Rochester Optical Co., Rochester, NY
Midget Pocket Camera
Rochester
Optical Co. Catalog, 1895, p. 18
3¼ x 4¼
Date Introduced: - ;
Years Manufactured: c.1889-c.1897 References:
Back to Rochester Optical Group of Manufacturers
Construction: back focus; single swing;
three-piece lens board; non-reversing
Materials: mahogany body; mahogany bed;
black fabric bellows; brass hardware;
Sizes Offered: 1890 & 1891: 3¼ x 4¼; 4 x 5;
1892 - 1897: 3¼ x 4¼; 4 x 5; 4¼ x 6½; 5 x 7.
Not in the 1898 catalog.
Notes: This is a simple English compact style
camera - simple in that it only focuses rearward instead of frontward or
rearward. It is rather
unusual in that the company states that it can be enclosed in a
leather-covered case (turning it into a detective camera of the same
name). The ROC
1896 and 1897 catalogs no longer mention the covered case option, making it
strictly a small view camera. The spring back is much more
reminiscent of Blair than of ROC, e.g., the
Lucidograph.
Photographic Materials 1889, James
W. Queen & Co. (Philadelphia, PA), 1889, p. 65
Illustrated Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus,
Rochester Optical Co. (Rochester, NY),
June 1890, p. 10-11
Illustrated Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus,
Rochester Optical Co.( Rochester, NY), May 1891, p.
10-11
Photographic Material,
Catalogue O & P, James W. Queen & Co. (Philadelphia,
PA), 1891, p. 51
1892 Illustrated Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus,
Rochester Optical Co. (Rochester, NY), 1892, pp.
10-11
1893 Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus,
Rochester Optical Co. (Rochester, NY), 1893, p. 15
American Annual of Photography and Photographic Times Almanac for
1893, The Scovill & Adams Co. (New York, NY),
1892, p. 104
1894 Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus, Rochester Optical Co.
(Rochester, NY), 1894, p. 16
1895 Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus, Rochester Optical Co.
(Rochester, NY), 1895, p. 18-19
1896 Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus, Rochester Optical Co.
(Rochester, NY), 1896, p. 18
1897 Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus, Rochester Optical Co.
(Rochester, NY), May 1897, p. 18
