ID and Guidance on this Camera and "Majestic" Gearhead / Tripod head?

I recently came upon this camera for nothing, and while I'm familiar with 35mm and medium format gear, I don't even begin to know where to start with this thing.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepadua/sets/72157649409994456/

I'm interested in it enough that I would be willing to give this thing a shot but I don't even know where to start on how it works, basic functions, etc.

Any ideas on what it is?

And from what you can see is it possible that it might even be functioning? If it's not even functional I'll probably just sell it as-is to fund one that works, or other MF equipment.

Any input is much appreciated!

I would guess Korona or Seneca 8x10 camera with 5x7 lens. Normally, the bellows are kind of crumbly on some of these old cameras. You could probably sell it and get a 4x5 camera or medium format.

Jon

Thanks for your insight Jon!

Considering that I don't know whether or not it works, and that I don't even know how to test its functions, is there a fair asking price for this thing? Or should I just put it up for auction and let it go for whatever amount the auction ends?

Check out this link: Majestic Gearhead

Yours appears to be the Model 1200 for Majestic tripods using the 1-1/2 inch post mount. If you can measure the mounting plate you can match it up with the tables and illustrations.

These super heavy duty tripod heads from Majestic are some of the strongest and most durable made for large format cameras. I have a heavy 8x10, and a Majestic head is on my long-term bucket/wish list. They don't come cheap, and yours looks like it might be nearly brand new.



Ken

Yes, Ken--upon inspection the head looks like it was never even taken out of the box.

Difficult to value it. Maybe an auction would be best. I would guess the tripod head is worth more than the camera.

Jon

mikepadua said:

Thanks for your insight Jon!

Considering that I don't know whether or not it works, and that I don't even know how to test its functions, is there a fair asking price for this thing? Or should I just put it up for auction and let it go for whatever amount the auction ends?

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What's to work? Click the shutter -- if it opens and shuts and the speeds sound sorta close, the camera works. Your big question is whether the bellow are light tight -- look inside them while a bright light shines on the outside. See any stars? No? It's light tight.

Your real problem is going to be finding film holders for whatever size it uses.

Sale price? Prices for these cameras is highly individual and based on whether it works or not, including the bellows. Few collectors buy them, you need to find a user, and users seek cameras that work. They'll buy cameras that don't but don't pay much.

The real value may be the Majestic mounting gear that came with it, but ya never know.

Starting price for an auction? I'd guess, just off the top of my head, it should bring $400, give or take, assuming the bellows don't leak, the lens is clear and the shutter sorta works, mostly, and the movements on the camera are ok -- the wood isn't split or broken, the adjustments work, and so on.

If it turns out to be a name brand of large format camera it would be worth more. The lens/shutter could be some valuable collectible, too. I'd do a little digging on that part, too, as well as the tripod head.

Jon Shiu said:

I would guess the tripod head is worth more than the camera.

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MSRP on what looks like a Majestic model 1201 is $310. B&H had it for about $290, but now has it marked as discontinued. Other models are still listed.

Majestic is now owned by Bencher, the maker of Morse code keys and iambic paddles.

Ken

Thanks for your input summicron1! Each piece of advice is a new clue for me on this piece of gear that intrigues me.

The Majestic gearheads are excellent pieces of equipment. I own two of them. use both regularly and have no intention of getting rid of either. I use them for everything from 8x10 down to 35mm (can never be too stable) and never worry about camera shake.

I'm amazed how you people come across these cameras and have no clue about them then post a bunch of pictures that tell very little or nothing that helps identify them. Your pictures barely show enough to identify the camera. Then there's the image hosting site they're on, it keeps resizing them to match the zoom setting of the browser, bad, very bad, and the insertion of various unrelated photos and ads is unacceptable. Was that you crashed out on the couch with the box of chicken wings on the table next to the couch? You don't have to answer.
Now for the important stuff.

I can just make out 5x7 and Anastigmat on the lens. What else is printed on the lens?
What is printed on the bottom rim of the shutter? Several companies made a shutter of this design in the early 1900's.
The camera is a Seneca or was made by Seneca for another company. The back does not match any in the linked list but all the hardware and other aspects match. I believe it to be a Seneca View 1901-1905 or a Seneca View, New and Improved Variation 1 1904-1925. http://piercevaubel.com/cam/seneca.htm

The ID plate is missing off the base of the front standard. The top lens board retainer is on upside down.

The camera appears to be a 5x7. Measure the ground glass, it will be close to the film format size. There is some minor damage to the rail at the hinge. It will subtract from the value some but is not determental to the camera. The extension rail is missing which is very common.

To test the bellows for light tightness Remove the camera back and leave the lens board in place. To remove the camera back lift up on the brass pieces at the top sides of the rear standard with your thumbs to where they clear the pins on the back frame while supporting the back frame with your fingers and rotate the back frame out from the rear standard then lift out of the bottom pin holders. Open the rail as you have in your pictures and extend the front standard to the end of the rails. Now put a 40 watt appliance bulb in a portable lamp, a 15W CFL will work also. Take the camera and lamp into a totally dark room, your darkroom for film processing is best if you have one, turn off the room lights and once your eyes have adjusted turn the portable lamp on and insert it into the rear of the camera being careful not to touch the inside of the camera or bellows with the light bulb. With the light inside carefully inspect the outside of the bellows for anything other than total blackness. Anything other than black is a light leak. Move the light slowly toward the front standard and check the full length of the bellows. Having the extension rail would be helpful for light leak checking as many bellows weak points will not show up until the bellows are at or near their limit.

Value? $200 to $400 as it sits.

The only thing I usually get from people for free is a hard time.

That's a very nice camera. You should invest some time into getting it going and see if LF is for you. You can really learn a lot about the mechanics of photography w/ something like that.

From the proportions of the ground glass, it's either a whole plate (6.5 x 8.5 inches) or 8x10 camera. You'll have to measure the back to be sure. If it's 8x10, I'd keep it and play with it, so long as there are no light leaks in the bellows, or they're minor - you can always drape your focusing cloth over the bellows to deal with pinholes or thin spots.

The Majestic head looks to have the 6x7 inch top plate and a 1/4" x20 screw. As mentioned before, it is, as currently configured, meant to mount on a Majestic tripod or a studio stand with the 1 1/2 inch solid column. If you don't have one and don't want to get one (you can get them pretty cheap because they're big and heavy, qualities most people don't want in a tripod), any local machine shop can mill you an adapter column to go from a 3/4"x16 screw to the 1 1/2 inch pipe. Used, those Majestic heads sell for under $200, but as yours is essentially NIB, you could probably get more than $200 for it if you wanted to sell it.

momus said:

The only thing I usually get from people for free is a hard time.

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Ain't that the truth!

Didn't Majestic make an adapter plug that gave 3/8". Not that hard to fabricate.

I'm with Shutterfinger (need to be careful typing that name!) - I think it's a 5x7.

As for Majestic heads, I use one (with the big plate) for ULF. Got it for $40 near mint. These are big, heavy heads when fitted with this big plate, but cannon be beaten IMO for big cameras. They would be overkill for MF/35mm, though.

The only thing I usually get from people for free is a hard time.

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All I get is worn out junk for a premium asking price.

If the bellows are or can easily be made light tight, the shutter operates or at least opens and stays open and the aperture operates, you can focus the lens to infinity or closer, load a film holder with film then you can make photographs with it.

Wood glue can be injected into cracks in the wood with a ink jet refill syringe (use water base wood glue and thin) and spring clamps to hold the section together until the glue has cured.
http://www.amazon.com/Large-Format-...ie=UTF8&qid=1417039228&sr=1-53&keywords=kodak
or
http://www.amazon.com/Using-View-Ca...F8&qid=1417039117&sr=1-1&keywords=view+camera
are good starting books on using view cameras.

Just because the lens is labeled "5x7" doesn't mean the camera is one. Lord knows how easy it is for cameras and lenses to get mismatched over a century or so, especially when you're talking about view cameras where virtually every part is interchangeable. If you pay attention to the proportions of the ground glass, it is obviously not a 5x7. Also, looking at the size of the camera, that's way bigger than a 5x7. I actually have two Seneca 6.5 x 8.5 cameras of slightly newer vintage than that, and that camera is bigger, judging by the relative size of it and the objects in the room around it. The lens is obviously a re-graft onto the camera - original lens boards for these would have been flat, not stepped like this one. Also, as previously noted, the upper lens board retaining bracket is mounted upside down. This is not the original lens to this camera. It's a cool lens, and probably makes pretty neat pictures. To test it you'll need a squeeze bulb and a tube to fit on the nipple at the bottom of the cylinder (should be the cylinder on the left as you're facing the lens, if memory serves). And while it may be marked as 5x7, it might very well cover 8x10 with little to no movement, and it most probably illuminates 8x10 even if it doesn't fully cover the plate.

Okay, next question in my quest to try to operate this thing: I can't seem to figure out how to release the shutter. The shutter cocking mechanism seemed to have work. I've added a few more close-up pictures of the lens in this album:

Thanks for all your help. I do appreciate those of you willing to help someone who is 100% unfamiliar with this type of equipment!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikepadua/sets/72157649409994456/

Have you got a bulb and a hose?

Hi Mike,

Your antique lens appears to be calibrated in Uniform System (US) stops instead of standard f/stops. For reference here's an extended conversion table:

[table="width: 100"]

US/stops
f/stops


0.015625
0.5


0.03125
0.7


0.0625
1


0.125
1.4


0.25
2


0.5
2.8


1
4


2
5.6


4
8


8
11


16
16


32
22


64
32


128
45


256
64


512
90


1024
128


2048
180


4096
256


8192
360


16384
512


32768
720


65536
1024


131072
1440


262144
2048

[/table]

Ken

The only reference I could find is in A Lens Collectors Vade Mecum (search engine it) and it does not cover your version. The lens is from at least 1895-1898 and is not shown in the 1906 Bausch and Lomb catalog, http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info/bauschlomb_4.html. The aperture scale is in US numbering. A table of f stop numbering before being standardized is at the bottom of this wiki page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-number .
You need one of these http://www.ebay.com/itm/large-Rubbe...=Camera_Camcorder_Remotes&hash=item2345c9d233 to trip the shutter.
This 1917 shutter servicing manual shows a E.K. Auto shutter which is similar to yours http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info/repair_1.html .

I sure don't. How would I go about finding what I need, and what's the best source to get them?

David A. Goldfarb said:

Have you got a bulb and a hose?

Click to expand...

mikepadua said:

I sure don't. How would I go about finding what I need, and what's the best source to get them?

Click to expand...

I seem to have accumulated a few along with various old lenses, but they are still made for Packard shutters, which I think sells them on their website, and others I have heard use the same bulb and hose used on a sphygmomanometer.

Thanks for the insight, all--and thank you for the link shutterfinger!