Folmer & Schwing Div., E.K.C., Rochester, NY
Unknown Small Camera
4 x 5
Metal label, lower part of
front standard
Date Introduced: - ;
Years Manufactured: c. 1915
Construction: front and
rear focus via rack and pinion focus;
reversing by removable back; double swing; three-piece lens board
Materials: mahogany body; cherry base;
black fabric bellows; brass hardware
Sizes Offered: at least
4x5
Notes: The brass plate
on the front of the camera reads: "Folmer & Schwing Division, Eastman
Kodak Co., Rochester, N.Y." The F&S Division existed from 1907 to
1917, when it was replaced by the Folmer & Schwing Department, Eastman
Kodak Co. Odd that this small camera doesn't seem to be featured
in Folmer-Schwing Div. catalogs. It is almost, but not quite,
identical to the
Century
View No. 2. Its base extension may interchange with a
Century, but there are minor hardware differences. EKC had
purchased both the Folmer & Schwing Co. and the Century Camera Co., so
one could say that this is a continuation of the Century No. 2,
if it weren't for the fact that the Century No. 2 was continued
under its own name until 1923. It is
superficially similar to the Crown View, manufactured by the Folmer
Graflex Corp. c.1938-45, but there are many differences, from the shape
of the rear tilt hardware, the braces at the top corners, the ground
glass springs and the front rise mechanism to the fact that this camera
has a straight bellows rather than tapering.
References:
Another example -
eBay 2020-03-26
