Hi, all -
Recently picked this guy up. Was cheap, as it had no back. Conveniently, I had one that would fit with a little work. However, I'm trying to conclusively ID this model. Looks very much like a Watson Portrait (https://www.piercevaubel.com/cam/misc/bjwatson.htm), though with some variations.
While the brightwork is correct, and is the only model I can find with this design hardware, this camera does not have front swings. It does have the metal brace on the top of the front standard (missing on the catalog image). The name plate is missing, and appears to never had had one, as there're no holes or patches (this era cam almost always had the name plate pinned in place). This has the B&J stamp on the shift brace on the front standard. So, I'm not sure.
I know a lot/most of these cameras, from all manufacturers, had a bunch of variants throughout their production years, largely undocumented a hundred years later. Have gone down the 2:00 am google image search rabbit hole a couple times just looking for something; figured I'd check the brain trust here. Anyone seen this before? I'm very happy with the purchase, and the progress on the project. Looking forward to shooting 5x7 again. And truth be told, I'm really just curious about the history.
Thanks,
Scott
Recently picked this guy up. Was cheap, as it had no back. Conveniently, I had one that would fit with a little work. However, I'm trying to conclusively ID this model. Looks very much like a Watson Portrait (https://www.piercevaubel.com/cam/misc/bjwatson.htm), though with some variations.
While the brightwork is correct, and is the only model I can find with this design hardware, this camera does not have front swings. It does have the metal brace on the top of the front standard (missing on the catalog image). The name plate is missing, and appears to never had had one, as there're no holes or patches (this era cam almost always had the name plate pinned in place). This has the B&J stamp on the shift brace on the front standard. So, I'm not sure.
I know a lot/most of these cameras, from all manufacturers, had a bunch of variants throughout their production years, largely undocumented a hundred years later. Have gone down the 2:00 am google image search rabbit hole a couple times just looking for something; figured I'd check the brain trust here. Anyone seen this before? I'm very happy with the purchase, and the progress on the project. Looking forward to shooting 5x7 again. And truth be told, I'm really just curious about the history.
Thanks,
Scott