SENECA "CHAUTAUQUA" in Original Case
ca. 1903


Although this is not a Kodak camera, it was made by one of many companies that also called Rochester, NY home. Kodak bought out many of these local competitors over the years, but Seneca remained independent. This camera is special to me because I have owned it for 60 years.


Dating to around 1903, it was made for 4"x 5" glass dry plates. The camera is complete with its original carrying case, including three plate holders, three glass negatives taken with this camera, and the original negative envelope from a photography store in Greenfield, MA, not far from where I found it. It has a quality Wollensak lens and burgundy bellows, and is still in perfect working order (I made some dry plate images with it a few years ago). Like many dry plate cameras of the era, it can be focused by using the ground glass viewer in the back, or simply adjusted for distance using a printed scale and framed with a conventional viewfinder.



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