Brand
The Brand Camera Company was a camera maker in Los Angeles.[1] The company made a rail-mounted view camera from about 1947.[2] McKeown names the camera the Brand Press View, giving the name Brand 17 in parentheses. The front and rear standards are painted aluminium castings, mounted on two parallel rails. There is a tripod mount (also an aluminium casting) between the two standards. The front standard pulls out from the tripod mount on a telescoping front section of each rail. The rear standard slides on the rear section of the rails for focusing, by cranking a central threaded rod, parallel to the rails and between them, which passes through the standard and is fixed to the tripod mount.
The camera has a rotating back, front rise and shift, and front and rear tilt. None of the movements is geared: the standard is just unlocked and moved by hand. It has a spring back to accept standard double dark slides.
There is at least one later model of the camera, in which the rear crank-focusing was replaced with focusing knobs on the sides of the rear standard. The side handle is also changed. The maker's plate on this camera identifies it as the Brand 17, apparently named for its seventeen-inch bellows.[3] It is not clear whether this is also the name of the earlier model, on which the maker's plate only names the company.[1]
One user stated that the bellows prevents the camera being used with lenses shorter than about 127 mm.[4]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Brand camera (original model) offered for sale as Ebay item 122041979911, July 2016. The maker's plate gives the company address as 500 West Washington Bvd.
- ↑ McKeown, James M. and Joan C. McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 12th Edition, 2005-2006. USA, Centennial Photo Service, 2004. ISBN 0-931838-40-1 (hardcover). ISBN 0-931838-41-X (softcover). p150.
- ↑ Forum discussion about the Brand 17 camera, begun September 2005, at photo.net. One posting includes a picture of the original camera model and a later one, with focusing knobs at the side.
- ↑ Second discussion of the camera dated 2010, also at photo.net.
