Expert: David Silver - 6/2/2006

Question
Hello,
First let me say thank you for your time and attention.  I recently acquired a huge Folmer & Schwing camera.  It has a tag reading Century 8 and measures 18 inches wide by 24.5 inches high.  It is beautiful wood.  There is a Kodak Anastigmat F 45 No333933 lens.  The camera sits on a large stand with a tag reading Semi Centennial No 2.  The stand is wood and cast iron.  The whole set up is beautiful!  I wonder if you might know any history and value?
Thanks again,
Kim

Answer
Hello Kim,

I'm aware you're looking at quite an impressive piece of "antique" photographic technology, but I'm afraid it is neither uncommon or valuable.  In fact, I'm afraid it's a classic "white elephant" with virtually no value today.

What you have there is generically known as a studio camera.  From around 1870 through 1940, every major camera manufacturer in the world produced something VERY similar, and every photography studio in the world had at least one of these monsters.  In America the single biggest maker and supplier of studio camera outfits (the monster camera with its monster stand and some sort of big all-purpose lens) was Eastman Kodak, and the subsidiary of Eastman Kodak that did all this for them was Century.  Century was founded in 1900 and made outstanding cameras for several years until they caught the attention of Eastman Kodak.  Knowing a good thing when they saw it, rather than compete with them, Eastman bought Century in 1903.  Folmer & Schwing was another superb manufacturer that caught Eastman's attention, and Kodak boguht them in 1906.  The Century and the Folmer & Schwing factories were combined under Eastman and they produced an extensive line of professional studio gear for the next two decades.  The Century Model 8 is a particularly fine example of their work, one of their more expensive models, but still a very generic product.  The No. 2 Semi-Centennial stand is probably the single most common studio stand ever made in America.

Okay, so you have a common form of a common studio camera made by a common manufacturer sometime between perhaps 1906 and 1920.  Big, impressive, and with that wonderful sense of antiquity.  Value?  Ooooh, that's tough.  If it's all in truly excellent overall condition, an experienced camera collector wouldn't touch the entire outfit for more than $400.  They're just too darn common.  On the other hand, I've also seen these sell for $1000 to $1500 to unsuspecting "collectors" who simply didn't have a clue.

Caveat emptor!

Best wishes,

David Silver