A Shew Reflector camera
Shew
Category
Photographic technology
Date
1906
Materials
Wood, Metal, Leather, Glass
Measurements
255 x 170 x 240 mm
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Fox Talbot Museum, Wiltshire
NT 1524834.1
Summary
A Shew reflector camera. The body is mahogany covered with black leather and the bellows is also black leather. Focusing can be done either using a ground glass screen at the rear or the reflex mirror. The mirror is controlled by an external lever. There is a leather carrying handle on the side and a tripod mount on the base. The shutter is focal plane and has speeds up to 1/1000 sec by varying tension and slit size. A metal plate on the side gives a table of combinations. A folding leather hood aids use of the reflex screen. The top screen has by it the instruction 'If removed for the purposes of cleaning, please Note, this glass should be ground side up'. The lens is screw mounted on a rising front panel. It is marked '6in Compound Homocentric 1:6.8 No 69544 Ross, London'. The iris diaphram ranges f6.8 to f45. The side of the lens is marked 'Sold by Adams & Co., London'. The top of the body has a spirit level and a round enamel plate which reads ''Shews Reflector Patent Newman Street London W.'
Provenance
Part of The Fenton Collection. A gift from British Film Institute in 2017. From 1986-1999, part of BFI collection for the Museum of the Moving Image. BFI purchased collection in 1986 from James Fenton's Museum of Photography, Port Erin, Isle of Man 1976-1986
Makers and roles
Shew , manufacturer