Please tell me more about my new baby

[Falkenberg]

Today I picked up my "new" camera. I have enclosed pictures. Can anybody telle me more about the camera ? The internal size of the pictures are 30x40 cm (12x16").

[nawagi]

Late 19th century view camera with wet plate back. Apppears to be in good condition. Can be converted to dry plate by having a new back made for 11x14" holders (sorry about the measurements, we're American here...) and re-mounteing the lens in a shutter.

OR

You can dip into the black arts and learn the craft of wet plate collodion photography.

NWG

[Ole]

It's a dry plate bookform holder, with what I would guess is a 18x24cm insert inside a 24x30cm insert in the 30x40cm holder.

The camera itself is a "generic Reisekamera", or tailboard focussing portable German plate camera. Without a name plate it's impossible to tell who made it; there were literally hundreds of makers - not all of them in what is currently Germany.

Could have been made at any time up to about 1935 I guess, late rather than earlier.

[Falkenberg]

The other "film"holder have no inserts and one of the have glassplates inside. Are these for film ?

[Ole]

If it has a glass plate inside, someone has used the glass plate to hold sheet film flat. There are two ways to do this: The "jam method" - smear the glass with a sticky substance like 3M non-permanent adhesive spray - or orange marmelade, or even blueberry jam in an emergency. The film will stick to this, and the plate/film pack is loaded in the holder just as a glass plate would be.

The other way is to put the film under the glass, which leads to focus difference. check to see if your ground glass is reversed to compensate for this difference - mine was. I now "jam" my film.

[lotto]

do you want to sell it ?

[Falkenberg]

Nope, just picked it up today. I want to use it. My 3 year old daughter will also be very angry. She thinks it is her camera.

[Falkenberg]

Now I just need to find a place to get film or plates. Any recommandations ?

[Ole]

Try Geert at www.sheetfilm.be , Slavomir at www.fomafoto.no - both of them are sponsors here.

Or wephota.