Camera - Rochester Optical Co., Henry Clay 'Stereoscopic', U.S.A., circa 1892-1899

Stereoscopic folding camera, manufactured by the Rochester Optical Company, Rochester, U.S.A., circa 1895. The camera utilises half dry-plate size and is equipped with two lenses made by Bausch & Lomb optical co. Bellows, single extension type. The shutter speeds are to 1/100th sec. Body no. 69784.

Rochester Optical Company was founded in 1883 by W. F. Carlton when he took over the assets of camera maker William H. Walker. The company produced the famous 'Premo' line of cameras. It was, at the beginning of the 1900s, the leading manufacturer of cameras, having grown out of the amalgamation of five camera companies: the Rochester Optical Company, the Rochester Camera and Supply Company, the Ray Camera Company, the Monroe Camera Company, and the Western Camera Manufacturing Company of Chicago. The company was taken over by Eastman Kodak in 1903 with the factory continuing to operate under the R.O.C. name. Such was the success of the Premo camera that Kodak continued to manufacture it well after the takeover.

Folding camera with dark- leather bound body, mahogany interior and lens plate and brass and nickel lens apparatus. It has a drop front which doubles as a sliding bed for the dual lens when open. Red leather bellows and dark leather carrying strap at the top.