Re: Restoration of tri-color camera

Richard,

Thank you very much for replying to my question. I was hopeful that
you could provide some leads for me and your comments are indeed very
useful.

The camera is in transit and as of this moment I do not know the
brand. I have done some research on the subject and have some name
recognition of the three US makers of these type of cameras, as well
as those made in Europe. Hopefully my research will allow me to
recognize the camera when I see it. I have been told that the 5X7
holders are very non-standard so this may or may not provide a clue
for identification of the camera. But, we make holders (S&S brand)
so that should not be a problem.

Should you find any additional information on pellicle manufacture I
would be most appreciative if you would forward it to me.

Sandy

>----- Original Message ----- From: "Sandy King" <sanking@clemson.edu>
>To: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
>Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2005 5:25 PM
>Subject: Restoration of tri-color camera
>
>>Depending on how you look at it, lucky or damned, I have been
>>gifted with a rare 5X7 tri-color camera from the 30s or 40s that I
>>hope to restore and use to make real in-camera separations. Yes, I
>>know that I can make separations from color negatives and color
>>slides, and/or directly via the digital mode, but I am really
>>excited about making some three-color carbon prints using original
>>technology.
>>
>>Thing is, to restore the camera I will need to acquire a new
>>pellicle mirror and filters. Any leads as to where I might be able
>>to buy one or both of the above would be appreciated.
>>
>>And thanks in advance.
>>
>>Sandy
>>
> Do you know who made the camera? In the US there were three main
>makers, two of whom merged. Devin, National Photocolor, and Thomas
>Curtis. Devin and National Photocolor merged some time around the
>1940's. Curtis was here in Los Angeles.
> It seems to me that Dick Sullivan may have gotten interested in
>these things, you might try contacting him. I am not sure of the
>exact process used for maiking the pellicles but I am pretty sure
>they were gelatin silvered on one side. The idea of using gelatin is
>to avoid "color wedging" from the spherical and chromatic aberration
>of light passing through a parallel glass plate at an angle. Gelatin
>is both very thin and also lower in index of refraction than glass
>both of which contribute to good performance as a beam splitter. The
>color filters were probably standard Wratten color separation sets.
>There may also have been some neutral density content since the
>films must be exposed and developed so that the characteristics lie
>on top of one another.
> Bostick & Sullivan have been working with three color carbro for a
>while and I think have suitable materials available.
> These cameras were driven out of existence by Kodachrome although
>some studios continued to use one shot cameras and color carbro for
>reproduction originals due to the control available.
> I think this is a great project.
>
>---
>Richard Knoppow
>Los Angeles, CA, USA
>dickburk@ix.netcom.com
Received on Wed Mar 9 22:13:46 2005