Rochester Camera Manufacturing Co.
Rochester Camera Co.
Rochester Camera & Supply Co.

Rochester View, Variation 1

Date Introduced: - ; Years Manufactured: c. 1897-1901
Construction: front focus via rack and pinion (two gear tracks on top of base rails); single swing; three-piece lensboard; reversing by removable back
Materials: mahogany body; cherry bed; black fabric bellows; brass hardware;
Sizes Offered: 5x7; 5x8; 6.5-8.5; 8x10; 11x14; 14x17
Notes: Closely related in design to the earlier ROC Ideal, The Rochester View was made by a number of closely related companies in a number of variations, but not by the original Rochester Optical Co. (1883-1899). ROC cameras of this era had distinctive triangular ground glass retaining clips (see ROC Ideal).  The Rochester View was apparently a copy of the Ideal by the rival Rochester Camera Mfg. Co., which was started in 1891 by H.B. Carlton, the brother of W.F. Carlton, the principal in ROC.  Rochester View, Variation 1 is the one having only front focus, a nifty, spring-loaded lensboard retaining clip, and  ground glass springs that point the same way.  However, that the lensboard clip is at the top requires fitting the lensboard to a close tolerance, since gravity does not help the lensboard look tight, as in most other view cameras with the clips on the the bottom.
References:
A.S. Aloe Co. (St. Louis, MO) Catalog, c. 1897, p. 15
Dept. 5: Photographic Lenses, Supplies, etc. 2nd ed.; Andrew J. Lloyd & Co. (Boston) catalog, 1897, p. 41
Photographic Apparatus, Rochester Camera Co. Catalog, April 1898. pp. 6-7
Photographic Apparatus, Rochester Camera & Supply Co. Catalog, 1899. pp. 36-37
Catalogue of Photographic Sundries, Jas. H. Smith & Co. (Chicago, IL) Catalog, 1899, p. 18
The Poco Camera 1900, Rochester Camera & Supply Co. (Rochester, NY), p. 40-41
Untitled Advertising Circular, Eastern Camera Mfg. Co., c. 1901 (as the Western View Outfit)
Jas. H. Smith (Chicago, IL) Catalog, July 1, 1901, p. 23
 

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