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Here’s a beautiful, uncommon and unusual sliding box wet plate camera manufactured in the early 1870’s by R.W. Thomas in London. The camera comes with its original Ross lens and its original repeating back, as well as its original extension box for close-up photography. There was no wet plate holder with the camera when I got it (just the repeating back), so I set it up with a Thornton Pickard dry plate holder, which fits the back perfectly and appears to have been made using the same type of mahogany. I suspect the Thornton Pickard plate holder can be modified for use with collodion-covered plates. Plate size is approximately 8″ x 6 1/2″ (whole plate).
The lens is signed “Ross No. 2 Cab. London” and has a serial number of 179XX, dating it to the early 1870’s, so I suspect the camera was made at around the same time. The lens is in excellent condition, with clear glass, no fungus, no separation. Lens barrel has moderate tarnish but nothing bad or distracting. Barrel has no dents, no dings, no issues, and the rack and pinion focusing mechanism is working properly. The lens comes with two Waterhouse stops. Lens is 7″ high (including the hood) and weighs approximately 4 lb.
Condition of the camera itself is excellent throughout, as you should be able to see in the photographs. There’s a chip in the front top left corner of the body, but given the camera’s age, it’s certainly forgivable. Sliding box moves along the rail with relative ease, although at times, to move it all the way back, you need to press the knurled thumbscrew in a bit toward the pinion gear. The extension box slips into the housing from the top (see photograph) and allows the camera to be used for close-up work. Note that there is only one thumbscrew for the main box and the extension, and it fits the threads on the main box only. The thumbscrew you see in the 4th photograph and the last photograph (for the extension) came from another camera and is simply decorative on this one; it does not thread into the nut. The thumbscrew you see in the other photographs came with the camera, is functional, and threads securely into the nut. No thumbscrew is required to actually mount the extension. The thumbscrew is only for manipulating the lens board.
The repeating back mounts onto the camera body using the same channel that would be used for mounting a conventional wet plate holder. The back measures approximately 27″ x 10″ with the wing fully extended. The ground glass focusing plate is original and in good condition, with no damage. The back is tight, but it can be still be manipulated.
The Leica rangefinder you see in the last photograph is of course not included with the Thomas camera. I simply included it in the photograph to provide you with a sense of scale. As you can see, that Ross lens looms pretty large over the Leica.
Shipping weight for everything, properly packed, will be about 30 lb.
That’s about it. I will pack it carefully and properly.
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Category: Cameras and Photo:Vintage Movie and Photography:Vintage Cameras:Folding Cameras
Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina