Shew Featherweight

1894

J.F. Shew & Co.

London

England

Lens:

f8, c. 9" rapid rectilinear, iris diaphragm to f64. Not original.

Construction:

Polished Spanish mahogany, aluminium bindings and fittings. Mauve leather bellows.

Format:

5" x 7 ½" plates held in double dark-slides.

Focusing:

Bellows to 31". Double extension. Two positions to fix the front standard. An inner aluminium frame carries the front standard and focusing rack.

Attributes:

Two tripod sockets. Wooden baseboard detaches and fixes to side of camera for portrait exposures.

Movements:

Rising front cross front, tilting back, swing back.

With:

Focusing screen.

The Featherweight was made in sizes from 5" x 4" to 6 ½" x 8 ½". Except for the 5" x 4" they were available in square form with reversing back or 'landscape'. A Thornton-Pickard focal-plane shutter was available in place of the normal Shew Sector. The camera was advertised as being light and of small dimension suitable for hand or stand, wide-angle and long-focus use.

The detachable wooden baseboard was sold as an accessory intended for long-focus work and is not always present.

The patent was taken out in the names of E. Batault and F. Shew.

References & Notes:

BP 24647/1893. BJA 1899, p. 287. YBP 1895, p. 104.

Illustrations:

Christie's Cat. 25/11/99 lot 517. A model with a 7" Ross-Goerz lens in a Shew shutter.

Company Details:

Shew

Early Photography