Simon Wing & Co.
Ajax Camera
Ajax Camera 5 x 7"
Bottom
Top
A second 1/4 plate
lens, same diameter and length as the one shown on the camera above,
only, instead of having a lens hood, it is installed on an unmarked
Simon Wing-type shutter.
To use, this lens would be pushed through the felt-lined hole in the
camera's lens board (and the rectangular septum inside the camera), the
focused on the grouind glass by pushing or pulling it slightly.
The lens is engraved: "Robey-French Co. / American Agents".
Although it didn't
come with this camera, this Rochester Camera & Supply Co. plate holder
has a strip of wood at the outside edge that fits into a corresponding
rabbet on the back of the camera, to help prevent light leaks.
Wing had apparently adopted the Rochester style and dimensions of plate
holder for this product.
Date Introduced: ;
Years Manufactured: c. 1889
The very similar-looking Simon Wing & Co.
New Gem
Camera and
Ajax Camera are not really field cameras, being usually
used as dedicated multiple-exposure cameras, but they have
tripod mounts, so could have been used in the field. Both have the
uniquely Wing shifting fronts, with brass strips that have stops to mark
various positions on the 5x7 plate. Both are approximately 10 ½"
wide x 8 ½" high to comfortably handle a horizontal 5x7" plate.
These are both wooden boxes for which the only focus adjustment is made
by sliding the lens in or out of the well fitting, felt-lined mounting
hole in the lens mounting board. The depth of the box, therefore
has to be tailored to the lens being used, and therein lies the main
difference between the New Gem Camera
and the Ajax Camera: The New Gem Camera is made for a
1/9 plate lens, and therefore its depth is ~5 inches. The Ajax Camera is made for
a 1/4 plate lens, and therefore its depth is ~7 inches.
References:
Back to Miscellaneous Camera Companies
Construction: fixed
focus, no swing, shifting front provides multiple
exposures on a single plate
Materials: mahogany
body, brass hardware
Sizes Offered: 5x7
Notes: 
