A Dutch Foka box camera

Recently I received some photos of a Foka boxcamera with the question if I did know anything about the instrument. I thought it was a Dutch camera and that was all I knew, so I started a little search in my library. My index of 2600 photohistory articles coughed up two small articles from 1985 and 1986. It is not much that I found, but here it is.
The FOKA cameras were imported from Germany before the Second World War by a Mr. L.J.B. Albers from Rotterdam, who was a dealer of photo and film equipment. He bought them from the Balda factory in Dresden in 1935.
There seem to be several models: the most simple is called Foka Box 0. It is a metal box with a simple meniscus lens and three diaphragm apertures. It has a shutter for Time and Instantaneous and two little reflex finders. It took snaps of 6 x 9 cm on roll film. Like more cameras in the depression years of the 1930s it was available in several colors: black, red, blue, green and beige. It cost fl. 2,95.
The second model is called Foka Box No. 1. It has the same specifications as the previous model, but also has two tripod bushes and can take a cable release or delayed time release. It also has a large frame viewfinder on a side. Price was fl. 3,25. The frame finder did cost an extra fl. 0,60 as did the option to have bright reflex finders instead of the duller ones with a little mirror and ground glass.
The top model is the Foka Box No. 2, with a better Periscopic lens and a build in portrait lens. The usual fixed focus lens could take pics from 3 meters to infinity. The portrait lens reduced this from 0.5 to 3 meters. Price was fl. 4,95 without frame finder or bright reflex finders. For an extra fl. 0,60 it could be adapted to a size of 4 x 6 cm negatives. Cases were available in linen (fl. 0,50), leather (fl. 1,25) and leather with plush lining (fl. 2,25).
So, looking at all the possible combinations of colors and extras there must be a miriad of different Foka boxes around. Let's see what the Foka on the pictures is.

The camera is obviously the Foka Box No. 2, with frame finder and bright reflex finders. Below the lens is a scale to set the distance. On the right is the infinity symbol and on the left a letter P. I guess this means Portrait. On top (you cannot see it on these pics) is a pull up strip. Usally this changes the apertures. Above the shutter release seems to be another pull out thing. I don't know what that is, maybe a yellow filter? Below the shutter release you can see the bush for the cable release.

Above the lens there once used to be a name plate with the text 'Fotohandel Victoria Rotterdam'. That was the name of Albers' company. 

It's a Bulls-Eye season

After the disappointment of not buying the wooden 3.5 x 3.5" Boston Bulls-Eye I suddenly stood eye to eye with a very close relative of this landmark camera: the 4 x 5" Boston Bulls-Eye, also with D-shaped window, frontroll design, daylight loading film and arrows on the shutter blade. The regular Bulls-Eye is a rare camera, but this bigger brother is virtually unknown. Not so long ago I wrote an article about the Boston Bulls-Eye cameras, but the only illustration I could find of the 4x5 model was a drawing from a 1894 booklet.
Thanks to the article I have written, I recognized the camera at once. It was a buy-it-now item on eBay and after a quick look at all the pics I bought it without hesitation. So here it is:

The camera was introduced after the regular Bulls-Eye (1892). It was described in a promotional booklet in 1894 and in the May 1895 issue it was reviewed in the American Amateur Photographer (page 230). On Augsut 23, 1895 Eastman bought the Boston Camera Mfg. Co. and that was probably the end of the model. The regular Bulls-Eye was not a great commercial succes and is not much seen now. The 4x5 model was produced during a shorter period and is even rarer. In its day it cost $ 15, with case and one roll of film.

No two fingerprints are the same, or a Bulls-Eye with a tail / tale

Top: the photo from the March 2011 eBay item.
Bottom: the photo from the February 2012 eBay item.

In my previous blog I have mentioned the Boston Bulls-Eye camera that I had bought on eBay. It looked very well with almost no dents, scratches of missing pieces and I was glad I had it. That evening I was looking at some photos of wooden Boston Bulls-Eyes that I had saved to my computer. I found that I had pictures of another example with a pull strip to change the stops. It was offered for sale on eBay in March 2011 and I had saved several photos of that camera. I had not bought that one because it had two extra non-original holes in the back panel. While examining the photos I started to think that the March 2011 camera was very similar to the one I had just bought... Well, you get it, don't you?
After putting photos of the top panel of both cameras side by side the wood pattern looked very much the same. You know that no two fingerprints are exactly the same, and just so there are no two pieces of wood with 100% the same pattern. So my camera would most probably be the March 2011 camera. I mailed the seller to ask about the holes. He had not shown photos of the back panel on eBay, so I made clear that he should have.

The two non-original holes and the original D-shaped red window.

Like I had feared, my camera was the March 2011 camera with the extra holes. The seller immediately returned the money I had paid and asked what I thought the camera would be worth. In return I asked if the brass presure plate and the screw in the bottom were present. Also I asked for pics of the interior, so I could see any damages or missing parts. Until now I didn't get an answer.
What did I learn from this? I learned that even at my age I can be fooled by a pretty face and forget to have a look at the back side ;)

Video & bicycle clamps

I have made an English translation of my video about the early years of photography and uploaded it to Youtube. I made the original video for a general audience that knows virtually nothing about the history of photography. In a nutshell it tells the story of Niepce, Daguerre and Fox Talbot. No details, not much explanation, just headlines and pictures. Here it is:

During the past week there were some interesting items for sale on eBay. First of all there were two Kodak boxes with clamps to mount bicycle cases on your bike. I believe these a quite rare, certainly with the original box. Both were sold for a nice sum, one box for US$ 147 and one for $ 178.

Bicycle cameras were fashionable around 1900 and Kodak offered several styles of cases for a number of their cameras. They even made a booklet called Bicycle Kodaks, with all the cases and cameras. Here's a  page showing a case for the Folding Pocket Kodak.

Also for sale was a plain wood Boston Bulls-Eye box from the period 1892-1895. This camera is a landmark camera because it incorporated several inventions that were used for the first time together in one instrument: front roll design, red window and daylight loading film. See my website for details.The one for sale was a Buy it Now item and it was sold during the first day for $ 285. The strap and one screw to hold that is missing.

I was thinking about buying it, but waited too long.

Just a day or two later another plain wood Boston Bulls-Eye appeared. It had its strap and looked good, so I did not hesitate long and bought it.

It will make a nice companion to my ebonite model Bulls-Eye. Now I have to find myself a leather covered model, to make the set complete.

Have a good look at both cameras. Notice the difference? The one I bought (left) has a pull strip on top. I guess you can select an aperture with it. I will find out when it arrives.

Blair Baby Hawk-Eye camera

I received a question about the Blair Baby Hawk-Eye camera and here is a link to an article in Photographica World 2008, issue 1, number 123. Download it if you want to keep it, because I will delete it at any moment from my Dropbox.

Kodak roll films

I received a question about Kodak roll films and found lots of info in "the Photographist" number 98 of 1993. Here's a PDF of it.

The early years of photography

During the last two weekends and sometimes in the evenings I have been working on a video about the early years of photography. I needed it for the file on http://www.wikilimburg.nl/ and could not find a video that suited me. So I made it myself.
I started with Adobe Premiere Elements 10, but changed to Windows Movie Maker after a number of frustrating hours. Windows Movie Maker could not do what I had in mind, so I changed to Power Point. There I could make a background of early 19th century wallpaper, hang a picture frame on it and use the space in the frame to show my pics. When ready I saved the file as a video and then imported it in Windows Movie Maker to finish it. Some passages had to be stretched and it needed some background music.
Here it is (in Dutch, but I think I will make an English vesion as well):

Tambosa

Today "Tailboard", the communications publication of the Photographic Collectors Club of Great Britain, PCCGB, dropped into my mailbox (the physical one, that is). On the front page two very Victorian looking box cameras cought my attention. They were two of the three known examples of the Tambosa camera.
Well, I don't blame you if you don't know what the Tambosa is. But in an old filing cabinet somewhere in my head a bell rang. In 2001 I had written an article about the Kodak Bullet cameras. In it I told about the front roll design (placing the film spools in the front of the camera box, just behind the lens panel). One of the inventors is Henry B. Good, who got a patent on the design on January 23, 1889 in England. In the article I wrote that Good's camera with the name Tambosa was never produced. Until today I knew no better.

Here's a pic of the front of Tailboard showing the two examples that cought my attention.

The example on the left is typical of the detective cameras of the day. It is wrapped in thick paper, like a ordinary parcel. In the early 1890's no one associated such a parcel with a camera or photographer. Cameras were used on tripods and photographers did mysterious things under a black cloth. With the disguised camera in hand s/he could walk the streets and take secret snaps of people and street life. Maybe not so very nice, but it was the start of a new kind of photography.

Here's the link to the Good US patent of 1890. You need a tiff reader to see the images. See the instructions on the US Patent Office website where the patent comes from.

By the way, you are a member of the PCCGB, aren't you? Yes? OK, so I don't have to tell you what a great journal the PCCGB publishes four times a year and that you miss a lot of interesting stuff if you don't get Photographica World. To be sure I provide the link to the site here.

The Brownie box of films that I mentioned in the previous blog was sold for US $ 333 and received 19 bids. Not bad and it shows the growing interest in this kind of additional items.

The No. 1 Kodak was sold for the buy it now price of $ 1795 and the whole collection of 4.5 x 6 cm plate cameras attracted not one bid. $ 52,000 is not what the average camera collector has in his wallet. The rare No. 3 Kodak Jr did only get $ 388.

At the moment there is a No. 4 Bullet Special Model of '99 for sale. After 3 bids the price is $ 225, but it is a naked example! Someone stripped the leather off and polished the bare wood body. Maybe it looks nice, but it is far from original. Still one day to go.

In my job I am working with public libraries to set up a series of training courses for the public about information skills. Trainees are asked to make content in our special wiki. To give them an example I made a file about the 19th century photographers in the city of Roermond. It is not ready yet, but here it is.

eBay watch and an old bear

Again there are some nice and interesting photographica items for sale at eBay. First is a No. 1 Kodak stringset camera in reasonable condition. According to the description and the photos the leather has some chips and crackling. Special is the rare green felt plug. Starting bid is $ 1350 or you can buy it now for $ 1795. No bids yet and still 6 days to go.
The No. 1 Kodak was made from 1889 until 1895 and replaced the original Kodak of 1888. The most important difference was the new and simpler shutter. The original RNX shutter of the 1888 model consisted of a barrel that rotated around the lens, which was positioned inside the barrel. By pulling a string the spring in the shutter was wound. The stored energy was enough to take about 4 or 5 photos. After that the spring had to be tensioned again. Notice that the shutter was self capping, which was a great advantage in a snapshooters camera because the snapshooter did not have to remember to cap the shutter when cocking it. It did cost $ 3.10 to produce the RNX shutter, which was about 50 % of the total costs to produce the camera. To reduce costs a sector shutter was used in the No. 1 Kodak. The RNX shutter has 19 parts, while the sector shutter has only 10 parts. Assembling it was simpler and thus cheaper. Another reason to abandon the RNX shutter is the chance that the spring did not have enough energy left to rotate the barrel in the 6th exposure. The barrel stopped halfway resulting in a ruined exposure. As there was no indication how many photos had been taken on one winding of the spring, this was a great risk. The new sector shutter had to be cocked before every exposure, so there was no risk of running out of energy halfway the exposure.
A third reason could have been the wish to stop down the lens. The addition of a diaphragm mechanism was not possible with the lens inside the barrel shutter, but quite simple with the sector shutter.
See these shutters in action on my site.
All this I did not find out myself. It was published in an article by W.P. Carroll in "the Photographist" no. 34 of 1976, pages 10 and 11.
 

In my previous blog I mentioned the No. 1 Brownie set. There is a nice addition to this one. For sale is a box for 5 rolls of film, still containing 2 rolls. Only one day to go. There are 7 bids now, price at the moment is GBP 26. I wonder what will be the final price, since film boxes are much wanted items and usualy expensive.
 

A third item is a No. 3 Kodak Junior with roll film back. This camera is not seen so very often and as the leather is reasonably well, it would be a nice addition to a collection. Mind you, the pull string button is missing! The leather is scuffed, but with a coating of Venetian cream it should be very presentable again. Only 4100 of these were made. One day to go. 4 bids now at $ 103. See my own set with plate back and roll film back at my site.
 
Also there is for sale a whole collection of 4.5 x 6 cm plate cameras. Asking price is euro 40,000. I do not know if this is a reasonable price, but if you want to have an instant collection, have a look at it.
 
Finally I want to present you my buddy from the 1960's. He, or is it 'she', is about 75 years old and did spend most of the time in clossets in my mother's home. My mother will be moving to a special home for the elderly soon, so I'm taking home the few things I left there. My 'teddy'-bear is one of these. Here s/he is. I swapped my bear for a football sometime in the early '60. I never liked footballs. He was my buddy in the next years, but disappeared into the cupboards when I grew up. Now I took him home. Maybe I will put some Brownie items around him, so s/he fits better into my collection.
 

Manuals and other nice little things

The latest addition to my collection is a manual for the C Ordinary Kodak. I noticed the booklet as a 'buy it now' item on eBay, and as the price was high but not too high in relation to my desire to get it, I bought it. Here you see my Ordinary collection with the booklet. In the photo you don't see the bright yellow color of the front.
I try to add instruction manuals and photos to every camera in my collection, so this is a nice addition. A few month ago I bought a set of example photos that were made with the A, B, C Kodaks. Below is a photo made with the C camera.

A couple of weeks ago I addes a beautiful Fiftieth Anniversary Kodak set to my collection, with box, instructions and film. Now there is an other set for sale on eBay, with an instructions manual that has a colored front, while my example has a black and white front. I had never noticed before that there are variations, but I had never paid much attention. In July 2011 a set was sold with colored manual and a green card stating that the person receiving a Anniversary Kodak will not apply for a second one. Here's a pic of it.  

At the moment there is another 1A Speed Kodak for sale at eBay. That is not unusual, but this one has the instructions booklet with it. The camera is in nice condition, with the usual wear. Price now is $ 180, but there are still a few hours to go.

A second nice item is a Brownie in its illustrated box and with the slip on finder in the original little box. Camera and box are clean, but the most interesting item is the little carton with the slip on finder. Starting bid is $ 100, no bids yet and six days to go.