Rochester Camera Co.
Favorite View Camera Variation 2
Rochester
Camera Co. Catalog, April 1898, p. 9
6 ½ x 8 ½", Serial No. 943
Label, celluloid, lower
part of front standard: "Favorite - Rochester Camera Co."
Stamp, lower part of the
inside of the removable back: serial number "943"
Close-ups of the stamped
serial number "943" on 1) the lower part of the inside of the removable
back (left), and 2) the underside of the rear standard (right),
Another 6 ½ x 8 ½", Serial No.
1122 Bottom Top Label, celluloid, lower
part of front standard: "Favorite - Rochester Camera Co." Stamp, lower part of the
inside of the removable back: serial number "1122" Close-ups of the stamped
serial number "1122" on both sides of the hinged camera platform.
The thumbscrew for making the platform rigid is to the right. Date Introduced: - ;
Years Manufactured: Rochester Camera Mfg.
Co.: c. 1895-c.1897
History, Variations and Notes:
The Favorite is an inexpensive, back focus, double swing camera.
This design is almost identical to Scovill's
Landscape View, manufactured
contemporaneously with the RCMS Favorite.
The Favorite View Camera
was made in Rochester, NY during the late 1890's and early 1900's, a
period of profound change in the formerly stable Rochester Optical Co.
(ROC). ROC, as were all view camera-manufacturing companies, was
no doubt feeling the effect of the revolutionary point and shoot Kodak Camera. The
stability that had been the Rochester Optical Co. since 1883
disintegrated, resulting in the formation and operation of five related companies
of the Rochester family (see ROC index),
during the period 1891-1899, all manufacturing essentially the same
types
of cameras. Examples of
The Favorite View Cameras
manufactured by these companies show differences in finish and
construction that appear to be three variations, as listed below.
Regardless of variation, the engraved images of
The Favorite found in catalogs
all appear to be copies of the first illustration of the
Variation 1 - the one with its
back springs facing the same way. This was done, probably for
economy, despite the fact that the engraving is in error for
Variation 2 and
Variation 3, whose springs face
each other.
The Favorite Variation 1: The Favorite
Variation 2: The Favorite
Variation 3: Discontinuation: References:
Construction: back focus
via push-pull; single swing; three-piece lens board; reversing by
removable back; no gears
Materials: mahogany body; cherry base;
black fabric bellows; brass hardware
Sizes Offered: at least 6 ½x8 ½
Manufacturer:
Rochester Camera Mfg. (RCM) Co. (c.1891-c.1895). In 1891, H.B.
Carlton left the Rochester Optical Co. where he had worked with his
brother, W.F. Carlton since its inception in 1883. The company
that H.B. Carlton founded was called Rochester Camera Mfg. Co., and The Favorite would be
RCM's no frills back-focus model or invention with
which they would compete with Rochester Optical Co.'s
The Standard View Camera.,
a similar no-frills back focus view camera. H.B. Carlton also
started a line of folding leather-covered cameras, called
Poco, which
were more popular than any of its view cameras, which would compete with
ROC's Premo line.
Both examples of the Rochester Camera Mfg. Co.
Favorite Variation 1
have the springs on their spring back all facing to the right - unique among the Favorite variations. On all later variations,
the left springs face the right springs.
The shellac finish
on this variation seems to be redder in color and rather brittle compared
to the finishes of other period view cameras.
Lastly, the hardware
on the RCM Favorite example,
though well finished, appears to be thinner than that of other cameras
of the era, sometimes being bent during the installation of screws.
Manufacturer: Rochester Camera Co. (RCC) (c.1895-c.1897).
In 1895, Rochester Camera Mfg. Co. was re-named Rochester Camera Co.
They continued to manufacture The Favorite.
The example of an RCC
Favorite
Variation 2 has an even redder color
than the reddish tint of the RCM Favorite
Variation 1. It has its back springs
in the more normal symmetrically facing configuration, rather than the
asymmetrical side-facing configuration seen in the RCM
Favorite Variation 1.
Two Manufacturers: Rochester Camera & Supply (RCS) Co.
(c.1897-c.1899) and Rochester Camera & Supply, Branch of Rochester
Optical & Camera Co. (RO&CCo.) (1900-1901) In 1897, Rochester Camera Co. was re-named Rochester
Camera & Supply, probably to reflect a wider range of products than
merely cameras.
The examples of RCS Favorite
Variation 3 observed are identical in
design and detail to the RCC Favorite Variation 2, but the finish is no longer
reddish, but rather a more normal warm light brown color which probably
is the result of un-tinted shellac. This shellac also appears to
be not particularly brittle.
The Favorite
was not any of the Rochester catalogs in 1902, probably discontinued
because of their product
The Rochester View Camera Variation 2,
a model almost as inexpensive as The
Favorite. The Rochester
View had formerly been front focus (Rochester
View Camera Variation 1), and therefore worth offering
in addition to the back focus only The
Favorite. But The Rochester View had been re-designed
by the 1901 catalog to be able to be both front and back focusing,
thereby duplicating the abilities of but more flexible than
The Favorite.
The Favorite and
The Rochester View occur together
for one year in the 1901 RO&CCo. catalog, but that is the last
appearance of The Favorite.
Photographic Apparatus, Rochester Camera Co.
(Rochester, NY), May 1896.
p. 8-9
Photographic Apparatus, Rochester Camera Co. (Rochester, NY),
April, 1898, p. 8-9
(These references still show the ground glass springs facing the same way, like the engraving for Rochester Camera Mfg. Co.,
but the cameras have the springs facing each other.)
