Rochester Optical "New Model" Dry Plate? (was wet)

[bill schwab]

I had a lucky find at Sam Vinegar's Photorama today here in Michigan and got a 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 Rochester Optical dry plate "New Model" camera in great shape with 2 nice, clean brass lenses and boards for a whole $75.00, The lenses appear to be 12" and 14" by my guestimate. Both cover my 8 x 10 quite nicely. ( I also got one of those cool, adjustable diaphram lens holders in perfect shape too!) They seem quite sharp, but are missing the waterhouse stops. As is usual, it came with no holders. I am pretty good in my woodshop and should be able to build one with not much trouble, but I have never seen one.

Is there anyone out there that can tell me more about this camera... when it was built, etc? Maybe someone has a photo of a holder that went with it as well? Any help would be great. (since original post I have found more info. Particularly that this is a dry plate camera. Still looking for bellows help and anything else you can add.)

I am also looking for some information on glueing the bellows. As is pictured, the seem on the bottom of the bellows has come unglued. What should I use to repair this? Otherwise the bellows is in suprisingly good shape. I get the feeling this camera wasn't used much.

Thanks in advance!

Bill

 

[wfwhitaker]

There seem to have been several variations. Try http://www.fiberq.com/cam/roc.htm.

 

[Surly]

Cool find! There are many people making thier own cameras including making belows from scratch. There is a nice list of links here Dead Link Removed and you can check out the camera makers Yahoo group. The list is a bit slow but there are alot of helpful people. That should get you what you need to repair your bellows and perhaps holder ideas.

 

[Aggie]

I had a lucky find at Sam Vinegar's Photorama today here in Michigan and got a 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 Rochester Optical dry plate "New Model" camera in great shape with 2 nice, clean brass lenses and boards for a whole $75.00, The lenses appear to be 12" and 14" by my guestimate. Both cover my 8 x 10 quite nicely. ( I also got one of those cool, adjustable diaphram lens holders in perfect shape too!) They seem quite sharp, but are missing the waterhouse stops. As is usual, it came with no holders. I am pretty good in my woodshop and should be able to build one with not much trouble, but I have never seen one.

Is there anyone out there that can tell me more about this camera... when it was built, etc? Maybe someone has a photo of a holder that went with it as well? Any help would be great. (since original post I have found more info. Particularly that this is a dry plate camera. Still looking for bellows help and anything else you can add.)

I am also looking for some information on glueing the bellows. As is pictured, the seem on the bottom of the bellows has come unglued. What should I use to repair this? Otherwise the bellows is in suprisingly good shape. I get the feeling this camera wasn't used much.

Thanks in advance!

Bill

Bill go to your local golf pro shop. they use a epoxy that holds golf clubs together. They are always mixing bits up, and I bet they would just for the fun of it, let you use a dab of their mixed goop to fix your bellows. It's strong stuff, and will keep the bellows together longer than the camera will survive. Which is longer than you or I will be alive.

 

[Len Robertson]

Bill - Cool camera. I love that style plate camera. $75 seems a really good price, too. A glue called Pliobond is often recommended for bellows repair. Most well stocked hardware stores should have it. Google for Pliobond bellows for more information. 6 1/2X8 1/2 holders show up on eBay fairly often. People are looking for them, so sometimes they are a little expensive. I know there are at least a couple of different width holders in this size. If you buy any, try to get the seller to send you measurements. The other thing that varies is the distance from the face of the holder to the film plane. I think this may be different with different make and age of holders. If you could find holders marked ROC, they might have a better chance of being correct. Finding even one holder would give you a pattern if you want to make your own holders. Another thought would be find an 8X10 holder in poor condition and cut it down. That may be easier than starting from scratch building one.