F.R. Window suggested (1861) a front-focusing sliding box camera where the inner box, carrying the lens, was at the front of the camera. The box moved by rack & pinion along a substantial baseboard. This design was used by J.H. Dallmeyer for a stereo camera sold as the Improved Binocular camera in 1861. The camera had a large plate size of 7 ¼" x 4 ½" allowing the camera to be used with a single lens for views. The suggestion for the camera to be able to take both stereo and large plates was made by the photographer G.W. Wilson and the camera was sometimes referred to as the Wilson camera. Variations of the Dallmeyer camera included an optional swing back and brass binding.

The manufacturer of the camera, for Dallmeyer, was possibly George Hare though some of the workmanship, such as the concave edges to the main box, suggests Thomas Ottewill.

This camera was produced by Rouch, it closely resembles Dallmeyer labelled cameras but does not have a serial number as Dallmeyer cameras do, the focusing screen is also fitted inside the body for storage. In 1869 Rouch advertised that they had their own manufacturing facility supervised by S.W. Rouch. Whether, prior to this, they had their own workshops or whether, more likely, the work was farmed out isn't known.

This particular example can be dated to 1862 from the lens serial numbers. The Dallmeyer archive starts in 1863 with the number 4500.