American Optical Co.
American Optical Co. was a 19th century camera maker, based in New York and New Haven, USA. In 1871 it became a division of Scovill Mfg. Co., the division that made the better versions of Scovill's cameras, made of finer wood, with a better finish. American Optical made view cameras for an astonishing variety of exposure formats. The company still exists as maker of microscopes.
American Optical 4x5 dry plate camera, 1884 image by National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution (Image rights) |
Links
- 1871 American Optical Co. Catalogue at antiquecameras.net
- big collection of AO cameras at Field Cameras of the United States [1]
- Camera models of 1892: Portrait Cameras [2], Irving Camera [3], Star View Cameras [4] at Historic Camera [5]
- [6] Historic Camera's Product Listing of American Optical Cameras