Folmer & Schwing Div., E.K.C., Rochester, NY
Commercial View Camera Variation 2
EKC Professional Catalog 1927, p. 22
8x10, c.1923
Date Introduced: - ;
Years Manufactured:
c. 1923-c.1929 A substantial camera,
made robust for heavy and constant use. It is essentially a
studio camera of the era which happens to have a folding base. A
bellows prop is present to support the long-draw
(42") bellows. It is prettier from afar than close up.
The finish appears to be a one-coat orange varnish-stain, the brass is
not highly polished or lacquered and the wood is not smoothly finished,
and the 1923 catalog states that the brass has a matte finish -
it is clearly a utilitarian model.
Commercial
View Cameras Variation 1 had all brass thumbscrews, while
Commercial
View Cameras Variation 2 had wooden knobs for the rack and
pinion focusing. The base connector screws were knurled in the
earlier cameras, and wing-nut-like in the later cameras, and the brass
was polished in the earlier camera and matte on the later.
The model had been discontinued by the 1929
catalog. The
1923 example above was apparently never used, still having its
original un-cut lens board. References:
Construction: front and rear focus
via rack and pinion (two gear tracks on sides of base rails);
reversing by removable back; three-piece lens board
Materials: mahogany body; cherry base;
black fabric bellows; brass hardware
Sizes Offered: 8x10, 11x14
Notes:
Eastman Professional Catalogue of Photographic
Apparatus and Materials, Eastman Kodak Co., 1923, p. 29
Catalogue No. 27 of Cameras, Kodaks, Lenses and
Photographic Accessories 1925-1926, Central
Camera Co. (Chicago, IL), 1925, p. 63
Eastman Professional Catalogue
of Photographic Apparatus and Materials,
Eastman Kodak Co.
(Rochester, NY), 1925, p. 26
Catalogue of
Eastman Professional
Photographic Apparatus and Materials,
Eastman Kodak Co. (Rochester, NY), 1927,
p. 22
Photographic Materials Mail Order Cash
Catalog No. 127,
George Murphy, Inc. (New York, NY), Jan.
1927, p. 34
Catalogue of
Eastman Professional
Photographic Apparatus and Materials,
Eastman Kodak Co. (Rochester, NY), 1928,
p. 15
Professional Cameras and Sundries,
Folmer Graflex Corporation (Rochester,
NY), c. 1928, p. 19
Catalogue of
Eastman Professional
Photographic Apparatus and Materials,
Eastman Kodak Co. (Rochester, NY), 1929,
p. 15
No. 29 Illustrated Catalogue of Photographic Outfits and Supplies,
Eastman Kodak Stores, Inc. (St. Louis, MO), May 1, 1929, p. 3
Photographic
Materials Mail Order Cash Catalog No. 130,
George Murphy, Inc. (New York, NY), Jul.
1930, p. 34
