The Cameras

There are many types and brands of antique cameras. The 19th century was a pioneering time for photography. The cameras, lenses, equipment, and photo processes themselves evolved constantly.

The camera actually goes back thousands of years to the pinhole camera and the camera obscura, but the first permanent photograph was created by Joseph Niépce in 1826. The first box cameras in the early 1800s were crude, a lens attached to a simple wooden box, where sensitized paper was held with a wooden slide inside of the box. In 1839 in Paris, Louis Daguerre commissioned the first commercially manufactured sliding double box daguerreotype camera. Quickly, different sized lenses were experimented with and adjustable lens of differing appertures were introduced. In only a year or two, box cameras were being built with folding beds, rack and pinion adjustable lenses, mirror lenses, Petzval type lenses, and achromatic lenses. Throughout the years features such as trap doors, expandable rear focusing, convex lenses, and internal bellows developed and transformed. New styles of cameras were made such as magazine-type cameras, pistol-shaped cameras, refracting lenticular stereoscopes, and pocket stereo cameras. In 1853, the first twin lens stereoscopic camera was introduced in England. In the same year, the quinetoscope, the first binocular-style stereoscopic camera was introduced. In 1861, the single-lens reflex camera was patented by Thomas Sutton. (Single-lens reflex technology is just like a modern-day viewfinder, the actual photograph is aligned with what you see through the camera).

The earliest cameras were handcrafted from finely polished woods, leathers, brass, nickel, and other materials. Those routinely used have collodion stains throughout the camera from the plate holders. Many cameras were designed to accept interchangable lensboards, which means it can use a single or multiple lens depending on the size and type of photograph that you want. Stereoviews, nearly identical side by side photos that joined together to form a 3D image, could be made with multiplying cameras capable of taking side by side photos. Actually, some photographers even used a single lens and just moved the camera slightly to the left or right to create a second image. They were also designed specifically for different processes, such as stereoview cameras, carte de visite cameras, daguerreotype cameras, gem tintype cameras, etc. With various makes and lenses, photographs of all sizes were made, the standards being

Full Plate: 6 1/2" x 8 1/2"

Half Plate: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

1/4 Plate: 3 1/4" x 4 1/4"

1/6 Plate: 2 3/4" x 3 1/4"

1/9 Plate: 2" x 2 1/2"

1/16 Plate: 1 3/8" x 2 5/8"

Gem Plate: 1/2" x 1"

CDV: 2 1/8" x 3 1/2" on card measuring 2 1/2" x 4"

Cabinet card: 4" by 5 1/2" on card measuring 4 1/4" by 6 1/2"

There are many companies who created cameras and supplies. One of the most well-known and earliest being E & H.T. Anthony & Company. Other companies include Scovill Manufacturing Company, American Optical Co., Scovill & Adams Co., Blair Camera Co., John Stock & Company, G. Gennert Company, Rochester Optical Company, Robert H. Ingersoll & Bro., Gundlach Optical Co., Anderson, J.A. & Co., Bay State Camera Co., L.M. Prince & Bro., Montgomery Wards, Peck, Samuel & Co., Schultze Mfg. Co., and many many others. Cameras are identified usually by a stamp mark on the camera or by unique identifying features. Because many are unmarked and there were so many different models, many cameras are of unknown manufacturers. A regularly highly recommended resource for identifying antique cameras is McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras.

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