Focal Plane Field Camera
Lens:
f10, 12" Dallmeyer Rapid Landscape L.F. No. 2. Iris diaphragm to f45 with external pointer. Serial no. 67796 (c. 1906).Shutter:
Focal plane, speeds 1/200 - 1/1000. Speed varied by spring tension. Provision to change the slit width but not calibrated. Separate slit for focusing. For slow speeds, the lens cap or a front-of-lens roller-blind would have been used.Construction:
Mahogany, finger joints. Mauve square cornered bellows.Format:
6 ½" x 4 ¾" plates held in double dark slides.Focusing:
Bellows to 50". Two positions for the front standard. Rack and pinion (diagonal cut) movement to the inner frame.Attributes:
Reversing back. Tripod socket. T.T.H. lens flange with patent start to thread.Movements:
Limited rising front. Tilting back, tilting front.With:
Focusing screen.There is no maker's name on this camera though there is some similarity with cameras by Perken, Son & Rayment. The lens and shutter date the camera to the early 20th century. The camera body is of fiddle-back mahogany with very pronounced banding, the lens panel and focusing screen are of conventional mahogany. Field cameras permanently fitted with focal plane shutters are not common.
The Rapid L.F. was a long-focus lens with a single group of elements.