Folding Poco Camera

Rochester Camera Company

Name:	Folding Poco Camera
Type:	Hand & Stand Camera
Manufacturer:	Rochester Camera Company
Country of Origin:	US
Construction:	Standard folding self-casing hand & stand camera. Leather covered wooden box with solid baseboard.
Production Period:	Unknown

 

Plate / Film Size:	4 x 5 plate
Lens:	Rapid Rectilinear 4 x 5
Shutter:	Unicum
Movements:	TBD
Dimensions (w x h x l):
Date of this Example:	1895 - 1897
Serial Number:	None
Availability:	Common  Uncommon  Hard to Find  Scarce
Inventory Number:	44

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Description

Seller advertised this camera as a PREMO, but this is the Rochester Optical product name - the POCO was the name used by the Rochester Camera Company. It is likely that a name plate was carried on the lens board, but this is now missing. It is difficult to date or identify any more precisely from McKeown [1] (date or model).

The Blue Book shows a Poco, Series B which is very similar to this camera. It describes it as having a single swing back, which this example does have, together with the right lens & shutter combination, giving a date of c1890's.

The shutter on this example is marked with "Rochester Camera Company", which was founded in 1891. Given the dates associated with the Rochester Camera Co name, the camera is likely to come from the period 1895 to 1897.

Maroon bellows and mahogany interior remain in good clean condition.

Notes

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