A new toy

paul ewins · Dec 8, 2006

Here's me with my latest LF acquisition, an 8x10 Kodak 1B with matching stand. The camera and stand were made in England and brought to Australia by an Egyptian photographer who settled here.

I've been wanting one of these for quite a while now, but due to their size they are a bit of a problem. The camera alone is too large for International postage and the thought of what UPS or Fedex would charge for shipping is very scary. A stand by itself was sold recently on Australian eBay, but it was in Brisbane and I am in Melbourne, 1600km/1000miles away. There was also a camera offered a month or so ago, but that was in Perth, 3400km away.

Then this one came up for sale just 45 minutes drive from home. I ended up paying nearly US$900 for the camera and stand which is (as far as I can tell) expensive by US standards, but good by Australian standards where the others I have seen have been sold as antiques and priced accordingly.

It's got a lifetime of chips and scars but apart from some holes in the corners of the bellows it is ready to use. We've got house extensions happening at the moment, but once that is done I hope to use it for B&W portraits, just as intended.

resummerfield · Dec 8, 2006

Congratulations, Paul. That was a great find! You will enjoy that Kodak for years and years..

Michel Hardy-Vallée · Dec 8, 2006

Congratulations on the new acquisition, and may I offer you the first "eh, I didn't know they still make film for them!" ? I predict a long line of these!

John Bartley · Dec 8, 2006

Very nice Paul. I hope you have a lot of fun with it!

cheers

thebanana · Dec 8, 2006

Now that's a camera! Pales in comparison to the Holga that "Santa" is rumoured to be bringing me

JosBurke · Dec 8, 2006

Paul,
Congratulations !! I would love to find a similar camera within an hours drive at that price !! I'm especially fond of the vintage stand---camera too but I would want the pair as you have--fabulous toy !! Merry Christmas to you !!
Enjoy,
J Burke
BTW---What kind of barss lens do you have there???

paul ewins · Dec 8, 2006

The lens came from John Alex (aka leximk2) in India. He thought it might be a 24" but that was a guess as it has nothing marked on it other than the aperture scale (F8-64). Like some of his other lenses the aperture blades have been removed so its more of a display item than anything. For actual shooting I have a variety of process lenses and a 20"/5.6 aero monster.

The camera came with a 210mm Cooke Aviar which had probably been used for half plate as there were also 10 half plate film holders, although no reducing back.

Photographica · Dec 8, 2006

Great find Paul... You got my attention.

I've been compiling information about the Kodak studio cameras from scraps of data gathered here and there. Some of which can be seen at:

http://www.cwriley.com/Photica/studio_cameras.htm

You said you have a Kodak # 1B. Do you have any other info? How is the camera marked? If only marked "Eastman Kodak Co." yours would be the first 1B I've heard of. Was it made in US or England?

If you can, take a look at my web site and you can see what I'm after.

Cheers,
Bill Riley

paul ewins · Dec 9, 2006

Both camera and stand have stamped brass plaques stating "Made in Great Britain by Kodak Ltd. London, W.C.2", while the camera also has an engraved plaque with "Studio Camera No 1B".

Maybe the WC2 district code will help identifying the period of manufacture. There is a four digit number stamped on the rear bellows frame, i.e. inside the camera, but that is about all there is in the way of identifying marks.

wfwhitaker · Dec 9, 2006

paul ewins said:
...The camera and stand were made in England and brought to Australia by an Egyptian photographer who settled here...

I've been wanting one of these for quite a while now, but due to their size they are a bit of a problem. The camera alone is too large for International postage and the thought of what UPS or Fedex would charge for shipping is very scary....

When you consider those Egyptian lads were building pyramids thousands of years ago, moving a measley little studio camera to Australia's a cinch!

Beautiful camera! You'll be the envy of all the kids on the block.

jimgalli · Dec 9, 2006

Congratulations Paul. I have a giant Petzval for you that only that camera could hold up. I just enjoy mine every time I get some spare minutes to use it. Can't wait to see you post some work.

paul ewins · Dec 9, 2006

Hi Jim,
I've got some other brassies for 4x5 that I haven't played with yet but the 24" is probably the only one that will cover 8x10. I do have a 16"/4.5 Ilex Photoplastic that looks promising so it might be a while before I join the Petzval fray on eBay. Still need to build a few lensboards though.

A new toy

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