E. & H.T. Anthony & Co.
N.P.A. Camera, Variation 4
E. & H.T. Anthony & Co. catalog
Supplement, April 16, 1900, p. 2
5 x 7
Bottom
Top
Label, Top of Front Standard
Anthony Zephyr Holder, side 1
Anthony Zephyr Holder, Side 2
Another 5 x 7 Date Introduced: - ; Years Manufactured:
c.1900-1906 Notes: The same camera could be
purchased as either the N.P.A. Camera
or as the O.N.A. Equipment.
That those names included the same camera is so
stated in the catalogs. Both the N.P.A. Camera
or as the O.N.A. Equipment
included a case,
a tripod and one double plate holder. The only difference is that
the O.N.A. Equipment included
a lens, whereas the N.P.A. Camera did
not.
Construction: rear
focus via push-pull; none or single swing;
reversing by two tripod mounts; plywood lens board
Materials: mahogany body; cherry base;
black fabric bellows; brass hardware; French polish finish
Sizes Offered: A=no swing; B=single swing;
2A, 2B=5x8 (photos); 7B=6.5x8.5; 8B=8x10
The N.P.A. Camera had a long run of production, and went
through a number of changes. The
following variations of the N.P.A. (O.N.A.) can be found:
Variation
1A and
Variation
1B (c.1887-c.1891): solid front, brass hardware, ground
glass frame hinges down; similar or same camera was referred to as
Amateur
Equipment prior to about 1887. Variation
1A has a thumbscrew to make the folding base rigid; Variation 1B
(apparently only in 4x5) has a large metal, sliding plate that makes the
folding base rigid.
Variation
2 (c.1891-c.1898): solid front, brass hardware, ground
glass frame has a large, clunky spring; in the same catalog, the
O.N.A. (supposed to be the same) is usually illustrated with a
hinged ground glass, while the N.P.A. is illustrated with the clunky
spring back. This camera was also sold with a
Schultze Photo Equipment Co. label (see
Schultze
N.P.A.)
Variation
3 (c.1898-c.1900): solid front, brass or nickeled hardware,
ground glass frame has a low profile, flat-looking spring; in catalogs
of this era, the O.N.A. (supposed to be the same) is usually
illustrated with the flat hinged back, while the N.P.A. is illustrated
with the old-style, clunky spring back.
Variation
4 (after April 1900): frame front, nickeled hardware, ground
glass frame is spring loaded.
References (Variation 4):
Illustrated Catalogue of Photographic Equipments
and Materials for Amateurs, E. & H.T. Anthony & Co. (New York, NY),
Supplement, April 16, 1900, p. 2 (1st appearance of Variation 4) (O.N.A.,
p. 4)
Illustrated Catalogue of Photographic Equipments and Materials for
Amateurs, The Anthony & Scovill Co. (New York, NY), June, 1901, p.
25 (O.N.A. Equipment, p. 29-30)
Photographic Goods 1842-1904, The Anthony and Scovill
Co., (New York, NY), 1904, Catalog C, pp.4-5
Photographic Catalogue, The Anthony and Scovill Co., (Binghamton,
NY), 1906, p.46
