A very well-made camera with extreme rise and bellows extension. The swivel joint connecting the rear standard to the base and the lever clamps holding the front standard (subject of patent by J. E. Brown) are distinctive. The Combination was available with or without a turntable. The lever clamp is present on other Shew cameras such as the 'Shew Simple' and Shew's 1891. The swivel joint on the rear standard appears on other cameras such as the N&G Ural and Sinclair field cameras. The Combination was introduced in 1885 and shown at the RPS exhibition of that year, the aluminium model was made later.

The lens was first produced in 1890 a year or two later it was manufactured by Ross.