Rochester Optical Co.

Empire State Camera, Variation 1

Date Introduced: - ; Years Manufactured: c.1893 - c.1897
Construction: front focus via two gear tracks on top of base rails; double swing from a center pivot; rising front via thumbscrews on both sides of the front standard; reversing by removable back;  base rigidity via a thumbscrew; spring back
Materials: mahogany body; cherry base; black fabric bellows; brass hardware
Sizes Offered: 5x7; 5x8; 6.5x8.5; 8x10; 10x12; 11x14; 14x17; 17x20; 18x22; 20x24
Notes: The Empire State is a moderately priced version of the well-made and well-finished Ideal.  The illustrated camera is 5x8, with it's original canvas short-version case (there also was a long version that held six plateholders). Variation 2 has different swing hardware and a lever to make the bed rigid instead of a thumbscrew.  Variation 3 is a precursor to the Improved Empire State.  The photographs above show an 8x10 size outfitted for stereo with bellows-type septum and Thornton-Picard roller-blind shutter.  Its corner reinforcements are after-market or repair-related.

References:
1893 Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus, Rochester Optical Co., Rochester, NY, 1893, p. 8-9
1894 Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus, Rochester Optical Co., Rochester, NY, 1894, p. 8-9
1895 Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus, Rochester Optical Co., Rochester, NY, 1895, p. 12-13
Catalogue "G" 1896 Photographic Apparatus and Materials, Montgomery Ward & Co., 1896, p. 21
Catalogue "G" 1897 Photographic Apparatus and Materials, Montgomery Ward & Co., 1897, p. 19-20
 

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