Tailboard camera

Glossary Terms

Marion & Company full plate tailboard camera image by Peter Bliss (Image rights)

A tailboard camera is a view camera with bellows and rear focusing: such a camera is focused by sliding (or racking) the rear standard forward and backward on the base, until the image on the ground glass screen is sharp.

The term is used to refer to both folding cameras (also called Reisekamera in German) with a hinged baseboard which completely covers the back of the folded camera (tailboard upright) and is the base on which the camera back is moved to unfold the bellows and to focus with the matte screen (tailboard in horizontal working position), and non-folding cameras like that illustrated here.