Scovill Mfg. Co.
Kilburn Gun Camera
Date Introduced: – ; Years Manufactured: c.1882-1886
Construction: back focus via rack and pinion (single gear track on middle base rail) or push-pull; single swing; reversing by two tripod mounts;
Materials: mahogany body; cherry base; black fabric bellows; brass hardware
Sizes Offered: 4×5
Notes: This is a camera similar to the 76, except for the unusual lensboard arrangement, in which the knurled knob must be removed to slide the lensboard up and out. Depending on clearances, the lens may also have to be removed to change the lensboard. And yet these are found with multiple lensboards. The gunstock, rarely found with the camera, if at all, was sold separately. The photos show a camera having push-pull focus, whereas the engraving shows a rack and pinion. Contrast this to the 76, where the cameras usually have rack and pinion focus, but the engravings show push-pull.
References:
Scovill’s Am. Annual of Photo. Almanac 1883, p. i
Scovill’s Photo Series No. 20: Dry Plate Making for Amateurs, p. 22
