Rochester Optical Co.

American Challenge Camera (Wooden Bed)

Gent's Magazine, October 1883

5 x 8

Date Introduced: - ; Years Manufactured: c. 1883
Construction: back focus via push-pull; double swing; shifting wooden lensboard; reversing by unscrewing 4 screws and re-positioning;
Materials: mahogany body, cherry base; built-in swiveling cast iron tripod base; maroon leather bellows; nickeled brass hardware
Sizes Offered: 5x8.
Notes: An incredibly cumbersome method of reversing the format (e.g., from horizontal to vertical) involves un-screwing 4 thumbscrews on the bottom (two on the front standard and two on the rear standard).  The rear screws must not be unscrewed too far, lest the swing mechanism (consisting of matching arc-shaped metal pieces) fall off and the screws lost.  [Just this scenario must have happened to another example of this model that is missing the bed despite being in its original case.  Usually, the presence of a case prevents lost pieces.]  The body (now free from the base) is then rotated and the screws introduced into 4 retaining holes on the side of the camera.  It resembles the American Challenge Swivel Base Camera in that it has a built-in cast iron tripod base that swivels in a large ball and socket.

References:
Rochester Optical Co. Catalog, 1883
Gent's Magazine, October, 1883

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