Scovill half-plate wet-collodion camera · c. 1878
Scovill mahogany-and-brass half-plate view camera, ~1878. Bellows supple, light-tight, one original plate holder. Body only, no lens.
- SKU
- MS-OM-0010
- Era
- Pre-1900
- Condition
- Light-tight; original bellows supple, one plate holder, no lens
- Dimensions
- 12 × 10 × 15 in (extended); folds to 12 × 10 × 6 in
- Weight
- 8.5 lb
- Provenance
- Same wet-plate photographer's estate as the Voigtländer lens.
- Category
- Antique Media & Optics
- Tags
- wet-plateview-camerascovillcollodionhalf-plate
A Scovill Manufacturing Co. half-plate wet-collodion view camera, circa 1878, in mahogany with brass fittings and the original russet-red bellows. The bellows are supple, light-tight under a strong bulb test, and free of the pinholes that ruin most cameras of this age. Rear standard rise-and-fall works, front standard has swing.
Scovill of New York was the largest American photographic supplier of the 1870s; they distributed their own bodies alongside imported European lenses. One original book-form plate holder is included (matched, not a replacement). Sold without a lens—the front board accepts a standard Waterhouse-flange plate of roughly 3.5-inch aperture and pairs naturally with the Voigtländer Petzval offered separately.
Related finds
More from Antique Media & Optics →
Brass Petzval portrait lens by Voigtländer, Vienna era, ~5-inch focal length. Original stops, rack focus smooth, glass unetched.
Transitional Standard Model B in black-japanned metal top cabinet. Plays two-minute wax cylinders. Governor smooth, mainspring full.
Twenty-four Blue Amberols in original tubes. Marches, sentimental ballads, one Sousa, one Harry Lauder. All play cleanly on a four-minute reproducer.