I've had this for a while but never got to it, so its time to go to someone who wants it. "It" is a Seneca 9 self-casing 5x7 camera with lens with working shutter and two dry plate holders, one of which has film inserts. "It" is quite old, possibly a little musty and needs a spot or two of gentle care. The bellows have pinholes at the corners, the camera front doesn't spring down when you push the button but needs a gentle pry with a thin blade, and the cover over the ground glass needs re-glued. The focusing knobs don't turn and likely need dirt removed and gentle lubrication. That's the bad.
The good is that otherwise it's a quite pretty camera in gloss black and chrome silver. The camera rides smoothly on the rails and can be focused without resorting to the geared knobs, although fixing them up would certainly be useful. The lens is marked "Seneca C. Mfg. Co., 5x7 Sym Convertible". The shutter is marked "Seneca Autic Dustproof" along with "Patent Applied For" and "Wollensak Optical Co. Rochester N.Y." The shutter was sticky for a while but seems to be working now; it likely needs a service. Shutter speeds are marked T B 1/100 1/50 1/25 1/5 1/2 and 1. Aperture has three scales, marked 8" f/4 to f/256, 14" f/16 to f/256 and 18" f/32 to f/256. Note that you don't need to view through the ground glass as the camera has an old-fashioned prism sight and a focusing scale on the bed.
Of the two plate holders, one needs a simple repair to the top (the wood has come apart at a pinned joint and needs some glue.) While both of the holders are double-sided plate holders, one of them has black metal film inserts in it, so you can use that new-fangled film with it. I don't know, glass plates always worked just fine for me... There's also a rubber shutter release tube and a dried-up squeeze bulb, both easily replaceable. Note that the rubber tube has the metal fitting used to attach it to the shutter.
I'm asking $100 plus shipping, and Paypal is the best solution for me. Contact me for questions or comments and thanks for looking!
Mike
The good is that otherwise it's a quite pretty camera in gloss black and chrome silver. The camera rides smoothly on the rails and can be focused without resorting to the geared knobs, although fixing them up would certainly be useful. The lens is marked "Seneca C. Mfg. Co., 5x7 Sym Convertible". The shutter is marked "Seneca Autic Dustproof" along with "Patent Applied For" and "Wollensak Optical Co. Rochester N.Y." The shutter was sticky for a while but seems to be working now; it likely needs a service. Shutter speeds are marked T B 1/100 1/50 1/25 1/5 1/2 and 1. Aperture has three scales, marked 8" f/4 to f/256, 14" f/16 to f/256 and 18" f/32 to f/256. Note that you don't need to view through the ground glass as the camera has an old-fashioned prism sight and a focusing scale on the bed.
Of the two plate holders, one needs a simple repair to the top (the wood has come apart at a pinned joint and needs some glue.) While both of the holders are double-sided plate holders, one of them has black metal film inserts in it, so you can use that new-fangled film with it. I don't know, glass plates always worked just fine for me... There's also a rubber shutter release tube and a dried-up squeeze bulb, both easily replaceable. Note that the rubber tube has the metal fitting used to attach it to the shutter.
I'm asking $100 plus shipping, and Paypal is the best solution for me. Contact me for questions or comments and thanks for looking!
Mike
