Rochester Optical Co.

Midget Pocket Camera

Date Introduced: - ; Years Manufactured: c.1890-1902
Construction: back focus; single swing; three-piece lensboard; non-reversing
Materials: mahogany body; mahogany bed; black fabric bellows; brass hardware;
Sizes Offered: 3.25x4.25; 4x5
Notes: This is a simple English compact style camera - simple in that it only focuses rearward.  It is rather unusual in that the company states that it can be enclosed in a leather-covered case (turning it into a detective camera of the same name).  The 1896 catalog no longer mentions the covered case option, making it strictly a small view camera.  The spring back is much more reminiscent of Blair than of ROC, e.g., the Lucidograph.
References:
Illustrated Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus, Rochester Optical Co., Rochester, NY, June 1890, p. 10
Illustrated Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus, Rochester Optical Co., Rochester, NY, May 1891, p. 10
Photographic Material, Catalogue O & P, James W. Queen & Co. (Philadelphia, PA), 1891, p. 51
1893 Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus, Rochester Optical Co., Rochester, NY, 1893, p. 15
American Annual of Photography and Photographic Times Almanac for 1893, p. 104
1894 Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus, Rochester Optical Co., Rochester, NY, 1894, p. 16
1895 Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus, Rochester Optical Co., Rochester, NY, 1895, p. 18-19
1896 Catalogue of Photographic Apparatus, Rochester Optical Co., Rochester, NY, 1896, p. 18
 

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