The Scovill and Adams Co.
New Haven Compact View Camera Variation 2
18 x 22" Example with Plate Holder and
Original Wooden Carrying Case/Shipping Container
Ground Glass Frame Installed for Focusing
Ground Glass Frame Removed
Plate Holder Installed and Roller Blind Pulled
Down Ready for Exposure
Bottom
Top
Carrying Case or Shipping Container. The front
hinges downwards and the top hinges backwards.
All four rope handles have
been torn; only one has been repaired (not visible).
Manufacturer:
Scovill
and Adams Co., New Haven, CT factory
Date Introduced:
- ;
Years Manufactured:
c.1870's -
c.1884
Construction:
folding platform;
push-pull rear focus with fine focus screw;
single swing
or double swing (engraving above);
rising front; non-reversing
except inside plate
holder;
Materials:
Sizes Offered:
6½x8½; 8x10;
10x12; 11x14; 14x17; 17x20. The above,
non-advertised, 18x22" size must have been a custom order.
Notes:
This camera is found in a catalog, Descriptive Catalogue and Price List of the Photographic Apparatus Manufactured by the American Optical Co., Scovill Mfg. Co., proprietors and managers (New York, NY), Sept. 1884, having a name very much like other Scovill catalogs, yet features the large and sturdy cameras that would appeal to the professional photographer. This catalog, therefore, does not have the Ne Plus Ultra, the Favorite, etc., that appear in most of Scovill's extant catalogs.
The general design of the Scovill & Adams New Haven Compact View Camera (tapering bellows with a wet-plate-style square plate holder that, in use, replaces the ground glass frame) is identical to that of the American Optical Cone View Camera (No.'s 51-58), though details of fine focus screw and how the swing is accomplished are different. It is as if two designers had designed the camera separately - which may have actually happened, since the two models were manufactured at different factories in different states, despite their common owner. The New Haven Compact View Camera was manufactured in New Haven, CT, and the American Optical Cone View Camera was manufactured in New York City.
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