Rochester Optical Co., Rochester, NY
Empire State Variation 2 View Camera
Below, Rochester Optical
Co.
Catalog, June 1898, p. 10 5 x 7 single
swing 5 x 8 double
swing 6 ½ x 8 ½
single swing 11x14" plate
size: non-stereoscopic bellows and front standard 11x14" plate
size: side swing hardware instead of top swing hardware Date Introduced: - ;
Years Manufactured: c.1896
- c.1902; The Empire
State is a moderately priced version of the well-made and
well-finished
Ideal.
The camera above is 5x8, with it's original
canvas short-version case (there also was a long version that held six
plate holders).
Variation 1
had a squarer-appearing swing hardware than that illustrated above, and
a thumbscrew to make the bed rigid instead of a lever.
Variation 3
is a precursor to the
Improved
Empire State. The above camera
example is double swing as illustrated in the
engraving (swing is via two knobs underneath the back standard; they
bear against inlet brass plates). The single swing version (shown
below) utilizes the same base and back wooden parts, but the
sideward swinging hardware is omitted, and the
back is glued and screwed to the base, rather than pinned by a single
central screw. For the sizes 5x8,
6 ½x8 ½ and 8x10, the
lens board is a broad rectangle, to allow for the mounting of two lenses
for stereoscopic photos. For the sizes 11x14 and presumably
larger, for which the ability to take stereo pairs is not an goal, the
lens board is square, and front standard and bellows are correspondingly
narrower (see above). Also in the large sizes, the swing hardware,
normally on top of the back standard (see above), instead appears on
both sides - the top of such a large camera might not be reachable in
use. References:
Back to Rochester Optical Group of Manufacturers
Construction: front focus
via two gear tracks on top of base rails; double swing from a
center pivot; rising front via thumbscrews on both sides of the front
standard; reversing by removable back; base rigidity via a lever inside
the base; spring back
Materials: mahogany body; cherry base;
black fabric bellows; brass hardware
Sizes Offered: 5x7; 5x8; 6 ½x8 ½; 8x10;
10x12; 11x14; 14x17; 17x20; 18x22; 20x24
Notes:
Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus, Rochester Optical Co.
(Rochester, NY), May 1896, p. 12-13
Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus, Rochester Optical Co.
(Rochester, NY), May 1897, p. 12-13
Dept. 5: Photographic Lenses, Supplies,
etc. 2nd ed.; Andrew J. Lloyd
& Co. (Boston, MA) catalog,
1897, p. 45
Hand Cameras, Kodaks and Supplies, R.
Dempster Co. (Omaha, NE), 1897, p. 40
American Annual of Photography and Photographic Times
Almanac for 1898,
The Scovill & Adams Co. (New York, NY), ads p.
50
Department 5, Photographic Supplies, Lenses, etc., Andrew J. Lloyd
& Co. (Boston, MA), undated c.1898, p.48
Illustrated Price List of Photographic Goods,
George Murphy (New York, NY), April 1898, p. 22
Photographic Apparatus, Rochester Optical Co.
(Rochester, NY), from Horgan, Robey & Co. (Boston, MA),
June 1898, p. 10-11
Photographic Apparatus, Rochester Optical Co., 1899, pp. 12-13
Illustrated Catalogue No. 18,
L.M. Prince & Bros. (Cincinnati, OH), c. 1899, p. 34
Photography
has Made the Sun an Artist,
Andrew J. Lloyd (Boston, MA) catalog, 1899, p.78
Photographic Apparatus,
Rochester Optical & Camera Co.
(Rochester, NY), 1901, pp.
14-15
Photographic Encyclopedia, Andrew J. Lloyd &
Co. (Boston, MA), 1901, p. 105
Catalogue No. IIII of Professional and Amateur Photographer's
Supplies, Wm. F. Uhlman (St. Joseph, MO), c.1901, p. 39
Sears, Roebuck & Co. (Chicago, IL) Catalog, 1902, p. 142
