Folmer & Schwing Mfg. Co., New York, NY

Sky Scraper Camera, Improved

Date Introduced: - ; Years Manufactured:  c. 1900-1920
Construction: rear focus via rack and pinion (two gear tracks on sides of base rails);  reversing by removable back; double swing; three-piece lensboard
Materials: mahogany body; cherry base; black fabric bellows; brass hardware
Sizes Offered: 8x10 (above); 11x14; 14x17 and larger sizes(!) made to order
Notes: made for photographing tall buildings without tilting the camera back, the lensboard has significantly greater rise than other cameras due to the tall front standard.  The improvements from the Sky Scraper Camera include gear focus instead of fine focusing screw, and a different vertical swing arrangement.   Even though a Folmer & Schwing product, it appeared in the Century Catalog below. 
References:
Andrew Lloyd Catalog 1900.
Photographic Apparatus for the Professional, Century Camera Co., c. 1902, p. 16 (engraving above)
Photo Supplies, Sweet, Wallach & Co. (Chicago, IL) Catalog, 1908, p. 56
Eastman Professional Photographic Apparatus and Materials, c. 1915, p. 52-53 (Folmer & Schwing Div.)
Professional Photographic Apparatus and Materials Catalogue No. 30, Robey-French Co. (Boston, MA), c. 1915, p. 52
Photographic Apparatus and Supplies, Hirsch & Kaiser (San Francisco, CA), c. 1918, p. 30

Back to Eastman