Rochester Optical Co. The Ideal Camera Variation 2.0

Rochester Optical Co., Rochester, NY

The Ideal Camera Variation 2.0

Rochester Optical Co. Catalog, 1895, pp. 10-11; Two styles of front to back swing movement: 1) Swing from the bottom of the rear standard (left hand engraving); 2) Swing from the center of the rear standard (right hand engraving).

4 ½ x 6 ½, Style 1) Swing from the bottom

5 x 8, Style 1) Swing from the bottom

Label, celluloid, lower part of front standard: "Ideal - Manufactured by - Rochester Optical Co. - Rochester, N.Y."

6 ½ x 8 ½, Style 1) Swing from the bottom

8 x 10, Style 2) Swing from the center

Label on the bottom of the front standard: "Rochester Optical Co. The Ideal"

Date Introduced: - Years Manufactured: c. 1890-1899
Construction: front focus via rack and pinion (two gear tracks on top of base rails); single or double swing; three-piece lens board; reversed by removable back; single swing is illustrated in both the engraving (1895 reference below) and the photos
Materials: mahogany body; cherry base; black fabric bellows; brass hardware
Sizes Offered:3 ½x4 ½; 4x5; 4 ½x6 ½; 5x7; 5x8; 6 ½-8 ½; 8x10; 11x14; 14x17; 17x20; 18x22; 20x24
Notes:

The Ideal Variation 1.0: has an s-shaped tilt mechanism, two top cam buttons to release the removable back, and two back cam buttons to release the hinged ground glass frame.

The Ideal Variation 1.5: has one of two types of tilt mechanisms: either a center pivot (as above) or a plate-type bottom pivot, two top cam buttons to release the removable back, and two back cam buttons to release the hinged ground glass frame.

The Ideal Variation 1.7: has an s-shaped tilt mechanism, two top cam buttons to release the removable back, and a spring-type ground glass frame.

The Ideal Variation 2.0: has one of two types of tilt mechanisms: either a center pivot (as above) or a plate-type bottom pivot, two top clips to release the removable back, and a spring-type ground glass frame.

It appears that any of the above variations may have front standard supports of varying style: e.g., three screws and a short top tab, three screws and a long top tab, or five screws and a short top tab.

The camera below has a metal label, rather than the usual celluloid label shown above.

Note from the two engravings for Variation 2 that Rochester produced variations in the device that holds the bed rigid. The right-hand engraving has a single thumbscrew for the hinged bed and double thumbscrews for the detachable bed, whereas the left-hand engraving has Rochester's lever device for the hinged bed and a single thumbscrew for the detachable bed. The double thumbscrews were a function of camera size - they appear on cameras about 11x14" and larger; smaller format cameras had single thumbscrews for their detachable bed (e.g., the 6½x8½" camera below).

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