Gentle Readers,
I'm on vacation in Florence, Oregon as I write this. I dropped in on the local antique shops to look at the cameras, thinking mostly of medium-format folders, and in one of them I found what seems to me to be a bit of a gem: a Conley 5x7 field camera, I think a Model B or something similar.
This thing is in *seriously* good shape; the owner says as far as she knows it's all original, but if so, someone took really good care of this camera. The wood looks great, the bellows feels a little stiff but seems to be intact, and as far as I could determine the controls all do their things smoothly and correctly. Ground glass is there; there are four or five film holders, a box of Tri-X Pan (opened, feels about half full), and a heavy unlabelled box that I suspect contains a few glass plates. Only one lensboard, with a working shutter whose name I didn't get and a Something-Or-Other-Anastigmat lens.
The owner just got it in and hasn't set a price on it; I told her I didn't know much about it, quoted the price of my broadly similar (though in much inferior condition) Kodak 2-D kit, and said I'd come back in if I found out anything much.
I don't want it for myself---it would fill roughly the same niche as my 2-D (although it's a MUCH lighter camera)---but I'd like to try to help it find a good home at a fair price. Can anyone say much about the value of this kit? And does anyone want to drop by the Oregon coast and pick up a nice 5x7? (I'll guide you to it if you promise to pay a fair price.)
Thanks
-NT
I'm on vacation in Florence, Oregon as I write this. I dropped in on the local antique shops to look at the cameras, thinking mostly of medium-format folders, and in one of them I found what seems to me to be a bit of a gem: a Conley 5x7 field camera, I think a Model B or something similar.
This thing is in *seriously* good shape; the owner says as far as she knows it's all original, but if so, someone took really good care of this camera. The wood looks great, the bellows feels a little stiff but seems to be intact, and as far as I could determine the controls all do their things smoothly and correctly. Ground glass is there; there are four or five film holders, a box of Tri-X Pan (opened, feels about half full), and a heavy unlabelled box that I suspect contains a few glass plates. Only one lensboard, with a working shutter whose name I didn't get and a Something-Or-Other-Anastigmat lens.
The owner just got it in and hasn't set a price on it; I told her I didn't know much about it, quoted the price of my broadly similar (though in much inferior condition) Kodak 2-D kit, and said I'd come back in if I found out anything much.
I don't want it for myself---it would fill roughly the same niche as my 2-D (although it's a MUCH lighter camera)---but I'd like to try to help it find a good home at a fair price. Can anyone say much about the value of this kit? And does anyone want to drop by the Oregon coast and pick up a nice 5x7? (I'll guide you to it if you promise to pay a fair price.)
Thanks
-NT
