, c.1908, p. 41
Century Cameras 1906, Century Camera Co. (Rochester, NY), 1906, p. 28
Photographic Apparatus for the Professional, Century Camera Co. (Rochester, NY), c. 1906, p. 15
Century Cameras, Century Camera Co. (Rochester, NY), 1907, p. 31-32
Photographic Materials and Supplies, The Gloeckner & Newby Co. (New York, NY), c.1907, p. 10
Century Cameras, Century Camera Division, Eastman Kodak Co. (Rochester, NY), 1908, p. 33-34
Illustrated Catalogue of Photographic Outfits and Supplies, Sweet, Wallach & Co. (Chicago, IL), 1908, p. 55
Photographic Cameras, Supplies and Lenses, Williams, Brown & Earle, Inc. (Philadelphia, PA), c. 1908, pp. 29-31
Lloyd's Photographic Supplies, Andrew J. Lloyd Co. (Boston, MA), c. 1909, p. 27
Catalogue of Professional Photographic Apparatus and Materials, Eastman Kodak Co. (Rochester, N.Y.), 1909, p.27
Century Cameras 1910, Century Camera Division, Eastman Kodak Co. (Rochester, N.Y.), 1910. pp. 24-25
Photographic Apparatus and Supplies Catalog No. 35, Sweet, Wallach & Co. (Chicago, IL), c. 1910, p. 54
Rochester Photo Supply Co. (Rochester, NY), c. 1910, pp. 9-10
Catalogue Photo Supplies, Milwaukee Photo Materials Co. (Milwaukee, WI), c.1910. p. 52
Descriptive Price List of Photographic Materials, George Murphy, Inc. (New York, NY), 1910-1911, p. 47
Photographic Digest Vol. 1 No. 3, March 1911, p. 16 (as the Northwestern View Outfit No. 1)
Photographic Digest Vol. 1 No. 3, March 1911, p. 32 (general Century ad with engraving of the Century No. 2)
Catalogue of Eastman Professional Photographic Apparatus and Materials, Eastman Kodak Co. (Rochester, NY), c. 1911, p. 41
Illustrated Catalogue, The Gloeckner & Newby Co. (New York, NY), c.1912, p. 14
Illustrated Catalogue of Photographic Outfits and Supplies No. 38, Sweet, Wallach & Co. (Chicago, IL), c.1915, p.50

8x10

Back to Century Camera Co.