Curious about Wolcott's Mirror Camera - Old Daguerrotype lens question...

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holmburgers

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Howdy,

I'm curious how a lens/camera like this would work. Any pictures out there?

"The world’s first studio system also included the most unusual camera. Alexander Wolcott patented a lensless camera on May 8, 1840, that was based on designs adopted by the scientific community for celestial telescopes. By replacing the lens with a highly polished concave mirror of speculum metal, Wolcott was able to create a faster camera suitable for portraiture."

http://notesonphotographs.eastmanhouse.org/index.php?title=Camera
 
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The plate was positioned where the secondary mirror would be in a reflector telescope.
 
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holmburgers

holmburgers

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Wow, Andrew K, thanks for that link! f/1.7 is quite impressive; no wonder it was such a boon for the slow daguerrotype.
 
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