Rochester Optical Co., Rochester, NY

 

Omaha Camera (King Camera)

 

 

Rochester Optical Co. King Camera, almost identical to The Omaha Camera

Date Introduced: - ; Years Manufactured: c. 1897
Construction: front and back focus; double swing; three-piece lens board; reversing by removable back
Materials: mahogany body; mahogany bed; leather bellows; nickeled hardware;
Sizes Offered: 4x5; 5x7; 5x8; 6 ½-8 ½; 8x10; 10x12; 11x14
Notes: This camera is not identified as ROC in the catalog, but all the view cameras (Empire State, Standard) in the catalog are ROC, and this camera comes with a Perfection, Jr. holder (ROC made Perfection holders), and two sizes of canvas case (typical for ROC English style cameras).  This is probably an artist's rendition of a King Camera, based on the overall design, placement of the rear standard hardware, the shape of the brass arm that holds the rear standard, and, most of all, the lens board clip at the top, which is unique to the ROC-related companies, like Rochester Camera Co.  The King was produced in 1897, the date of the catalog in which the Omaha appears..  There are differences in the front standard and only one knurled knob is shown along the base, so it has been kept as a separate model.  If it is indeed a separate model it appears to be specific to the one supplier, Dempster.

References:
Hand Cameras, Kodaks and Supplies, Robert Dempster (Omaha, NE and Des Moines, IA), 1897, p. 38
 

 

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