I spent an entire winter about 5 years ago rebuilding and refinishing this Century Universal. It was a labor of love. It turned out quite beautiful, and of course fully functional. The back, and the front standard needed a little help from the magic of Richard Ritter, who also custom made a copal 3 wooden lens board, and a lens board adapter for linhof style boards (which are both included). The camera was finished with 8 separate coats of penetrating oil.
I used it exclusively indoors. It can handle very large lenses. It easily held my Schneider SA 165mm. It could also fit wides such as the Nikkor SW 120mm by using back rise to avoid getting the bed in the frame. It's also one of the lightest 8x10s weighing almost exactly 10 pounds. It really is a great camera, with a very generous compliment of movements, and a triple extension bed.
Now the small print
This is a very old camera, nearing 90 years of age in my estimation. There are some cracks visible in the wood but none move. The camera remains very sturdy. I decided not to replace the original bellows. The bellows had pin holes when I received it but some liquid tape did the trick. This is something that the new buyer needs to attend to on a regular basis, however. The bellows is equipped with little thingys to attach to the top of the front standard in order to avoid bellows sag. The one closest to the front standard is gone, and the bellows was repaired by the previous owner with light proof black tape. You can see this in the pictures. Also, I'm not happy with the handle I made for it. I should stick to what I know best (well, I'm not sure what that is really). I made the handle from a piece of leather/rubber and I hate it. I recommend that the new owner have something made that's more becoming of this fine camera.
I included a lot of pictures so you can have a good look at it. The dust on the camera only became visible after looking at the pictures, sorry
Contact me for more info.
I used it exclusively indoors. It can handle very large lenses. It easily held my Schneider SA 165mm. It could also fit wides such as the Nikkor SW 120mm by using back rise to avoid getting the bed in the frame. It's also one of the lightest 8x10s weighing almost exactly 10 pounds. It really is a great camera, with a very generous compliment of movements, and a triple extension bed.
Now the small print
This is a very old camera, nearing 90 years of age in my estimation. There are some cracks visible in the wood but none move. The camera remains very sturdy. I decided not to replace the original bellows. The bellows had pin holes when I received it but some liquid tape did the trick. This is something that the new buyer needs to attend to on a regular basis, however. The bellows is equipped with little thingys to attach to the top of the front standard in order to avoid bellows sag. The one closest to the front standard is gone, and the bellows was repaired by the previous owner with light proof black tape. You can see this in the pictures. Also, I'm not happy with the handle I made for it. I should stick to what I know best (well, I'm not sure what that is really). I made the handle from a piece of leather/rubber and I hate it. I recommend that the new owner have something made that's more becoming of this fine camera.
I included a lot of pictures so you can have a good look at it. The dust on the camera only became visible after looking at the pictures, sorry
Contact me for more info.
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