Feed Mill in Atchison, KS
I acquired an Improved Conley Magazine camera recently and had it out last weekend for a test run. I originally found this same camera at an estate sale last summer, but it didn't have any of the plate holders and was relegated to a display piece. At first I didn't know what the camera was because it was unmarked, but after some research I discovered that it was a Conley. I was really intrigued by the camera's massive size so I picked it up. In the months following I kept searching online for another similar Conley that had the plate holders. As luck would have it, one popped up on Ebay recently for a decent price and I bought it. The camera came with 9 plate holders though it was originally equipped with 12. The camera is a falling plate design, that was originally intended to use glass plate negatives. I know glass plate negatives are still available, but I decided to run 4x5 sheet film through it for the initial test run. The plate holders fit in a channel inside the camera and are held secure by two metal rods and a wire spring is attached to the back of the camera to move the plates forward after each exposure. After you expose an negative you crank a lever on the side of the camera and the exposed negative falls forward into the front of the camera and a new negative is pushed in to position. All in all I was really pleased with how the images from my first test turned out...the sharpness and clarity are truly amazing for a 100 plus year old box camera. This image is a feed mill in the industrial district of Atchison, KS. Image captured using Foma 200 film and developed with Xtol at 1:1.
Feed Mill in Atchison, KS
I acquired an Improved Conley Magazine camera recently and had it out last weekend for a test run. I originally found this same camera at an estate sale last summer, but it didn't have any of the plate holders and was relegated to a display piece. At first I didn't know what the camera was because it was unmarked, but after some research I discovered that it was a Conley. I was really intrigued by the camera's massive size so I picked it up. In the months following I kept searching online for another similar Conley that had the plate holders. As luck would have it, one popped up on Ebay recently for a decent price and I bought it. The camera came with 9 plate holders though it was originally equipped with 12. The camera is a falling plate design, that was originally intended to use glass plate negatives. I know glass plate negatives are still available, but I decided to run 4x5 sheet film through it for the initial test run. The plate holders fit in a channel inside the camera and are held secure by two metal rods and a wire spring is attached to the back of the camera to move the plates forward after each exposure. After you expose an negative you crank a lever on the side of the camera and the exposed negative falls forward into the front of the camera and a new negative is pushed in to position. All in all I was really pleased with how the images from my first test turned out...the sharpness and clarity are truly amazing for a 100 plus year old box camera. This image is a feed mill in the industrial district of Atchison, KS. Image captured using Foma 200 film and developed with Xtol at 1:1.