What is this on my Century Studio camera

[mattk]

It must be some type of mounting bracket--I just don't know what for. Maybe a hood of some sort? I've seen them on other camera's in photos but never in operation. Reference the small plate with a wing nut.

[jimgalli]

I've seen these before. I think it was for a vignetter that was on a rod affair and could be flipped up in front of the lens.

What happened to the front glass of the Bi-Quality?

[mattk]

Jim,
You just about made my heart stop. I had the camera up at the cabin over the 4th and had been lugging it around. When I saw your comment then looked at the pic I thought "Oh no--the front element fell out in Wisconsin and I never noticed". Thats the fastest Ive gotten out of a chair and across the house in a long time. No worries, its just fine--must have been the flash making it appear that way.

[greybeard]

Whatever it is, it must have been a fairly common accessory. I have a Century with an assortment of extra holes, some of which would probably match your accessory. Some of these cameras must have been tricked out with quite a collection of gadgets during their working lives.

I had always thought that the cartoon "Watch the birdie!" line was just a vaudeville joke; maybe now I know how the birdie was attached to the camera...

[paul ewins]

...
I had always thought that the cartoon "Watch the birdie!" line was just a vaudeville joke; maybe now I know how the birdie was attached to the camera...

No, not a joke:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Rare-Earl...ht_4830wt_1141

[tkamiya]

That's not a lug for your neck strap??

[jp498]

It's where you hook up a shortwave radio antenna (so your cameras has wireless capabilities)

Seems like somewhere on here http://www.piercevaubel.com/cam/catalogs.htm there is a picture in a catalog of it being used for accessories like a vignetter.

[greybeard]

No, not a joke:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Rare-Earl...ht_4830wt_1141

That's really nifty; thanks for pointing it out.

(I was taught to use my car keys when photographing babies and pets...)