Eastman Kodak Co.
Empire State #2
Date Introduced: – ; Years Manufactured: c. 1908-1915
Construction: front and rear focus via rack and pinion (two gear tracks on top of base rails); double swing; three-piece lensboard; reversing by removable back
Materials: mahogany body; cherry base; black leatherette bellows; brass hardware
Sizes Offered:
Notes: This camera would easily be mistaken for an Empire State Improved or a Century No.2 (both made by EKC during this era, but look closely. It has a plumb bob that the Empire State Improved does not, a quick-lock manner of securing the front track rather than a thumbscrew, a piano-hinge for the front track, and a sliding tripod block. The back on the illustrated camera is from another camera and so would not be typical of this model. By 1915, the Eastman View Camera No. 2 is introduced as an improvement to the Empire State and Century No. 2 cameras.
References:
Photographic Cameras, Supplies and Lenses, Williams, Brown & Earle, Inc. (Philadelphia, PA) Catalog, c. 1908, pp. 33-34
Lloyd’s Photographic Supplies, Andrew J. Lloyd Co. (Boston, MA) Catalog, c. 1909, p. 28
Eastman Kodak Co. Professional Apparatus Catalog, 1909
Eastman Kodak Co. Professional Apparatus Catalog, 1910
Premo Cameras, Rochester Optical Division, Eastman Kodak Co., 1910, pp. 30-31
Photo Materials, George Murphy, Inc. (New York, NY), 1910-1911, p. 43-44
Premo Cameras, Rochester Optical Division, Eastman Kodak Co., 1912, pp. 32-33
Premo Cameras, Rochester Optical Division, Eastman Kodak Co., 1913, pp. 32-33
Eastman Professional Photographic Apparatus and Materials, c. 1915, p. 44-45
